Merge Records

The Mountain Goats’ John Darnielle talks about the new album with RollingStone.com

January 24, 2012 – 1:21 pm

The Mountain Goats are on tour and as previously announced are debuting new songs at these shows before they are even recorded. RollingStone.com talked to John after their sold-out Austin, TX show about the new songs and how fatherhood hasn’t made him go soft.

Watch a fan video below of the Mountain Goats performing “The Diaz Brothers” live in Houston.

The Mountain Goats’ Merge debut All Eternals Deck is available now on CD, LP and digital download in the Merge store.

The Mountain Goats on tour:
* = w/ Nurses
Jan 24 Orlando, FL – The Social*
Jan 25 Tampa, FL – Crowbar*
Jan 27 St. Augustine, FL – The Original Cafe Eleven*
Jan 28 Atlanta, GA – The Earl*
Jan 30 Athens, GA – 40 Watt Club*
Jan 31 Charlotte, NC – Visulite Theatre*
Feb 02 Asheville, NC – Grey Eagle*
Feb 04 Saxapahaw, NC – The Haw River Ballroom*
Mar 09 Denton, TX – 35 Denton Festival*
Mar 13 New York, NY – Carnegie Hall: “The Music of the Rolling Stones: Hot Rocks 1964–1971”
Mar 24 New York, NY – Ecstatic Music Festival w/ Anonymous 4
Apr 02 London, UK – The Barbican w/ Anonymous 4

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Hospitality “Friends of Friends” video

January 24, 2012 – 11:24 am

Hospitality on tour:
Feb 3 Brooklyn, NY Glasslands Gallery (Record Release Show)
Feb 25 San Francisco, CA Great American Music Hall (Noise Pop w/ Archers of Loaf)
Feb 26 Los Angeles, CA Troubadour w/ Archers of Loaf
Feb 29 Toronto, ON Horseshoe Tavern w/ Tennis
Mar 2 Boston, MA Brighton Music Hall w/ Tennis
Mar 3 New York, NY Bowery Ballroom w/ Tennis
Mar 7 New Haven, CT BAR
Mar 9 Chapel Hill, NC Local 506 w/ Tennis
Mar 10 Atlanta, GA The Earl w/ Tennis
Mar 11 Orlando, FL Orange You Glad Festival

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Lambchop – Mr. M – in stores February 21!

January 17, 2012 – 3:43 pm

Pre-order Mr. M now on CD or limited-edition dbl-LP in the Merge store to receive a poster (the first 150 of which will be signed!) featuring Kurt Wagner’s original paintings used in Mr. M’s liner notes and a Lambchop coin purse while supplies last.

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She & Him’s Zooey Deschanel to host Saturday Night Live

January 11, 2012 – 4:26 pm

She & Him’s Zooey Deschanel will host Saturday Night Live on February 11!

Zooey’s hit new TV show New Girl returns with new episodes on Tuesday, January 17.

The whole She & Him catalog, including Volume One, Volume Two and A Very She & Him Christmas is available now in the Merge store.

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Hospitality invite you to see them live!

January 4, 2012 – 3:27 pm

Hospitality are hitting the road in a week in support of their self-titled debut album which will be released on January 31. The New Yorker included Hospitality (and Lambchop!) in their list of anticipated releases of 2012 as did Wired.com!

Visit SoundCloud to hear “Friends of Friends” and “Betty Wang” now. Pre-order Hospitality on CD or LP now in the Merge store to receive via e-mail Hospitality’s 6-song EP from 2008, which was recorded in their Red Hook apartment by Karl Blau on a 4-track recorder.

Hospitality on tour:
Jan 11 Toronto, ON Horseshoe Tavern w/ Caveman
Jan 12 Detroit, MI PJ’s Lager House w/ Caveman
Jan 14 Chicago, IL Lincoln Hall (Tomorrow Never Knows)
Jan 16 Cleveland, OH Grog Shop
Jan 17 Pittsburgh, PA Brillobox
Feb 03 Brooklyn, NY Glasslands Gallery (Record Release Show)
Feb 25 San Francisco, CA Great American Music Hall Noisepop Festival w/ Archers of Loaf
Feb 26 Los Angeles, CA Troubadour w/ Archers of Loaf

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2011 Year End Lists: Eric Johnson, Archers of Loaf

December 22, 2011 – 6:21 pm

Top 10 Musical Highlights of 2011

1. Archers’ “surprise reunion gig” way back in January. That was the most fun I’ve had in recent memory.
2. Slowly learning how to play drums. But progress IS steady.
3. The purchase (gulp!) of my sunburst Strat. I can happily report no buyer’s remorse.
4. Watching and hearing Birdsmell, Ben Bridwell’s “side project.”
5. Discovering Electric Owls. Thank you Matt, I love their music.
6. My/our/Archers network debut on the Jimmy Fallon show.
7. Having Archers records released on Merge Records. Thanks y’all!
8. Having a bona fide rock star, Mac, take us out to dinner AND pay for it.
9. Visiting Chicago twice this year … and seeing Bob Weston both times.
10. Oh yeah, TOURING! Thank you to all the bands we played with and thank you Merge and thank you Shawn Nolan, Jim Romeo and all the people who helped make it happen. And most of all, thank you to God for letting us rock on a Sunday.

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2011 Year End Lists: Claudia Gonson, the Magnetic Fields

December 22, 2011 – 6:20 pm

photo by Bill Wadman

CLAUDIA’s TOP 6 FORTUNE COOKIE MESSAGES for 2011

1. Life is a verb.
2. When you are squeezed, what comes out is what is inside.
3. If the cake is bad, what good is the frosting?
4. If I bring forth what is inside me, what I bring forth will save me.
5. Cooperation will work better.
6. You will have gold pieces by the bushel.

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2011 Year End Lists: Chrissy Mickler, Merge intern

December 22, 2011 – 6:18 pm

Favorite Album: Tie between “Within and Without” by Washed Out and “12 Desperate Straight Lines” by Telekinesis

Most Influential Experience: Living in NYC this summer, learned a lot and was surrounded by great people, art, music, food, random cool things, etc.!

Favorite Concert: Foster the People at Bowery Ballroom

Best Thing I ate: Grasshopper cupcake at “Baked” in Brooklyn

Favorite Song: “October Road” by Balto

Favorite Trip: Mardi Gras and road trip from New Orleans to Memphis and Nashville via the “Blues Highway” in Mississippi

Favorite Show: Tie between Parks & Recreation and Always Sunny In Philadelphia, how did I just discover these shows this year?!

Favorite Movie: Without a doubt the last Harry Potter movie

Favorite Book: The Hunger Games

Favorite Site: The Oatmeal

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2011 Year End Lists: Devin Dimattia, Merge Digital Intern

December 22, 2011 – 6:16 pm

I tried my hand at directing music videos for the first time this year, so it seemed appropriate that my Best-of List consist of some of my favorite vids of 2011. What follows is an eclectic mix of familiar faces alongside some videos you are hopefully getting to see for the first time. If you’d like to see more of my work (including the 2nd place winner in the Beach Boys SMiLE Music Video contest), check out www.dimattiafilms.com

Battles, “Ice Cream” (dir. CANADA)
Columbus, “Hubble” (dir. The Crystal Beach)
Com Truise, “Brokendate” (dir. Will Joines)
Goldfish, “We Come Together” (dir. Mike Scott)
Is Tropical, “The Greeks” (dir. Megaforce)
Kaisoku Tokyo, “Copy” (dir. Takahiro Yasuda)
Madeon, “Pop Culture” (dir. Nathan Barnatt)
The New Pornographers, “Moves” (dir. Tom Scharpling)
Scooter, “Friends Turbo” (dir. Steffen Haars & Flip Van Der Kull)
Tune-Yards, “Bizness” (dir. Mimi Cave)

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2011 Year End Lists: Missy Thangs, the Love Language

December 22, 2011 – 6:12 pm

This photo by Tim Lytvinenko.

“Ten Tour Highlights 2011” by Missy Thangs of The Love Language

1. Coachella VIP Coachella VIP Coachella VIP

2. Playing a show with Arcade Fire in Sante Fe, NM!! Meeting the band! Fan moment. Still one of the best live bands out there.

3. Homecoming show with Telekinesis! at Local 506: Stu slams guitar on amp, ending the “red guitar” era… nasty words, selfless dancing, crowd surfing, barfing, three encores. There’s no place like home.

4. Disney World. Yes, a whole epic day in Disneyland eating turkey legs, riding kids’ rides, stuff like that… definitely dropped tears on the “It’s A Small World Ride.” We skipped sound check that night to see the fireworks and listen to Jiminy Cricket tell us our dreams were coming true. More tears.

5. Better than a house show party was Delilah’s on Cayuga in Ithaca, NY. We played with rockers Tropical Punk and The Music Band. This is where kids drink straight gin out of bottles and nurse you with ‘em while you’re playing.

6. Stage diving and crowd surfing to “Brittney’s Back” at the Soapbox Laundr-o-Lounge in Wilmington, NC. Om mani padme om. We were such a sweaty mess after the show, everyone threw their clothes in the lounge dryers and hung out in our underwear.

7. Band fight, missed sound check over stopping at Grimaldi’s pizza in Brooklyn. After all the tension, we still went. Worth it.

8. Two days of straight up fried chicken for every meal. Think regular stops at random fried chicken joints as you’re crossing the heartland. The best hands down was Bolton’s spicy fried chicken in Memphis, TN.

9. Spotting Mme Plaster Caster at our show with Telekinesis! at Schuba’s in Chicago, IL! As far as I know, no plasters were made…

10. Still to this day wonder who farted during our show at the Noise Pop Festival Café Du Nord in San Francisco. Yes, it was that distracting.

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2011 Year End Lists: James Cartwright, Merge Production Manager

December 22, 2011 – 5:58 pm

Top 5 Things About the Triangle from my first year in North Carolina:

5. The Boylan Soda fountain at Bull City Burger & Brewery. The only one in North Carolina!
4. Falls Lake / Eno River State Parks. Highlight: the Cox Mountain trail at Eno River. (thanks Maggie!)
3. Hopscotch Music Festival. No better way to learn Raleigh than by non-stop walking around downtown for a weekend. Highlights: John Vanderslice, Titus Andronicus and Des Ark amongst many many others.
2. The rock quarry swimming hole (Shhhhh)
1. Full Frame International Documentary Film Festival. The premier documentary film festival in the whole world and it’s right here in Durham! Every film I saw was enjoyable. Highlight: “Il Capo”

Other 2011 hits:

Jonny Corndawg – “Down on the Bikini Line”
“American Juggalo”
Saintseneca – “Last”
Country Mice – S/T
Hi Ho Silver Oh – “Showers Without Warning” 7″
Josh T. Pearson – “Last of the Country Gentlemen” (thanks Wilson!)
The Black Swans – “Don’t Blame the Stars” (thanks Leo!)
Destroyer – “Kaputt”
“The Whore of Akron” by Scott Raab