Merge Records

2009 Year End List: Mac McCaughan

sushi_macXX Merge marathon
touring & eating in Japan
Bill CallahanI Wish We Were An Eagle
Dirty ProjectorsBitte Orca
PhoenixWolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Amadou & MariamWelcome To Mali
Jim O’RourkeThe Visitor
Cass McCombsCatacombs
St Vincent - Actor
GirlsAlbum
Pains of Being Pure at Heart – s/t
Monsters of FolkMonsters of Folk
Mountain GoatsThe Life of the World To Come
WilcoWilco (the Album)
Leonard Cohen live at Coachella and in Durham, NC
Yo La TengoPopular Songs
Jay Reatard - Watch Me Fall
Open Strings: Early Virtuoso Recordings, by Various  LP Box Set
Yeah Yeah YeahsIt’s Blitz!
Camera ObscuraMy Maudlin Career
ObitsI Blame You
AC NewmanGet Guilty

2009 Year End List: Hampton Howerton, Merge intern

hampton

Get Up with the Get Down in 2009:

  1. The Black Keys: Blak Rock
  2. Animal Collective: Merriweather Post Pavilion
  3. Trampled by Turtles @ Pour House (show)
  4. The Heavy: The House That Dirt Built
  5. The Moderate: The Rest Is Up To You
  6. The Antlers: Hospice
  7. The Love Language: The Love Language
  8. Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros: Up from Below
  9. Lil’ Wayne: No Ceilings (mixtape)
  10. Dark Was The Night

2009 Year End List: Charlotte Walton, Merge CFO

GoldToothBitch

(in no particular order)

Great Lake SwimmersLost Channels
Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic ZerosUp From Below
Rose MelbergHomemade Ship
Vetiver - Tight Knit
Richard HawleyTruelove’s Gutter
Cotton JonesParanoid Cocoon
Grizzly BearVeckatimest
TelekinesisTelekinesis!
Kings of ConvenienceDeclaration of Dependence
Hope Sandoval & the Warm InventionsThrough the Devil Softly

2009 Year End List: Rachel Kiel, Merge intern

rachel_kielThings I have been enjoying this year (not necessarily released in 2009):

10. Music video: Bjork’s “Triumph of a Heart,” where her boyfriend is a cat
9. Poetry book: New Addresses by Kenneth Koch
8. Office supply: 1/2 inch Scotch brand “Magic” tape
7. Non-fiction book: The Rest Is Noise by Alex Ross
6. Movie: “I Love You, Man” (was a lot funnier than I thought it would be)
5. Television: that show about obsessive hoarding
4. Food: Sweet potato tempura at Akai Hana in Carrboro, NC
3. Concert: Animal Collective w/ Grouper at the House of Blues in Boston (May 2009)
2. Song: “Little Secrets” — Passion Pit
1. Album: Middle Cyclone — Neko Case

2009 Year End List: Wilson Fuller, Merge Digital Assets Manager

stickfigureFavorite non-Merge 2009 records I can think of right now, in alphabetical order:

BowerbirdsUpper Air
Circulatory SystemSignal Morning
CryptacizeMythomania
the Dutchess & the DukeSunrise / Sunset
God Help the Girl s/t
the Love Language’s debut
Madeline & the White Flag Band - White Flag
Nesey GallonsEyes & Eyes & Eyes Ago
Still Flyin’ - Never Gonna Touch the Ground
Violet Vector & the Lovely LoveliesEP II

2009 Year End List: Christina Rentz, Merge Publicist

Christina, 7 Ft Tall Metronome, & Julian Koster at XX Merge

Christina, 7 Ft Tall Metronome, & Julian Koster at XX Merge

This list excludes the 2009 Merge albums, because you already know they were the greatest!

Fruit BatsThe Ruminant Band
The Love Language – s/t
God Help the Girl
Greece! – ferries, feral doggies, ancient ruins, beautiful beaches and lots of citron!
Ground Control Showcase @ CMJ ‘09 – Surf City, Let’s Wrestle, The Love Language, and Pete & the Pirates!
The GenerationalsCon Law
Discovering Julia ChildMy Life in France is essential reading.
Mastering the perfect chicken & sausage gumbo
Kronhaus creations & Christinapalooza – every girl deserves a red silk party dress and a big party if she has to get older!
The ThermalsNow We Can See
Rediscovering Paul McCartney’s RAM
Neko Case & Crooked Fingers at Meymandi Concert Hall (And Neko’s fantastic new album, Middle Cyclone!)

Last, but most importantly – XX Merge!  As if we needed more proof that Merge bands & fans are the best!

2009 Year End List: Katie Janeway, Merge staff accountant

Nelson & Katie

Nelson & Katie

My Top Ten in 2009 (in no order):

- Completing my first half marathon
- Surviving XX Merge
- Joining the Bowling League and getting my first turkey
- Shoe Dazzle
- The Secret History by Donna Tart
- It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
- Escazu Chocolates especially the Sea Salt bar and the Goat’s Milk Bar
Graduating from UNC
- Traveling to Germany and Austria with one of my best buddies
- Adopting the best dog ever, Nelson

2009 Year End List: Jay Lowe, Merge Warehouse Manager

Every Time I Die – New Junk Aesthetic
Dethklok – Dethalbum II
Baroness – The Blue Record
Tera Melos – Idioms vol. 1
Neko Case – Middle Cyclone
The Number 12 Looks Like You – Worse Than Alone
The Fall of Troy – In The Unlikely Event
Gossip Grows on Trees – Hollywood (thats my band! is this a copout?)
Calico Haunts – After All
Polvo – In Prism
Minus the Bear – Into the Mirror (AND seeing them at the Cat’s Cradle!)
The Lawrence Arms – Buttsweat and Tears

In lieu of a photo, we have Jay’s brand new music video! His band is Gossip Grows on Trees and the song is “Hollywood!”

YouTube Preview Image

2009 Year End List: Adam Jackson, Project Manager

Adam's doggie, Otis

Adam's doggie, Otis

Some of the things that made me happy in 2009 (in no particular order):

XX Merge – 33 amazing bands, hundreds of great people, new friends, unbelievable fun & excitement. Too many highlights to list. I’m still tired.
The Clientele: Bonfires on the Heath – I can’t talk about this band without sounding like a lunatic. They are very good.
Califone: All My Friends Are Funeral Singers – their best record yet?
M. Ward: Hold Time – probably my most played record of the year.
Wye Oak- the band, the people, the shows, The Knot. I love ‘em all.
Please remove your spurs. Come to think of it, remove your antlers.
Bundle up my little urchin.”
Doves: Kingdom of Rust – so under appreciated. Need to come back to NC.
David Rawlings playing guitar – makes me want to run away & be a hippie.
CD Alley, Chapel Hill - I’m certainly their most annoying customer. Thank you Ryan, Brian, Thomas & Alison for tolerating me.
Excellent records from Chapel Hill including Ryan Gustafson’s Donkey LP & The Kingsbury Manx Ascenseur Ouvert!
The dude, the terrible little puppy & Sue.

2009 Year End List: Joe Komenda, Merge Webmaster/Admin

top10_joekJoe’s Top 10 things for 2009

1. Getting married
2. Friends
3. Buying a house
4. Man Day*
5. My new job at Merge
6. Cooking
7. Finishing my book**
8. Video Games
9. Beer
10. Bourbon

*Man Day is when I spend a day at my best friends’ house, and we partake of 10, 9, 8, & 6.
**Comics & Cocktails A through Z , an ABC book for people who like booze, comics and the alphabet. You can find all of the details at FeralChicken.com.

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