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Tune-Yards

Tune-Yards

Tune-Yards Shares The Inspiration Behind 'Sketchy'

tune-yards Pooneh Ghana/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Pooneh Ghana/Courtesy of the artist

World Cafe

Tune-Yards Shares The Inspiration Behind 'Sketchy'

XPN

When you listen to a song by Tune-Yards, it can be like listening to a beautiful, but abstract painting. Hear a live performance of songs from the band's latest album.

tune-yards on World Cafe

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New Music Friday: The Top 7 Albums Out On March 26

Singer and rapper Noga Erez. Her new album, KIDS, is one of our top picks for the best albums out on Mar. 26. Dudi Hasson/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Dudi Hasson/Courtesy of the artist

All Songs Considered

New Music Friday: The Top 7 Albums Out On March 26

NPR Music's picks for the best albums out on Mar. 26 include the relentlessly infectious songs of AJR, Israeli rapper and singer Noga Erez, Tune-Yards, jazz legend Dr. Lonnie Smith and more.

New Music Friday: The Top 7 Albums Out On March 26

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New Mix: Tune-Yards, Tōth, Buzzy Lee, More

Clockwise from upper left: Moontype, Buzzy Lee, Johanna Samuels, Tōth, Tune-Yards Courtesy of the artists hide caption

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Courtesy of the artists

All Songs Considered

New Mix: Tune-Yards, Tōth, Buzzy Lee, More

All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen shares thrilling new music from Tune-Yards, Tōth's tale of playing the trumpet — and fainting — during a funeral, the stunning voice of a singer named mehro and more.

New Mix: Tune-Yards, Tōth, Buzzy Lee, More

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Tune-Yards' Merrill Garbus Pierces Her Own Privilege

"With all the compassion in my heart, I just want to say to white people sampling others' music: what you're engaging in is colonialism," Merrill Garbus says. "Name it for what it is." Eliot Lee Hazel/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Eliot Lee Hazel/Courtesy of the artist

All Songs Considered

Tune-Yards' Merrill Garbus Pierces Her Own Privilege

"I couldn't not speak about whiteness in my work," Garbus says of her new record as Tune-Yards. She breaks down the themes and self-examinations behind I Can Feel You Creep Into My Private Life.

Tune-Yards Is Back With 'Look At Your Hands'

Clockwise from upper left: Tune-Yards, Caroline Says, Balmorhea, A. Savage Courtesy of the artists hide caption

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Courtesy of the artists

All Songs Considered

Tune-Yards Is Back With 'Look At Your Hands'

Hosts Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton share Tune-Yards' latest thrill ride, plus a whole lot of guitar noise from Parquet Courts' Andrew Savage, Balmorhea and more.

Tune-Yards, A. Savage, Balmorhea, More

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Download: 10 Songs Public Radio Can't Stop Playing
Courtesy of the artist

Heavy Rotation

Download: 10 Songs Public Radio Can't Stop Playing

Check out NPR Music's latest batch of favorite new songs, including music from tUnE-yArDs, Dan Croll, Freddie Gibbs and Madlib, SZA, Dana Falconberry, Ernest Ranglin and more.

Heavy Rotation: 10 Songs Public Radio Can't Stop Playing

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First Listen: tUnE-yArDs, 'Nikki Nack'

tUnE-yArDs' new album, Nikki Nack, comes out May 6. Holly Andres/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Holly Andres/Courtesy of the artist

First Listen

First Listen: tUnE-yArDs, 'Nikki Nack'

Merrill Garbus' music finds genius in the ongoing struggle between the orderly and the unknown. tUnE-yArDs' dazzlingly imaginative third album is filled with sudden and arresting left turns.

Nikki Nack

Audio for First Listens is no longer available after the album is released.
First Listen: tUnE-yArDs, 'Nikki Nack'

tUnE-yArDs' new album, Nikki Nack, comes out May 6. Holly Andres/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Holly Andres/Courtesy of the artist

First Listen

First Listen: tUnE-yArDs, 'Nikki Nack'

Merrill Garbus' music finds genius in the ongoing struggle between the orderly and the unknown. tUnE-yArDs' dazzlingly imaginative third album is filled with sudden and arresting left turns.

Nikki Nack

Audio for First Listens is no longer available after the album is released.
tUnE-yArDs: Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing

tUnE-yArDs. Holly Andres/Courtesy of the artist. hide caption

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Holly Andres/Courtesy of the artist.

Review

Music Reviews

tUnE-yArDs: Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing

Fresh Air

On Nikki Nack, Merrill Garbus worries over the notion that she's just an accumulation of her influences, and she fights back wonderfully.

tUnE-yArDs: Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing

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New Mix: tUnE-yArDs, Roy Orbison, More

Top row: F---ed Up; Bottom row, left to right: Haley Bonar, Roy Orbison, tUnE-yArDs Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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All Songs Considered

New Mix: tUnE-yArDs, Roy Orbison, More

On this week's show hosts Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton go playful with tUnE-yArDs, reflective with an unreleased cut from legendary crooner Roy Orbison and profane with a certain Toronto hardcore band.

New Mix: tUnE-yArDs, Roy Orbison, More

Listen · 35:43
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tUnE-yArDs: Pop Genius, Cleverly Obscured

"Hatari" is a noisy, threadbare patchwork, but the song shines anyway. Chrissy Piper hide caption

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Chrissy Piper

Review

Song Of The Day

tUnE-yArDs: Pop Genius, Cleverly Obscured

Merrill Garbus has a stunning sense for assembling limited resources to spectacular effect. (On stage, she's only a microphone, some drums, a ukulele and a loop pedal, accompanied by an electric bassist.) Those miraculous vocal layers. That handcrafted, demented beat. The way the whole thing builds up to a screeching climax, before an abrupt a cappella vocal.

Hatari

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A Newport Folk Festival Preview

tUnE-yArDs is one of the artists performing at this year's Newport Folk Festival. fjludo via Flickr hide caption

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fjludo via Flickr

All Songs Considered

A Newport Folk Festival Preview

We're going to Newport for three days of amazing concerts! Hear a preview of some of the bands we'll feature in NPR's live coverage this weekend.

Newport Folk Festival Preview: Wilco, My Morning Jacket, tUnE-yArDs, More

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'My Country': tUnE-yArDs Questions The American Dream

Merrill Garbus is the singer and songwriter behind the band tUnE-yArDs. Chloe Aftel/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Chloe Aftel/Courtesy of the artist

Music Interviews

'My Country': tUnE-yArDs Questions The American Dream

For singer Merrill Garbus, the idea that hard work leads to success in America is deeply suspect.

'My Country': tUnE-yArDs Questions The American Dream

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tUnE-yArDs On World Cafe

Merrill Garbus of tUnE-yArDs. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Courtesy of the artist

World Cafe

tUnE-yArDs On World Cafe

XPN

The woman behind one of the year's most powerful albums shines even brighter live. On today's show, she presents her music looped, yelped, cooed and otherwise performed to the funky beat of her own drums.

tUnE-yArDs On World Cafe

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