Bird-Brains | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | June 9, 2009 | |||
Genre | Lo-fi | |||
Length | 53:49 | |||
Label | ||||
Tune-Yards chronology | ||||
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Bird-Brains (stylized as BiRd-BrAiNs[1]) is the debut album by American lo-fi musician Merrill Garbus' project Tune-Yards. It was originally released as a Compact Cassette[2] 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.[3] 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."[4]
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AnyDecentMusic? | 7.3/10[5] |
Metacritic | 79/100[6] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [7] |
Drowned in Sound | 8/10[8] |
The Guardian | [9] |
The Irish Times | [10] |
MusicOMH | [11] |
MSN Music (Consumer Guide) | A[12] |
Pitchfork | 6.8/10[1] |
PopMatters | 7/10[13] |
Pitchfork ranked Bird-Brains at number 44 on their list of the top 50 albums of 2009.[14]
All tracks are written by Merrill Garbus
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "For You" | 1:50 |
2. | "Sunlight" | 3:47 |
3. | "Lions" | 4:59 |
4. | "Hatari" | 5:39 |
5. | "News" | 3:24 |
6. | "Jamaican" | 3:54 |
7. | "Jumping Jack" | 3:54 |
8. | "Little Tiger" | 4:59 |
9. | "Safety" | 4:37 |
10. | "Fiya" | 5:28 |
11. | "Synonynonym" | 3:50 |
12. | "Want Me To" (bonus track) | 4:24 |
13. | "Real Live Flesh" (bonus track) | 3:33 |