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16. tUnE-yArDs – Nikki Nack


I dunno, I liked the previous tune-yard’s album – especially its use of sound loops and African rhythms – but I was also turned off by its inane lyrics and a sense of Dirty Projectors worship running throughout the album. With Nikki Nack however, I think Merril Garbus has truly found HER sound. Killer pop songs like “Find a New Way” and “Water Fountain” take danceable rhythm structures and layer ever-expressive vocal lines on top in a way that evokes a pan-African sensibility but sounds individualized enough to avoid pesky appropriation concerns. The lyrics aren’t nonsense here either: there’s some sadness here and some anger at superficiality in her life. “Real Thing” gains some muscle for how personal Garbus’ vocal delivery is. These tracks can run together a little but because of how thoroughly each one is built off of pan-African percussion, but that’s a minor quibble. Go revel in this pop album’s strangeness. Go revel in the strangeness of the insane music video for “Water Fountain” that I linked to.