Tune-Yards

Tune-Yards is Merrill Garbus, a puppeteer-turned-musician with a flair for strange sounds, odd influences, and tape hiss. Created with little more than a ukulele and some rudimentary looping equipment, Garbus’ kitchen-sink folk recalls African street music, musical theater, and the kind of long-lost recordings found in an anthropologist’s basement. Her debut album, Bird-Brains, caught the ear of storied indie label 4AD, which re-released it. The album also caught the collective ears of Dirty Projectors, who asked Garbus to open for them on a number of dates. Since then, her popularity’s grown and she’s now selling out large rooms and showing up all over commercial radio. Her 2011 album, Whokill, cements Garbus as a fun yet kooky musical persona who’s as bright as the colors she paints on her face.

Updated 01/27/2012