On November 3, we will release The Merge Records Companion, a visual discography book featuring the first 20 years of Merge relesases.
This year, we at Merge Records are celebrating twenty years of putting out great music. There was the sold-out festival, the sold-out subscription box set, and the behind-the-scenes book. Now, there is a perfect little piece of Merge history for design and music lovers alike: The Merge Records Companion: A Visual Discography of the First Twenty Years.
This cd-sized volume contains photographs of every 7-inch, album, EP, and DVD (plus two cassettes!) put out by Merge in our first twenty years. For design fans, the three-hundred-plus photos chronicle the evolution of album cover design, from when cut-and-paste wasn’t just an “aesthetic”, but rather the only available production technique for bands (see early records from label founders’ own band, Superchunk, and Raleigh punk-pop outfit Erectus Monotone) to the sophisticated design of the consistently amazing Lambchop covers or the intricate constructions for the Arcade Fire’s ten releases on Merge.
This limited-edition, 350-page paperback book also features essays by Merge founders, Mac McCaughan and Laura Ballance, reflecting on the days when they stuffed every sleeve themselves. The list of hand models in the back (We asked Merge bands and friends to hold their favorite records for the photographs) contains stars and interns side-by-side, a tribute to the collaborative ethic that has allowed us to stay true to our simple mission: putting out music by bands we like.
The Merge Records Companion is limited-edition and all proceeds will benefit the charities chosen by the fourteen SCORE! curators.
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