tUnE-yArDs

You can see it in her physical self, her embracing of the manliness of her body and voice
I feel that the entire project embodies a sort of acceptance of "one's own body", one's situation
Allowing these so-called limitations to themselves create the limits of her artistic expression.
I can't express it any more specifically than to say that it feels like a well-wrought feminist statement

OTM, that's part of what i was getting at. i think it extends to her use of her own voice.

or, i'd agree, rather...

I don't disagree necessarily, what I am saying is that Merrill as pop singer is going to be very different from Merrill as self-made indie artist.

_Don't_ be put off by the alleged lo-finess of the first record.
There's an intimacy on that record that is gone (but not forgotten) on the new one.

Totally - it's nothing anybody who listened to Shrimper cassettes, say, would ever think of as all that lo-fi in the first place. The vocals tend to be less histrionic - which is a totally valid criticism of the new one imo! - even though I don't think she'd quite figured out, lyrically, what she wanted her band to be about at that point. And since she's forced to work within the limitations of her recording technology a lot more, when things peak or clip too much, the results can be really striking. That bass drop at the end of "Little Tiger" is still probably my favorite moment in any of her songs.

http://www.marriagerecs.com/shop2/744/tune-yards

Vinyl nerds should check out the LP, which has some of my favorite DIY vinyl packaging ever, and which was very key to me in shaping the aesthetic.

I feel that the entire project embodies a sort of acceptance of "one's own body", one's situation
Allowing these so-called limitations to themselves create the limits of her artistic expression.
I can't express it any more specifically than to say that it feels like a well-wrought feminist statement

cosign on that, i think. still trying to get at the root of what i find compelling about this.

we have this idea that music which is to do with er female anger is bound up with inchoate expression, with yelling and banging on things; i find this record compelling because of how merrill's vocal chops let her switch from sweetness to bellowing on a dime maybe undercut this

i mean, a part of the project of the record is dealing with violence and gender in ways which quietly muck around with our usual terms of reference: so in the bit i quoted above it sort of signifies that the musical analogue to the FREEDOM IN VIOLENCE she just DOESN'T UNDERSTAAAAND is actually a very tight piece of playing; or that she uses the sweetest of all possible coos for the 'policeman shot my baby' bit; or "your powa inside, wrecks me like a lullaby"

OK, I confess I've been avoiding this because of the name, but, uh. This is great. This is great! How could I have been so petty for so long?

Exactly. THis is the album of the year. Don't let the odd capitalization put you off.

For what it's worth, here's what I thought:

http://devonrecordclub.wordpress.com/2011/05/05/tune-yards-whokill-round-7toms-choice/

This song is incredible. And I can most immediately hear in it the African - High Life - Fela Kuti - Zaire - 70s Afro Pop big band style. I believe that we all influence one another, its just a matter of who gets access to the widest disemmination regime. Paul Simon had his Graceland, hipsters dance on Soul Nights with few black people around. I cant wait for the Zimbabwean band that is inspired by Morrissey that sells out Chinese stadiums and is managed by R. Kelly, we will all sing praises.
twentyeighter 2 days ago 2

I can't wait for that either

Been hearing a lot of hype about this band, but I just. can't. get into it. Her voice gives me the same physical sensation as someone running their fingernails down a chalk board.

Clearly others don't feel this way, so maybe it hits some weird spot in my brain.

I think it's the vocals that make it for me. I like how raw and loose and emotionally expressive they sound against the music. The live vocal and string playing angainst the electronic music reminds me of the first two Le Tigre albums, in spirit. There are places where I was reminded by the Minutemen, as well. I'm not crazy in love, but I do like it.

I also don't quite like her vocals and the lyrics -- there's something about it that reminds me of the staff of the womens college newspaper at my university.

She's a lot more fun though. Ordinarily I'd agree with you about This Kind of Voice.

the staff of the womens college newspaper at my university.

I stayed away from this for awhile because she seemed like an Ani DiFranco-style identity politics type of act. But holy mackerel was i ever wrong. It's the album of the year. And she's not dabbling in African music. She sounds like she knows it backwards and forwards.

The music itself I like, but her voice reminds me of this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cVlTeIATBs

I always read this band's name as fUcK-tArDs

lol feminist undergrad rock music is basically something i can never ever hate on

there's something about it that reminds me of the staff of the womens college newspaper at my university

haha this is like ... this is an opinion, not just that you have, but you are willing to share, & go on record as having? ok then

dick

lol

This album did not test well with the eight-month pregnant women in my household demographic, its been banned from being played around her lest it enduces early labor.

same effect as women's college newspapers iirc

lol

It's hard for me to put my finger on why I like Dirty Projectors more than this. One reason might be that I heard Dirty Projectors first so this sounded a little derivative whether it really is or not. But the other is that it doesn't seem to have the same humor and strangeness that Longstreth has, like here underneath all the ostensible weirdness here is something that just feels too self-serious and statement-making. The womens-college-newspaper thing is an undercurrent. I mean if the staff of the womens' college newspaper had actually been listening to this and not the Indigo Girls on repeat it would have been an improvement, believe me. I still think the music is good, like if I wound up seeing her live I'd probably pay attention and enjoy it.

Perhaps the highlight of Pitchfork Festival, tbh.

DPs are in a totally different league imo. but then with them (unlike tune-yards) i get the impression that the music is the whole thing, with the lyrics being kind of an afterthought or placeholders.

On Fallon tonight fyi

she was knockout good live last night

whokill definitely among the most played albums of the year for me along with quik and deathgrips

this is pure shit

pUrE-sHiT

lol, u mad

its the kind of thing people will wince at later. like going through an old box and finding a 10,000 maniacs peace train cassingle.

Nah, I winced first, but now I <3 the new album.

When people talk shit about how hipsters are just groupthink followers who will accept anything no matter how obviously fucking terrible it is as long as it's approved by some consensus reality/tastemakers they are talking specifically about tune-yards. People should be ashamed to listen to this.

MFB SB

all your post is missing is a "sheeple" somewhere

Like I get the hate for this stuff, I used to have a kneejerk hatred for it too, but I always hate when people's reaction comes down to "YOU ONLY LIKE THIS TERRIBLE THING BECAUSE HIPSTERS DO". Uh, no. Try again, I'm sure you can come up with valid reasons to explain why you dislike her.

tbh on current evidence i doubt that

lol true

idk im p sure women's studies rock is like the best music that exists

i thought her first album was legit terrible but i only heard it after hearing clips of her doing songs off it live where it was way better even if she does that annoying thing with loop pedals i actually enjoy it when she does

i'm always amused when people pick ANYTHING and act like everyone is just totally fronting or missing the point entirely. you're welcome to dislike anything you like but it's just ludicrous for you to tell me how I don't really like it.

anyways, she's great live except for a kinda embarrassing stab at attempting hoomei at the beginning of the set but that was forgivable as "trying this shit out"

i was getting this label confused w the Art Yard label and i was all like hey these ppl have put out some sweet sun ra discs but as you were

i have no problem believing that people like tuneyards. people like all kinds of horrible stuff. there is no law against it. yet...

This crap has as many posts as the Rolling African Music thread. Fuck this industry.

rmde

really shocked that the most sensitive soul on ILX likes the tamest, lamest, crappiest music.

whiney g weingarten posts on Rolling African Music 2011 Thread : 4
whiney g weingarten posts on tUnE-yArDs : 4

If you like her, you like her I am just saying every person I've met with one exception who is a big tune-yards enthusiastic is your typical trend-watching late to the game pitchfork type person who attends like ~6 concerts a year and illegally downloads all their music. I like a lot of shit music too, and I suppose I like to think it doesn't impugn my character but it probably does sort of.

I have seen her live and it was one of the most atrocious spectacles I've ever witnessed.

Also this:

She said the weird spelling was to increase her MySpace visibility.

The success of people like tun-yards makes me really cynical about the "current music scene" and I don't like to feel cynical about music.