PragueDJ.com

Date/Time: Monday, Aug. 9th @ 19:30
Venue: 007 Strahov
Entrance: 250czk
Audio Sample: Hatari

tUnE-yArDs, one of the most critically acclaimed bands of 2009 is playing in Prague and you wouldn't even know it!  Under the radar is an understatement.  While CocoRosie has received plenty of attention for their July 24th concert in Prague, the lesser known but equally inventive band, tUnE-yArDs, will be playing Monday, August 9th at that little punked-out hole in the wall on a hill, 007 Strahov.

In Feb 2009, tUnE-yArDs was Sterogum's "band to watch," and later that year, her debut album Bird Brains (oh I forgot to mention Merrill Garbus does it all herself)  received wide-spread acclaim with a 4/5 star rating from Allmusic, a 5/5 star review from The Guardian, was called a "low-fi tale par excellence" by the BBC, and was listed at #44 on Pitchfork's Top 50 albums of 2009.

Like the CocoRosie sisters, Garbus knows how to turn sounds into music, however her tUnE-yArDs tracks match beat with beauty by setting her lovely ukelele plucking to funk-hop drumloops that propel her songs with a kind of "smooth operator" rhythm.  Take Sunlight for example, on the DJ Playlist - you can imagine crusin' in your car with this beat, whereas other experimental wizards from this Lo-Fi aleatoric club (using randomness in composition) can leave you hanging in conceptual riviere.  Not a problem with tUnE-yArDs.  The tracks are fresh and accessible, and the unabashed vocals of Ms. Garbus aren't afraid to take you on a rollercoaster of yodeling, whispering, soft cooing, and heartstopping peaks.  Like a Bob Ross painting, her creation takes on strange twists and turns, but ultimately, the result is a pleasing and beautiful work of art.