Bird-Brains Explained

Bird-Brains
Type:	Studio
Artist:	Tune-Yards
Cover:	Birdbrains.jpg
Released:	June 9, 2009
Genre:	Lo-fi
Length:	53:49
Next Title:	Whokill
Next Year:	2011

Bird-Brains (stylized as BiRd-BrAiNs) is the debut album by American lo-fi musician Merrill Garbus' project Tune-Yards. It was originally released as a Compact Cassette^[1] on Marriage Records on June 9, 2009, and was re-released on August 17 by 4AD as a limited-edition pressing. It was released worldwide on November 16, 2009, with two bonus tracks.

The album was recorded almost exclusively by Garbus on a hand recorder and mixed using Audacity.^[2] Speaking to Charlotte Richardson Andrews of The Guardian, she noted her instrumental limitations and how they led to a dependence on percussion: "I had no bass – literally, I didn't own one – so the drums had to be big."^[3]

Critical reception

Pitchfork ranked Bird-Brains at number 44 on their list of the top 50 albums of 2009.^[4]

Track listing

• The vinyl edition does not include the track "" and instead ends with "Fiya".

External links

• • https://web.archive.org/web/20110525101418/http://4ad.com/tune-yards/ Tune-Yards at 4AD

Notes and References

1. Web site: Inside The Jukebox: Tune-Yards Q&A . Sean and Matt . The Wounded Jukebox . August 25, 2010 . May 9, 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160303222221/http://thewoundedjukebox.com/2010/08/25/inside-the-jukebox-tune-yards-qa/ . March 3, 2016.
2. Web site: Merrill Garbus: of tUnE-yArDs . Eli Crews . Tape Op Magazine . 2012 . August 2, 2022.
3. News: Tune-Yards' Merrill Garbus on life after lo-fi . Charlotte Richardson . Andrews . . April 7, 2011 . May 9, 2012.
4. Web site: The Top 50 Albums of 2009 . . December 17, 2009 . April 24, 2017.