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Merrill Garbus a.k.a. Tune-Yards (jcbehm/flickr)
The songwriter Merrill Garbus, aka tUnE-yArDs, really knows how to throw listeners for a loop. Literally. Her debut album, a lo-fi affair released just a few years ago, was recorded almost entirely with a ukulele and looping pedal…which didn’t stop the song "Fiya" from getting picked up for a Blackberry commercial. Today, Merrill and her band bring a joyful noise live to our studio. Plus: Celebrating Bob Dylan's 70th birthday by revisiting two classic Dylan films.
Dylan Double Feature
Happy 70th, Bob Dylan! Well, almost. Here in New York, the Film Forum movie theater is celebrating the troubadour's upcoming birthday with a double feature of two films that celebrate a younger Dylan: the 1967 documentary “Don’t Look Back” and “The Other Side of the Mirror,” a compilation of Dylan’s appearances at the Newport Folk Festival. New York Times film critic A.O. Scott recently took in both movies and joins us to share his reaction.
In Studio: tUnE-yArDs
Merrill Garbus, aka tUnE-yArDs, recorded her 2009 debut BiRd-BrAiNs straight to a voice recorder using mostly a ukulele and voice, looped over and again. It was an intimate, lo-fi affair drawing as much from R&B and Afro-pop as folk and rock - and the album was beloved as her high-intensity live shows. Her new record, w h o k i l l, marries the high and the "lo" in a joyful noise. Merrill and her band join us to explain all that font-formatting, and to perform live in studio.
Gig Alert: Todd Sickafoose
The septet used on Todd Sickafoose's acclaimed indie-jazz album Tiny Resistors hits Le Poisson Rouge on Wednesday night, presented by Undead Jazz. Download "Bye Bye Bees" here.
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