XX Merge marathon
touring & eating in Japan
Bill Callahan – I Wish We Were An Eagle
Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca
Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Amadou & Mariam – Welcome To Mali
Jim O’Rourke – The Visitor
Cass McCombs – Catacombs
St Vincent - Actor
Girls – Album
Pains of Being Pure at Heart – s/t
Monsters of Folk – Monsters of Folk
Mountain Goats – The Life of the World To Come
Wilco – Wilco (the Album)
Leonard Cohen live at Coachella and in Durham, NC
Yo La Tengo – Popular Songs
Jay Reatard - Watch Me Fall
Open Strings: Early Virtuoso Recordings, by Various LP Box Set
Yeah Yeah Yeahs – It’s Blitz!
Camera Obscura – My Maudlin Career
Obits – I Blame You
AC Newman – Get Guilty
2009 Year End List: Mac McCaughan
December 23, 2009 – 9:00 am
2009 Year End List: Hampton Howerton, Merge intern
December 22, 2009 – 3:59 pm
Get Up with the Get Down in 2009:
- The Black Keys: Blak Rock
- Animal Collective: Merriweather Post Pavilion
- Trampled by Turtles @ Pour House (show)
- The Heavy: The House That Dirt Built
- The Moderate: The Rest Is Up To You
- The Antlers: Hospice
- The Love Language: The Love Language
- Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros: Up from Below
- Lil’ Wayne: No Ceilings (mixtape)
- Dark Was The Night
2009 Year End List: Charlotte Walton, Merge CFO
December 21, 2009 – 4:02 pm
(in no particular order)
Great Lake Swimmers – Lost Channels
Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros – Up From Below
Rose Melberg – Homemade Ship
Vetiver - Tight Knit
Richard Hawley – Truelove’s Gutter
Cotton Jones – Paranoid Cocoon
Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest
Telekinesis – Telekinesis!
Kings of Convenience – Declaration of Dependence
Hope Sandoval & the Warm Inventions – Through the Devil Softly
2009 Year End List: Rachel Kiel, Merge intern
December 21, 2009 – 12:48 pm
Things 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
December 18, 2009 – 5:30 pm
Favorite non-Merge 2009 records I can think of right now, in alphabetical order:
Bowerbirds – Upper Air
Circulatory System – Signal Morning
Cryptacize – Mythomania
the Dutchess & the Duke – Sunrise / Sunset
God Help the Girl s/t
the Love Language’s debut
Madeline & the White Flag Band - White Flag
Nesey Gallons – Eyes & Eyes & Eyes Ago
Still Flyin’ - Never Gonna Touch the Ground
Violet Vector & the Lovely Lovelies – EP II
2009 Year End List: Christina Rentz, Merge Publicist
December 18, 2009 – 12:58 pm
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 Bats – The 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 Generationals – Con Law
Discovering Julia Child – My 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 Thermals – Now 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
December 17, 2009 – 12:27 pm
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
December 16, 2009 – 3:39 pm
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!”
2009 Year End List: Adam Jackson, Project Manager
December 15, 2009 – 5:08 pm
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
December 15, 2009 – 4:55 pm
Joe’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.
