Merrill Garbus

More Is More in Mwahaha's Chaotic Synth-Rock

Sizzle & Fizzle: Highs and Lows from the Last Week in S.F. Music

Local Musicians Re-Imagine Radiohead's Kid A with Stunning Success, 2/24/13

UnderCover SF presents Kid A February 24, 2013 Rickshaw Shop Better than: That Stereogum Kid A mixtape; reading the Kid A 33 ⅓ book while listening to Kid A. There's an Internet-famous Chuck Klosterman essay about cover bands. The crux of it: if artists become artists to express themselves, why ... More >>

The First Listens of 2012: What We Got Right, What We Got Wrong

As evinced bu my initial take on Tyler, the Creator's Goblin and my final opinion, a lot happens between one's first listen to an album and their final conclusion after taking it in several times. What I love about writing these features is that you get to read my pure, unvarnished thoughts about a ... More >>

Social Studies: Cinematic Melancholy You Can Dance To

Social Studies took a long, convoluted path from their genesis to the rhythmic revelations that make Developer, their second full-length release, such an imaginative excursion. The S.F. band's early history is crowded with shifting interconnections and contradictions that defy attempts at charting a ... More >>

Animal Collective's Centipede Hz: A First Listen

I'm not an Animal Collective fan. I like Strawberry Jam a lot, and I cherish a few individual songs elsewhere, particularly "Summertime Clothes" (not least because it sounds just like the theme from Snoopy Come Home, which I loved as a kid). But their rhythms are so clumpy, melodies so soupy, and "i ... More >>

Watch: Tune-Yards' Naytronix Goes Romping Around S.F. with Gorilla Pal in 'Robotic' Video

Naytronix is the solo project of Nate Brenner, best known as being the bassist of Oakland art-pop heroes tUnE-yArDs. We've gushed previously about the freaky electro of Naytronix's first EP, which came out this spring, and here is a new video for "Robot," the first single off Brenner's solo debut, D ... More >>

Fiona Apple's The Idler Wheel: A First Listen

There are a lot of cool things riding on Fiona Apple. For one thing, she hasn't been chewed up and spit out by a desperate, dying industry. She's still on a major label despite not having posed for a racy photo or released anything capable of being a hit in years. In fact, despite not releasing anyt ... More >>

Naytronix: Show Preview

Sizzle & Fizzle: Highs and Lows from the Last Week in S.F. Music

Live Review 4/24/12: tUnE-yArDs and St. Vincent Explode Minds and Corneas at the Fox

St. Vincent tUnE-yArDs Tuesday, April 24, 2012 The Fox Theater, Oakland Better than: Tim Burton meets Bobby McFerrin meets Slash meets strobe-induced seizure. Whereas Monday night's live score by tUnE-yArDs at the Castro Theatre was somewhat restrained, front woman Merrill Garbus let loose for her ... More >>

Live Review 4/23/2012: tUnE-yArDs Gives New Life to Silent Buster Keaton Shorts at the Castro Theatre

tUnE-yArDs Monday, April 23, 2012 The Castro Theatre Better than: Silent films without a score (and tUnE-yArDs without a guitarist). "You get to look at our behinds," tUnE-yArDs frontwoman Merrill Garbus said as the five musicians onstage turned their backs on the audience to face the screen. Seco ... More >>

Arthouse Movie Listings April 18-24, 2012

The S.F. International Film Festival Stirs Up Ethical Dilemmas

Coachella in Your Backyard: Nine Good Local Shows That Aren't Sold Out

tUnE-yArDs' New "My Country" Video: Merrill Garbus and the Kids Rock Out

If tUnE-yArDs' Merrill Garbus wasn't touring the country with her pretty-darn-successful band, she would make the raddest third-grade teacher ever. In the new video for "My Country" -- the third single off of last year's mega-lauded w h o k i l l -- Garbus recruits an army of shorties to stand in as ... More >>

Switchboard Festival: Show Preview

Switching It Up

Sizzle & Fizzle: Highs and Lows from the Last Week in S.F. Music

Oakland's tUnE-yArDs Wins The Village Voice's Annual Pazz & Jop Critics Poll

Hey, you'd be smiling, too.​ Let the Bay Area pride fly: According to the the Village Voice's annual Pazz & Jop critics poll, whose results were released late yesterday, the best album of 2011 was made by none other than Oakland funk-pop outfit tUnE-yArDs. Yep, that's best album, period. The ... More >>

Music Links: Gold Dust Lounge Faces Eviction, New Grass Widow Single, and More

Grass Widow has a great new song and plays for free tonight in Oakland.​ Sadly, the historic Gold Dust Lounge in Union Square is facing eviction. [Inside Scoop] Hear a great new song from S.F.'s Grass Widow called "Disappearing Industries" (and see them for free tonight at the Uptown in Oakla ... More >>

Sizzle & Fizzle: Special Edition: The Best Bay Area Records of 2011

One Last Spin: A Look Back at the Year in Bay Area Music

Absorb More Best of 2011 Picks (Including Ours) in Noise Pop's New Podcast

Most people write out a year-end list; wisely, Noise Pop makes a podcast out of the project. The crew at S.F.'s best-known indie concert promotion outfit polled a host of artists, bloggers, DJs, and music writers about their favorite songs of 2011. The result is a recording that includes a wide vari ... More >>

The 10 Best Bay Area Music Videos of 2011

From Seventeen Evergreen's "Polarity Song" video.​ Ah, the music video: In three decades, these modest clips went from insider promo tool, to prime-time TV staple, to Internet meme-generator. And despite all the online noise and bustle of 2011, a good music video is still a fantastic way to gr ... More >>

In Which Three Young Boys Weigh in on the Best Songs of 2011

Not an actual photo of any of the children subjected to WU LYF for this article.​The year is drawing to a close, which means it's time for us music writers to puff out our chests -- those chests emblazoned with big red "C's" for "critic" -- and be extra insular, bombastic, and pissy. In our ye ... More >>

Watch Kapowski's 'Section 8' Video: Old Age, Robot Rebellion, and Some Strange Iced Tea

Kapowski is a newish four-piece indie pop band from Oakland that has no guitars and may (or may not) be named after a certain cheerleader from Saved By The Bell. But regardless of its high school sitcom loyalties, the band's new video for "Section 8" is a winner: In the Perez Brothers-directed clip ... More >>

tUnE-yArDs' Merrill Garbus on Her Creative Philosophy, Finding Inspiration in the Bay, and the Wisdom of Steve Jobs

By CHLOE ROTH In 2009, tUnE-yArDs frontwoman Merrill Garbus was lured from Montreal to Oakland by "Love and fear of illegal immigrant status in Canada." Lucky for us. "I started sadly playing a ukulele that my mom had given me," Garbus says. "Though it crossed my mind that being a doctor was probab ... More >>

Album of the Year: Handicapping the Race for the Best Record of 2011

It's almost November -- the month when music scribes pull their ears out of whatever Sonic Youth/Public Enemy/Kate Bush playlist they normally exist to and begin cramming for that all-important professional exercise: The annual Best Of list. Picking the 10 or so best new albums of the year and placi ... More >>

Promising Local Outfit Pancho-San Lets Its Psych-Folk Horses Run Free in "Kick the Fences Down"

​ Pancho-san is a newish Bay Area band consisting of former Beulah and Rogue Wave members Patrick Abernethy, Eli Crews, and Pat Spurgeon. With a pedigree like that -- Beulah was ludicrously good, and Crews also helped record and mix tUnE-yArDs' w h o k i l l (along with many other good records ... More >>

Hear Mwahaha, East Bay Bleep-Rock That Ain't No Laughing Matter

We're a bit unsure of the name, but anyone looking for experimental new rock/electronic sounds out of the Bay Area (or anywhere, really), oughta give Mwhahaha a listen. The band sounds more than a little bit like TV on the Radio sometimes, but -- as you may have gathered from its moniker -- it is fa ... More >>

Get Random with tUnE-yArDs' Merrill Garbus in the New "Gangsta" Video

Merrill Garbus in the mirror​ Those of you hoping for a repeat of the "Bizness" video's ultracute crispness may be disappointed -- tUnE-yArDs' new "Gangsta" video is a black-and-white bricolage of Garbusian whimsy. Captured, we're guessing, on tour with Merrill, Nate, and the Bay Area gang, th ... More >>

Sizzle & Fizzle: Outside Lands Edition

Beastie Boys' Ad-Rock Gives tUnE-yArDs' "Gangsta" the Boom-Bap Treatment

​ So Beastie Boys mastermind Ad-Rock put his own spin on the excellent "Gangsta" by Oakland's own tUnE-yArDs. In case you missed the band's big-deal set this weekend at Outside Lands, the original version of "Gangsta" already gets crowds moving heartily. For the remix, Ad-Rock pairs vocal samp ... More >>

Friday: Vetiver and tUnE-yArDs Sway Late into the Night at the Rickshaw Stop

tUnE-yArDs at the Rickshaw Stop Friday night.​ Vetiver Tune-Yards Extra Classic DJ Britt Govea of ((folk yeah)) August 12, 2011 Rickshaw Stop / Outside Lands night show Better than: Freezing your ass off while listening to Phish for three hours in the Outer Sunset. No, seriously. "This squar ... More >>

Thirteen Lesser-Known Artists You Should See at Outside Lands 2011

From SF Weekly's latest print music section: tUnE-yArDs is one act you shouldn't miss at Outside Lands​Outside Lands Must-Sees: You're obviously going to catch the headliner sets at this weekend's Outside Lands Festival, so we'll assume you're already more than familiar with Arcade Fire, Muse ... More >>

Surprise! Friday's Rickshaw Stop Special Guest is tUnE-yArDs (Not Muse)

Relax, Merrill, the secret's out!​ So yeah, the hackers fucked with Muse's Facebook page, duped us, and disappointed you. But look at the bright side: The special guest for Friday's Outside Lands night show at the Rickshaw Stop is no longer a secret -- and it's awesome! Cue the ukuleles, drum ... More >>

London Warehouse Fire Badly Burns Indie Labels

via yfrog​The London riots began with a fatal police shooting, but the latest casualty may be independent record labels. Protesters burned down a CD and vinyl stock warehouse in North London last night that was owned by Sony DADC and used by the PIAS Group, a marketing and distribution firm t ... More >>

Watch tUnE-yArDs Make Its TV Debut with the Roots on "Gangsta"

tUnE-yArDs on TV!​ So this was pretty cool: Not only did the Oakland experimental pop outfit tUnE-yArDs make its TV debut last night on the Late Night with Jimmy Fallon show, but it did it so with the show's house band, which just so happens to be the Roots. With Questlove on drums and Black T ... More >>

5 Things to Like About the Outside Lands Festival Schedule

Outside Lands: Now without (hopefully) the painful decision-making!​ The schedule for this year's Outside Lands festival hit the web earlier today. But you can stop gritting your teeth and clutching the edge of that desk: Although many festival schedules are an exercise in painful decision-mak ... More >>

Stay Up Late: tUnE-yArDs To Make TV Debut on Today's Late Night with Jimmy Fallon

Merrill Garbus of tUnE-yArDs: Now safe for TV!​ Not every TV appearance warrants a note, but this one sure does: tUnE-yArDs, the Oakland-based art-pop project of one supremely talented lady by the name of Merril Garbus, will make its late night TV debut tonight. This is but the latest in a bre ... More >>

Thao and Mirah Hold a Cheery, Slightly Teary Group Therapy Session at Great American Music Hall

Thao and Mirah at Great American Music Hall last night.​ Thao Mirah BOBBY Led to Sea May 2, 2007 @ Great American Music Hall Better than: Group therapy, Advil Severe Cold & Sinus. As it turns out, one thing that happens when two singer-songwriters with feverishly dedicated cult followings j ... More >>

Thao and Mirah: Show Preview

The Subversive Beauty of tUnE-yArDs

In Print: the Subversive Beauty of tUnE-yArDs, Del the Funky Homosapien's Trip to Hip-Hop's Past, and More

Merrill Garbus of tUnE-yArDs​ From SF Weekly's latest print music section: On tUnE-yArDs: Welcome to the edge of experimental pop in 2011. Garbus has just seen the release of tUne-yArDs' second album, w h o k i l l, which seems all but certain to accelerate her rise from DIY curiosity into one o ... More >>

Wanna Talk to Thao and Mirah? All You Gotta Do Is Buy Their New Album

​Okay, Kill Rock Stars, we really, really hope this isn't some kind of April fool's stunt. You're going to break a lot of Bay Area hearts if it is. What are we talking about? A new little note on the KRS website that says the first 200 people who preorder the new collaboration album from Thao Ngyu ... More >>

SXSW So Far: The Highlights and Lowlights of Two Days in Austin

The Dodos​Far more occurs in the maelstrom of South-By than bears retelling -- even in just two music-packed days. So in lieu of lengthiness, here's a drive-by roundup of the highlights and lowlights from our last two days in Austin. HighlightsSqueezing onto a tiny, cramped balcony at 1 a.m. ... More >>

Tune-Yards Featured in Rolling Stone, Because 'Bizness' Is Amazing

Anna M CampbellTune-Yards' Merrill Garbus​So we're into predictions lately. Here's one: 2011 is going to be a great year for Tune-Yards, the Oakland-based project of Merrill Garbus, whom you may as well start thinking of as the one-girl Dirty Projectors of the West. (A problematic comparison, but ... More >>

Thao and Mirah Announce Details of New Collaboration Album

​We told you back in July that Bay Area local Thao (of Get Down Stay Down fame) and Pacific Northwesterner Mirah (of general indie whimsy fame) are working on an album together after touring with each other. Well, details are out kids: Thao & Mirah is out on Kill Rock Stars April 26, ... More >>

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