tUnE-YaRdS - Gangsta

Our review
Customer reviews
Press release

4...according to our Mike on Thu 08 Sep, 2011.

This new single from Tuneyards (who appear to have dropped the hyphen this time round) is well all-star! Check it out, you've got the album cut of 'Gangsta', a slice of wonky hip hop party greatness from their album 'w h o k i l l' on the A side followed by mixes from Adrock and Cut Chemist! Then on the other side we've got an instrumental and an a capella, rounding off a very tasty bit of DJ fodder (fuck knows why it's on 33rpm, presumably space issues). As one might expect, the Cut Chemist mix here is the one you'll want to slot into your set, with some amazing booming stop-start beats and false endings and a touch of tasteful and unintrusive scratching. A prime cut, make no mistake. The more I think about it the more it's a match made in dancefloor heaven; they've both got total cheese pop stylings mixed with a rhythmic playfulness and a dynamic edge. If you're looking for a fun night in, why not get an extra copy of this record and try to line up the instrumental and a capella versions simultaneously on two record players for your own unique album version? Just a thought.

· This year has seen tUnE-yArDs rise to become not only one of
the most talked about new artists around, but also one of the
most vital.

· The brainchild of Merrill Garbus, tUnE-yArDs began life as a
series of dictaphone recordings which were then painstakingly
mixed down by Garbus on GarageBand.

· Alongside the recordings, Merrill also started to build quite a
reputation for her live performances, using loop pedals, two
mics, a snare drum, a ukulele, her distinctive voice (she's spent
time teaching singing in Africa) and crucially, a second band
member (Nate Brenner on bass).

· ‘w h o k i l l’ was released this past April and marked a time
when everything came together in to one cohesive whole.
Recording in a studio this time and influenced heavily by her
moving to Oakland, California, Merrill and Nate made an album
that delivered on her early promise. Lyrically, Garbus explores
constructs of femininity and sexuality, marrying it with the
threat of violence that lurks on the streets where she now lives,
all the while maintaining the energy of their show and
translating it perfectly to record.

· ‘Gangsta’ is taken from ‘w h o k i l l’ and is a track that grabs
your attention immediately. It recently took on a different
shape while they made their US TV debut on Late Night With
Jimmy Fallon, with Merrill and band performing it with The
Roots.

· This 12” takes the hip hop template of ‘Gangsta’ even further
with remixes from legends in the field Adrock (Beastie Boys)
and Cut Chemist (Jurassic 5, Ozomatli and DJ Shadow
collaborator). Like all good old school records, the 12” is
completed with not only the original but also with both the
instrumental and a cappella versions of the track.

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