Meet Merrill

I am an admitted fan of weird music. From Fiery Furnaces to Dirty Projectors to Man Man to, obviously and especially, Mr. Bungle, some of my favorite bands don’t stick to the usual paradigm. Some might call them noisy or irritating. I call them beautiful and the thing that attracts me to bands such as these is that I find them challenging. Much like a crossword puzzle or an organic chemistry equation, I find the process of solving a challenging band extremely rewarding. What starts out sounding like disorganized chaos or clutter slowly takes shape with each successive listen as new depths and layers of sound reveal themselves. In the end, I’m left with not just a thoroughly enjoyable music experience but also the satisfaction of being of the few people to truly figure out the band’s genius. Tune-Yards, the stage moniker of one Merrill Garbus, is one of these bands and her 2011 release WHOKILL is a work of brilliance.

These challenging records usually have to have at least one song that grabs me on the first listen in order to want me coming back for more. That song on this album was Powa. The soft, lilting guitar strains that open lead into the main chord progression and easy beat. Then at one minute into the song, Merrill’s vocals kick in and you’d swear it was Steve Perry circa “Lights”. The chill vibe and smoothness of this track made it one of my favorite songs of the year. The last 30 seconds feature her hitting high notes that would make any pop diva envious. This song was the key to unlocking the rest of the album, where Merrill’s vocals are the star. Where they may sound shrill and off-putting to some at first, repeated careful listening will reveal that she has a truly remarkable gift.

Another characteristic of this weird music genre is that its bands difficult to characterize or classify. She takes bits and pieces of other genres and mashes them together to make something completely unique and original. Bizness makes use of an Afro-beat groove. Doorstep incorporates 60’s R&B vocals. Wolly Wolly Gong is a spooky, folky lullaby. Es-So is free-form jazz craziness. All of these varied components, along with looped percussion, occasional horn blasts, well-placed guitar strikes and ukulele plucks come together perfectly and result in something really special and refreshing.

What really elevated WHOKILL on my list this year was seeing her perform it live. I was very curious to see how she’d pull it off, since so much of the album seemed synthetic and produced. To my surprise and utter amazement, she more or less performed all songs by herself live, the only exceptions being her supporting cast of two saxophonists and one bass player. Armed with a standing drum kit, several microphones, a ukulele and probably a dozen looping pedals, she creates these richly layered compositions basically singlehandedly (well, two handed and one footedly). I think I stood with mouth hanging open in awe for the first fifteen minutes of the show and was bummed, but invigorated, when it was over. She brings back something for me that I haven’t felt in a long time – the desire to create my own music. Yep, she inspires me. Check out this live performance of Gangsta to get a taste.

The next old fella on the list inspires me too. He’s not one on the list of performers I got to see live this year, but he is most certainly on my list of people to see before I die. RJD, one day this will happen.