Bird-Brains

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.

This article is about the 2009 Tune-Yards album. For other uses, see birdbrain (disambiguation).
Bird-Brains
Studio album by
Tune-Yards
ReleasedJune 9, 2009
GenreLo-fi
Length53:49
Label
Tune-Yards chronology
Bird-Brains
(2009)		 Whokill
(2011)

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]

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?7.3/10[5]
Metacritic79/100[6]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[7]
Drowned in Sound8/10[8]
The Guardian[9]
The Irish Times[10]
MusicOMH[11]
MSN Music (Consumer Guide)A[12]
Pitchfork6.8/10[1]
PopMatters7/10[13]

Pitchfork ranked Bird-Brains at number 44 on their list of the top 50 albums of 2009.[14]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Merrill Garbus

No.TitleLength
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
  • The vinyl edition does not include the track "Synonynonym" and instead ends with "Fiya".

References
  1. Richardson, Mark (April 3, 2009). "tUnE-yArDs: BiRd-BrAiNs". Pitchfork. Retrieved February 3, 2012.
  2. Sean and Matt (August 25, 2010). "Inside The Jukebox: Tune-Yards Q&A". The Wounded Jukebox. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved May 9, 2012.
  3. Eli Crews (2012). "Merrill Garbus: of tUnE-yArDs". Tape Op Magazine. Retrieved August 2, 2022.
  4. Andrews, Charlotte Richardson (April 7, 2011). "Tune-Yards' Merrill Garbus on life after lo-fi". The Guardian. Retrieved May 9, 2012.
  5. "BiRd-BrAiNs by tUnE-YaRdS reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved January 11, 2020.
  6. "Reviews for BiRd-BrAiNs by tUnE-yArDs". Metacritic. Retrieved February 3, 2012.
  7. Phares, Heather. "Bird-Brains – tUnE-yArDs". AllMusic. Retrieved September 9, 2018.
  8. Ashurst, Hari (November 17, 2009). "Album Review: Tune-Yards – BiRd-BrAiNs". Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on May 30, 2011. Retrieved February 3, 2012.
  9. Hann, Michael (November 13, 2009). "tUnE-YaRDs: BiRd-BrAiNs (4AD)". The Guardian.
  10. Carroll, Jim (October 16, 2009). "Tune-yards: Bird-Brains (4AD)". The Irish Times. Retrieved January 11, 2020.
  11. Clarke, Jude (November 16, 2009). "tUnE-yArDs – BiRd-BrAiNs". MusicOMH. Retrieved January 11, 2020.
  12. Christgau, Robert (December 2009). "Consumer Guide". MSN Music. Retrieved January 11, 2020.
  13. Fairell, Jer (August 20, 2009). "tUnE-YaRdS: BiRd-BrAiNs". PopMatters. Retrieved February 3, 2012.
  14. "The Top 50 Albums of 2009". Pitchfork. December 17, 2009. Retrieved April 24, 2017.
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