Bird-Brains

This article is about the 2009 Tune-Yards album. For other uses, see birdbrain (disambiguation).

Bird-Brains
Studio album by Tune-Yards
Released	June 9, 2009
Genre	Lo-fi
Length	53:49
Label	Marriage 4AD
Tune-Yards chronology
Bird-Brains (2009) Whokill (2011)

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]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

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]

Track listing

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

• 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.

External links

• Official website
• Tune-Yards at 4AD
• Bird-Brains at AllMusic