tUnE-yArDs

tUnE-yArDs
Album: w h o k i l l
Song: Bizness

Wow.  Just...wow.

There are times when a piece of music opens my ears to new ways of configuring sounds.  It's not that tUnE-yArDs do things much differently than Owen Pallett or similar artists, at least from a technical standpoint.  The use of performing live loops to create symphonic effects has become relatively common within the pop idiom over the last decade, likely in response to technological advances in looping software.  The proof in the musical pudding, however, is precisely in how that software is used.  This is where tUnE-yArDs excel.

I tend to think of Owen Pallett as one of the leaders in this field.  Listen to him and you hear lush textures, sweeping melodies, grand gestures; it's all very Romantic.  And I must admit that I believed that looping software was best used to this sort of effect, to create something symphonic in scope.  At least until I heard tUnE-yArDs.  When I listen to tUnE-yArDs I hear the musings of an "anti-Romantic": the music is wry and playful one moment, pointillistic the next, and gristly at the last.  And it's completely unself-conscious.  It combines elements of the blues and jazz and pop and world music in a funky stew.  It's all very...modern.

tUnE-yArDs is the brainchild of New England musician Merrill Garbus.  She began as a solo artist, but more recently she has used a full backing band to add even greater depth to her music.  There is an interesting performative element here, too -- a full band provides the muscle needed to match her more full throated moments.  And indeed she has a remarkable voice, with a finely attuned sense of phrasing and dynamics.  Her vocals are almost always completely controlled.  There are times when she reminds me of Ella Fitzgerald.  Enough said.

And now I'm off to listen to her complete oeuvre.  Back in a few hours.



One more, showing off her more refined side...




Goddam. Soooo good.  I think I'm in love!