This past week marked two very notable live sets from tUnE-yArDs.  The first was on Thursday at Pier 54’s Hudson River Park in New York City, where they played to upwards of 5,000 people as the sun set, followed by a display of fireworks!  It was a transcendent, joyous affair for all involved. No rest for the weary, they more or less ran to the airport shortly afterwards and caught a flight to Chicago in order to perform at the 2011 Pitchfork Music Festival the following afternoon! That performance was singled-out as a standout amongst the many acts who played the weekend-long fest, as noted by The New York Times and a slew of Chicago papers.

Whether you were lucky enough to catch either of these sets, or if you’re one of the unlucky folks who missed out, you have more chances to see tUnE-yArDs perform.  That’s right, they’ve confirmed a massive amount of Fall North American headlining dates!

If you can’t wait until the Fall for your tUnE-yArDs fix, don’t fret, as people across the nation will have the opportunity to witness the group make their late-night television debut on August 1st on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon!

Can’t even wait until then?  Check out this recent live video of them performing “Gangsta” c/o Yours Truly if you missed that last week:http://yourstru.ly/2011/07/10/video-tune-yards-gangsta/

Also, if you weren’t listening to Sound Opinions on your local NPR affiliate station this past weekend, they devoted a rare 45 minutes of their hour-long show to tUnE-yArDs!  The archive of the extensive in-studio segment can be found here: http://www.soundopinions.org/

tUnE-yArDs’ breakthrough second album w h o k i l l was released this past April through 4AD, and has received heaps of critical praise, already ending up on many critic’s mid-year lists!

NEW YORK TIMES “Tune-Yards’ debut album, “Bird-Brains,” was a confident do-it-yourselfer’s opening salvo: a staticky, low-fi, abrasive attention-getter. “Whokill” has less static (though there’s still plenty of distortion) and more of everything else, including counterpoint, ambition, sociopolitical attitude, funk and melody. Ms. Garbus’s love of rhythm has her touch on parade drumming, African pygmy polyphony, 1980s hip-hop, samba, Joni Mitchell and rural blues. When her voice is hopping through her melodies over an Afro-Caribbean groove, she can sound like a collaboration by Dave Matthews, Bjork, Angelique Kidjo and M.I.A.”

PITCHFORK “tUnE-yArDs is the music project of Merrill Garbus, a songwriter, vocalist, percussionist, and ukulele player who has fused elements of acoustic folk, R&B, funk, Afro-pop, and rock into a bold, uncompromising hybrid all her own. Garbus is blessed with an extraordinary voice, and she wields it with great confidence, always coming off in total control of her phrasing while seeming totally uninhibited in her expression.” (8.8 Best New Music)

THE NEW YORKER “What is thrilling about “w h o k i l l” is that Garbus needs none of the fetishized authenticity of lower fidelity to charm anybody: she is a musician of startling range, and a better recording of her is simply better music. It isn’t likely that there will be music this year that is more infused with the spirit of celebration and physical movement.”

ROLLING STONE “whokill overflows with hip-hop, reggae, Afrobeat and funky noise freakouts — plus ukulele riffs, fluttering doo-wop vocals and what sounds like a percussion orchestra composed of pots and pans. It all hangs together thanks to Garbus’ voice, which slides seamlessly from Joplin-esque howls to delicate coos.” 

SPIN “this sophomore album cleans up without sacrificing charm. The songs are more consistent, too, flashing a certain lyrical swagger, careening from terrific sex to celebratory violence to uncomfortable cultural realities.” (8/10)

THE DAILY “Let us fall easily into hyperbole: It’s an early contender for album of the year.”

tUnE-yArDs – Fall North American Tour Dates
http://tune-yards.com/

9/19/11 New York, NY – LPR
9/20/11 New York, NY – LPR
9/21/11 Boston, MA – Paradise
9/23/11 Montreal, QC – Ukranian Federation (Pop Montreal)
9/26/11 Toronto, ON – Lee’s Palace
9/27/11 Cleveland, OH – Beachland Ballroom
9/28/11 Bloomington, IN – Rhino’s
9/30/11 Nashville, TN – Exit/In
10/1/11 Birmingham, AL – Bottletree Cafe
10/2/11 New Orleans, LA – One Eyed Jacks
10/4/11 Atlanta, GA – The Basement
10/5/11 Carborro, NC – Cats Cradle
10/7/11 Baltimore, MD – The Ottobar
10/8/11 Washington, DC – Black Cat
11/2/11 Los Angeles, CA – Henry Fonda
11/3/11 Phoenix, AZ – Crescent Ballroom 
11/7/11 Lawrence, KS – Jackpot Saloon
11/8/11 St Louis, MO – Off Broadway Nightclub
11/9/11 Chicago, IL – Lincoln Hall
11/10/11 Chicago, IL – Lincoln Hall
11/11/11 Milwaukee, WI – Turner Hall
11/12/11 Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue
11/14/11 Winnipeg – WECC
11/16/11 Calgary – Republik
11/18/11 Vancouver, BC – The Biltmore Cabaret
11/19/11 Victoria, BC – Sugar Nightclub
11/20/11 Seattle, WA – Neptune
11/21/11 Portland, OR – Wonder Ballroom