Tune-Yards
{{Short description|American music project}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox musical artist
|name = Tune-Yards
|image = Tune Yards performing at Café de la Danse in Paris in 2011.jpg
|caption = Garbus performing at Café de la Danse in Paris, France, on June 2, 2011
|alt=Garbus smiling with make-up on her face, hitting a tambourine
|background=group_or_band
|origin = New Canaan, Connecticut, United States
|genre = Art pop, worldbeat, indie pop, lo-fi
|years_active = 2006–present
|associated_acts = Sister Suvi, Beep, Dirty Projectors, Naytronix
|website = {{url|tune-yards.com}}
|current_members = {{ubl|Merrill Garbus|Nate Brenner}}
}}
Tune-Yards (stylized as tUnE-yArDs){{cite magazine |url=http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/musical/2011/05/02/110502crmu_music_frerejones |title=World of Wonder: How Merrill Garbus left the theatre and took the stage. |magazine=The New Yorker |date=May 2, 2011 }} is the Oakland, California–based music project of Merrill Garbus and Nate Brenner. Garbus's music draws from an eclectic variety of sources and uses elements such as loop pedals, ukulele, vocals, and lo-fi percussion.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/08/arts/music/08tune.html |title=New York Times Music Review: Putting it Together |newspaper=nytimes.com |date= October 8, 2009|access-date=October 7, 2009 |first=Jon |last=Caramanica}} Tune-Yards’ 2011 album Whokill was ranked the number one album of that year in The Village Voice's annual Pazz and Jop critics’ poll.{{cite web |url=http://www.villagevoice.com/pazznjop/albums/2011/ |title=Pazz and Jop Poll: Top Albums of 2011 |work=The Village Voice |access-date=21 January 2012}}
The album Nikki Nack was released in 2014, with its first single, "Water Fountain", being picked up by Google Pixel in 2016 for an advertising campaign. The album I Can Feel You Creep into My Private Life was released in January 2018. At the same time, Tune-Yards provided an atmospheric score for the sci-fi film Sorry to Bother You.
History and work
Born in 1979, Garbus was raised in New York City and in New Canaan, Connecticut.Hazel Sheffield, [http://www.thestoolpigeon.co.uk/features/interview-tune-yards.html "Interview: tUnE-yArDs. The decidedly non-bird-brained tUnE-yArDs is searching for freedom in her own back garden."] The Stool Pigeon, May 9, 2011.Mark Richardson, [http://pitchfork.com/features/interviews/7957-tune-yards/ "Interviews: tUnE-yArDs"], Pitchfork, April 25, 2011. She attended Smith College. She was a puppeteer for the Sandglass Theater in VermontByard Duncan, [https://www.baycitizen.org/news/music/merrill-garbus-tuneyards-oakland-profile/ "Merrill Garbus' Road to Fame"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140107220232/https://www.baycitizen.org/news/music/merrill-garbus-tuneyards-oakland-profile/ |date=January 7, 2014 }}, The Bay Citizen, April 20, 2012. and lived in Montreal where she played ukulele in the band Sister Suvi with guitarist Patrick Gregoire and drummer Nico Dann.Chris Dahlen, [http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/13094-now-i-am-champion/ "Sister Suvi: Now I Am Champion"] (review), Pitchfork, July 7, 2009.Charlotte Richardson Andrews, [https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/apr/07/tune-yards-merrill-garbus-whokill "Tune-Yards' Merrill Garbus on life after lo-fi"], The Guardian, April 7, 2011. Merrill's sister Ruth Garbus is also a musician who has played solo and in the band Happy Birthday.{{cite news |last=Bevan |first=David |url= http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/14042-happy-birthday/ |title=Happy Birthday: Happy Birthday |work=Pitchfork |date=2010-03-17 |access-date=2016-05-25}} After releasing her first Tune-Yards album in 2008, she moved to Oakland, where her partner in Tune-Yards, Nate Brenner, also lives.
The first Tune-Yards album, Bird-Brains (stylized as BiRd-BrAiNs) was originally self-released by Garbus on recycled cassette tape. It was recorded using only a handheld voice recorder.{{cite web |url=http://www.ink19.com/issues/may2009/interviews/tuneYards.html |title=Ink19 Tune-Yards: Master of Puppets |publisher=ink19.com |access-date=May 1, 2009 |archive-date=June 9, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110609092600/http://www.ink19.com/issues/may2009/interviews/tuneYards.html |url-status=dead }} A limited edition vinyl was released in June 2009, via the Portland-based imprint Marriage Records.{{cite web|url=http://www.discogs.com/Tune-Yards-Bird-Brains/release/1779887 |title=Tune-Yards – Bird-Brains (LP) at Discogs |publisher=Discogs.com |access-date=February 2, 2010}} In July 2009, it was announced that Tune-Yards had signed to 4AD, and a limited edition pressing of Bird-Brains was released on August 17, 2009.{{cite web|url=http://www.discogs.com/Tune-Yards-Bird-Brains/release/1953417 |title=Tune-Yards – Bird-Brains (CD, Album, Lim) at Discogs |publisher=Discogs.com |date=August 9, 2009 |access-date=February 2, 2010}} A full worldwide release followed on November 16, 2009 (and November 17 in North America). The autumn 2009 pressing was remastered at Abbey Road Studios by Christian Wright, and includes two new bonus tracks: "Want Me To" and "Real Live Flesh."
A second album, Whokill (stylized as w h o k i l l), was released on April 19, 2011.{{cite web|url=http://tune-yards.com/ |title=tUnE-yArDs official website|website=Tune-yards.com |access-date=April 17, 2011}} A single from it, "Bizness", came out in February 2011. It was produced by Garbus and engineered by Eli Crews at New, Improved Studios in Oakland. Applying the live approach to Garbus' studio work for the first time, Garbus works with bass player Nate Brenner, who co-wrote some of the album's songs. Comparing the act to Sonic Youth, Frontier Psychiatrist said, "if Bird-Brains was Garbus' Evol, a record bursting with musical ideas that attempted to subvert the notion of song, who kill is Garbus' Sister, a record that embraces the traditional pop song as a vehicle to convey those ideas."{{cite web|url=http://frontpsych.com/2011/04/11/whats-a-girl-to-do-a-review-of-tune-yards-w-h-o-k-i-l-l/ |title=What's A Girl To Do?: A Review of tUnE-yArDs' w h o k i l l |publisher=Frontier Psychiatrist |date=April 11, 2011 |access-date=April 11, 2011}}{{cite web|title=On tUnE-YarDs, Chuck Klosterman and the End of the High Fidelity Era of Music Criticism|work=The L Magazine |date=January 25, 2012|url=http://www.thelmagazine.com/TheMeasure/archives/2012/01/25/on-tune-yards-chuck-klosterman-and-the-end-of-the-high-fidelity-era-of-music-criticism|access-date=17 June 2013}} The album as well as singles "Bizness" and "Gangsta" received mention on many top 2011 album and song lists, including Time,{{cite magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2101344_2101364_2101588,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120107200915/http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2101344_2101364_2101588,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 7, 2012 |title=Time Magazine Top 10 albums of 2011 (#6)|magazine=Time | date=December 7, 2011}}{{cite magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2101344_2101365_2101669,00.html
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120107201010/http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2101344_2101365_2101669,00.html
|url-status=dead
|archive-date=January 7, 2012
|title=Time Magazine Top 10 Songs of 2011 (#6)|magazine=Time | date=December 7, 2011}} Rolling Stone,{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/50-best-albums-of-2011-20111207/tune-yards-whokill-19691231 |title=Rolling Stone 50 Best Albums of 2011 (#13) |magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=2016-12-12 }}{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/50-best-singles-of-2011-20111207/tune-yards-bizness-19691231 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120107175601/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/50-best-singles-of-2011-20111207/tune-yards-bizness-19691231 |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 7, 2012 |title=Rolling Stone 50 Best Singles of 2011 (#32) |magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=2016-12-12}} Spin,{{cite web|url=https://www.spin.com/2011/12/spins-50-best-albums-2011/?page=0%2C4 |title=Spin Magazine Top 50 Albums of 2011 (#30) |website=Spin.com|date=December 12, 2011 |access-date=2016-12-12 }} and the New York Times.{{cite news |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/18/arts/music/music-of-heartache-mortality-and-success.html?_r=1 |newspaper= The New York Times |title= The New York Times Top 10 Pop Albums of 2011 (#7) |first=Jon |last= Pareles |date= December 15, 2011}} In early 2012, the Village Voice's annual "Pazz and Jop" poll of critics named Whokill the No. 1 album of 2011.{{cite web |url= http://www.villagevoice.com/pazznjop/albums/2011/ |title= Village Voice Pazz + Jop 2011 Albums |website= Villagevoice.com |access-date= 2016-12-12}} The song "Fiya" is featured on a 2010 commercial for the Blackberry Torch, while the song "Gangsta" has been used in the television shows Orange Is the New Black, Letterkenny, Weeds and The Good Wife and the song "Bizness" was used in Season 3 of Transparent.
Garbus started recording material for her third LP during the latter half of 2013, with a working title of Sink-o.{{Cite web|url = http://www.nme.com/news/tune-yards/70719|title = tUnE-yArDs' Merrill Garbus writing 'chaotic' new album 'Sink-o'|date = June 6, 2013|publisher = NME|access-date = August 14, 2013}} A May 6, 2014 release date was later announced with the title Nikki Nack.{{cite web|last=Hogan|first=Marc|title=tUnE-yArDs Teases 'Nikki Nack' LP With Deliriously Anarchic Megamix|date=March 3, 2014|url=https://www.spin.com/2014/03/tune-yards-nikki-nack-album-megamix-stream-tour-dates-4ad/|publisher=SPIN|access-date=3 March 2014}} The album spawned three singles, including "Water Fountain", which was featured in the soundtrack for EA Sports video game FIFA 15{{Cite web|url=https://www.easports.com/fifa/news/2014/fifa-15-soundtrack-details|title=Listen to the FIFA 15 Soundtrack|date=September 16, 2014|website=EA Sports|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180721103251/https://www.easports.com/fifa/news/2014/fifa-15-soundtrack-details|archive-date=July 21, 2018|url-status=live|access-date=August 9, 2018}} as well as in a 2016 commercial for the Google Pixel.{{cite web|title=Google Pixel: Memories by you, phone by Google|url=https://tvadvertsongs.com/google-pixel-memories-by-you-phone-by-google/|website=tvadvertsongs.com|access-date=23 May 2018}}
A fourth album was released on January 19, 2018, called I Can Feel You Creep into My Private Life.{{Cite web|url=http://4ad.com/releases/865|title=The official website for independent record label 4AD.|website=4AD|language=en|access-date=2018-01-23}} The album showed more of an electronic influence.{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/jan/18/tune-yards-i-can-feel-you-creep-into-my-private-life-review-merrill-garbus|title=Tune-Yards: I Can Feel You Creep Into My Private Life review – wonky diva wakes up to wokeness|last=Petridis|first=Alexis|date=2018-01-18|website=the Guardian|access-date=2018-01-24}} The single "Look at Your Hands" was released earlier, in October 2017, followed by "Heart Attack" in January.{{cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/news/tune-yards-score-boots-riley-directed-film-sorry-to-bother-you/|title=Tune-Yards Score Boots Riley-Directed Film Sorry to Bother You|website=Pitchfork|date=November 30, 2017 |access-date=December 17, 2018}}
The Tune-Yards scored the satiric science fiction film Sorry to Bother You (2018). The film was shown at Sundance in January, then began a theatrical run in July. Its soundtrack songs are performed by the Coup, fronted by the film's director, Boots Riley. Riley said he started working with Tune-Yards in "early 2015" to create the film's score, with demo tracks already available before the script was complete, and before the start of principal photography. Riley said he was attracted to Garbus's voice, and to the band's "unorthodox use of percussion and vocal layering."{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/movies/8465339/sorry-to-bother-you-boots-riley-tune-yards-score-soundtrack|title='Sorry to Bother You' Director Boots Riley on Working With Tune-Yards and Breaking the Rules of Soundtracks|magazine=Billboard|access-date=December 17, 2018}} Garbus also composed the theme music for The New Yorker Radio Hour.{{cite web|url=https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/tnyradiohour/about|website=WNYC Studios|title=About The New Yorker Radio Hour|accessdate=June 7, 2023}}
In 2021, Tune-Yards appeared as the opening performance for Google I/O with Artificial Intelligence powered vocal accompaniment.{{cite web |title=Google I/O 2021 – Okay, Google, show us new stuff |url=https://www.resetera.com/threads/google-i-o-2021-ot-okay-google-show-us-new-stuff.427544/ |website=ResetEra |access-date=3 September 2021 |date=18 May 2021}}{{cite web |last1=McHugh-Johnson |first1=Molly |title=The story behind the Blob Opera world tour |url=https://blog.google/outreach-initiatives/arts-culture/story-behind-blob-opera-world-tour/ |website=Google Blog |access-date=3 September 2021 |date=18 May 2021}}
Members
- Merrill Garbus – vocals, ukulele, percussion (2006–present)
- Nate Brenner – bass guitar (2009–present)
;Touring members
- Hamir Atwal – percussion (I can feel you creep into my private life tour, Sketchy tour)
- Noah Bernstein – saxophone (whokill tour)
- Haley Dekle - percussion, vocals (Nikki Nack tour)
- Kasey Knudsen – saxophone (whokill tour)
- Jo Lampert – vocals (Nikki Nack tour)
- Dani Markham – percussion, vocals (Nikki Nack tour)
- Matt Nelson – saxophone (whokill tour)
- Abigail Nessen-Bengson – vocals (Nikki Nack tour)
- Moira Smiley – vocals (Nikki Nack tour)
Discography
=Studio albums=
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:left;"
|+ List of studio albums, with selected chart positions !rowspan="2"| Title !rowspan="2" style="width:250px;"| Details !colspan="10"| Peak chart positions |
| style="width:3em;font-size:85%"|US {{cite magazine|url={{BillboardURLbyName|artist=tune-yards|chart=all}}|title=Chart Places tUnE-yArDs|magazine=Billboard|access-date=2011-10-04}} !style="width:3em;font-size:85%"|US !style="width:3em;font-size:85%"|US !style="width:3em;font-size:85%"|AUS !style="width:3em;font-size:85%"|BEL !style="width:3em;font-size:85%"|BEL !style="width:3em;font-size:85%"|IRE !style="width:3em;font-size:85%"| SCO
!style="width:3em;font-size:85%"|UK
!style="width:3em;font-size:85%"|UK |
|---|
| scope="row"| Bird-Brains
| | style="text-align:center;"| — | style="text-align:center;"| — | style="text-align:center;"| — | style="text-align:center;"| — | style="text-align:center;"| — | style="text-align:center;"| — | style="text-align:center;"| — | style="text-align:center;"| — | style="text-align:center;"| — | style="text-align:center;"| — |
| scope="row"| Whokill
|
| style="text-align:center;"| 148 | style="text-align:center;"| 26 | style="text-align:center;"| 37 | style="text-align:center;"| — | style="text-align:center;"| 49 | style="text-align:center;"| — | style="text-align:center;"| 55 | style="text-align:center;"| — | style="text-align:center;"| 135 | style="text-align:center;"| 17 |
| scope="row"| Nikki Nack
|
| style="text-align:center;"| 27 | style="text-align:center;"| 4 | style="text-align:center;"| 8 | style="text-align:center;"| 15 | style="text-align:center;"| 51 | style="text-align:center;"| 152 | style="text-align:center;"| — | style="text-align:center;"| 90 | style="text-align:center;"| 57 | style="text-align:center;"| 11 |
| scope="row"| I Can Feel You Creep into My Private Life
|
| style="text-align:center;"| —{{efn|group=upper-alpha|I Can Feel You Creep Into My Private Life did not enter the US Billboard 200, but peaked at number 62 on the Album Sales Chart.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/tune-yards/chart-history/tsl/|title=Tune Yards Chart History: Album Sales|magazine=Billboard|access-date=April 21, 2021}}}} | style="text-align:center;"| 11 | style="text-align:center;"| —{{efn|group=upper-alpha|"I Can Feel You Creep into My Private Life" did not enter the Top Rock Albums chart, but peaked at number 18 on the Rock Album Sales chart.{{cite magazine | url=https://www.billboard.com/music/tune-yards/chart-history/roc | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210420182130/https://www.billboard.com/music/tune-yards/chart-history/roc | url-status=dead | archive-date=April 20, 2021 |title=tUnE-yArDs Chart History – Rock Album Sales|magazine=Billboard|access-date=April 20, 2021}}}} | style="text-align:center;"| — | style="text-align:center;"| 67 | style="text-align:center;"| — | style="text-align:center;"| — | style="text-align:center;"| 98 | style="text-align:center;"| —{{efn|group=upper-alpha|I Can Feel You Creep into My Private Life did not enter the UK Albums Chart, but peaked at number 78 on the UK Album Downloads Chart.{{cite web|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/albums-downloads-chart/20180126/7003/ |title=Official Album Downloads Chart Top 100 |publisher=Official Charts Company|date=April 10, 2020|accessdate=April 20, 2021}}}} | style="text-align:center;"| 10 |
| scope="row"| Sketchy
|
| style="text-align:center;"| —{{efn|group=upper-alpha|Sketchy did not enter the US Billboard 200, but peaked at number 69 on the Current Album Sales Chart.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/tune-yards/chart-history/tcl/|title=Tune Yards Chart History: Current Album Sales|magazine=Billboard|access-date=March 18, 2022}}}} | style="text-align:center;"| — | style="text-align:center;"| — | style="text-align:center;"| — | style="text-align:center;"| — | style="text-align:center;"| — | style="text-align:center;"| — | style="text-align:center;"| — | style="text-align:center;"| —{{efn|group=upper-alpha|Sketchy did not enter the UK Albums Chart, but peaked at number 91 on the UK Album Downloads Chart.{{cite web|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/albums-downloads-chart/20210402/7003/ |title=Official Album Downloads Chart Top 100 |publisher=Official Charts Company|date=April 2, 2021|accessdate=March 18, 2022}}}} | style="text-align:center;"| 36 |
| scope="row"| Better Dreaming
|
|— |— |— |— |— |— |— |— |— |— |
=Soundtracks=
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:left;"
|+ List of soundtrack albums !rowspan="1"| Title !rowspan="1" style="width:250px;"| Details |
| scope="row"| Sorry to Bother You (original score)
|
|
|---|
=EPs=
- Bird-Droppings (November 3, 2009, 4AD, EAD2938) US-only download EP
- ...creep... Remixes (October 31, 2018, 4AD, 4AD0127DS) Download-only EP
=Singles=
=Guest appearances=
- Citay – "Mirror Kisses" from Dream Get Together (January 26, 2010, Dead Oceans)
- Afuche – "Danice Marino" from Highly Publicized Digital Boxing Match (May 21, 2011, Cuneiform Records)
- Elephant & Castle – "En Memoria" from Transitions (March 27, 2012, Plug Research)
- Preservation Hall Jazz Band – "Careless Love" from St. Peter & 57th St. (September 25, 2012, Rounder Records)
- The Blind Boys of Alabama – "I've Been Searching" from I'll Find a Way (October 1, 2013, Sony Masterworks)
- Battles (band) – "Last Supper On Shasta Pt 1 / Pt 2" from Juice B Crypts (October 16, 2019, Warp (record label))
=Productions=
- Thao & Mirah – Thao + Mirah (April 26, 2011, Kill Rock Stars)
- Latyrx – "Deliberate Jibberish" and "Watershed Moment" from The Second Album (November 5, 2013, Latyramid)
- Thao & the Get Down Stay Down – A Man Alive (March 4, 2016, Ribbon Music)
- Sonny & the Sunsets – Moods Baby Moods (May 27, 2016, Polyvinyl)
=Compilation appearances=
- "Powa" from 4AD Sessions 2008–2011 (September 20, 2011, 4AD)
- "Bizness" from Modern Songbirds: The Most Incredible Female Singers (April 20, 2012, EMI)
- "Bizness" from Studio Brussel Selected Live Sessions (April 21, 2012, Studio Brussel)
- "Lady" from Red Hot + Fela (June 1, 2012, Knitting Factory Records)
- "Riotriot" from Rough Trade Shops: Green Man '12 (July 30, 2012, Rough Trade Records)
=Notes=
{{notelist-ua}}
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
External links
- [http://tune-yards.com/ Tune-Yards' official website]
- {{Discogs artist|Tune-Yards}}
- [http://www.4ad.com/artists/tuneyards Tune-Yards' profile on 4AD's website]
{{Authority control}}
Category:Afrobeat musical groups
Category:American feminist musicians
Category:American experimental musical groups
Category:Musical groups established in 2006