Merrill Garbus, a.k.a., tUnE-yArDs, just made her national late night debut on the Jimmy Kimmel show – Her sound and on-the-spot drum looping leaves quite an impression, even heralding a call for more organic music sounds.
Drawing on her love of African music, reggae and hip-hop, she self-recorded and self-released her first album, BiRd-BrAiNs, on recycled cassette tapes before being picked up by the 4AD label in 2009. Her follow-up, 2011’s “whokill”, was a leap forward and one of the most striking albums of the year.
Garbus, 32, was at college in the US more than a decade ago when she was offered the chance to go abroad to extend her studies. She chose to investigate modern-day pirates in Africa.
”My teacher discouraged me,” she says, speaking from her home in Oakland, California. ”He said, ‘Please don’t study piracy. It’s very dangerous and what the heck are you going to get out of it?”’
Tune-Yards’ song “Fiya” is featured on a 2010 commercial for the Blackberry Torch, while the song “Gangsta” has been used in the television shows Weeds and The Good Wife.
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