16th November 2009

Audio with 18 plays with 1 note

tUnE-yArDs - Sunlight
BiRd-BrAiNs (4AD)

Merrill Garbus recorded the debut tUnE-yArDs record, BiRd-BrAiNs, using just a Sony digital voice recorder and Audacity.  It’s quilted of weird sound, sometimes simple folk bits, sometimes mashed together snippets of disparate noise turned into sweet jams (think a less aggressive Black Dice).  Sublime Frequencies have been mentioned in comparison with the record, and I can understand why; imagine driving through the woods in the dark, flipping through the stations while on some kind of psychedelic-tranquilizer.  This record is what you should hear.  Children laughing and screaming, ukuleles, wind chimes, and fat, distorted crunches.  Creepy, awesome stuff.

Oh, and I shouldn’t forget to mention that Garbus has a nasty set of pipes on her.  ”Real Live Fresh,” the last track on the record, gives her a chance to really wail the shit out of things.  Highly recommended.

P.S. Typing that alternating-case stuff makes me feel like I’m an eleven-year-old girl sending IM’s to her boyfriend circa 1997.  Really emasculating.

Tagged: WTFgetting into a serious thinghonkers and squeakerslololololololololololololololo