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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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
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)
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.
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
2011 Year End Lists: Ivan Howard, The Rosebuds
December 22, 2011 – 4:47 pm
Ivan Rosebud’s favorite Music videos of 2011:
Lykke Li – I Follow Rivers
Other Lives – Tamer Animals
Little Dragon – CrystalFilm
Future Islands – Blance
Destroyer – Kaputt
Charles Bradley – The World (Is going up in Flames)
Mount Moriah – Lament
Bon Iver – Calgary
Superchunk – The First Part
The Kills – Satellite
Wye Oak – Fish
Salem – King Night
The Weeknd – House of Balloons / Glass Tables
2011 Year End Lists: Joe Komenda, Merge webmaster
December 22, 2011 – 3:44 pm
Joe’s Top 8 AMV
(Based on favorite Anime/Videogames of 2011)
==============================
#1 – Puella Magi Madoka Magica (Shaft/Aniplex)
#2 – Crysis (2007, EA)
#3 – Adventure Time (Cartoon Network)
#4 – Portal 2 (Valve)
#5 – My Little Pony, Friendship is Magic (Hasbro)
#6 – Dead Space (2008, EA)
#7 – Elfen Lied (2004, ARMS )
#8 – Batman: Arkham Asylum (2009 Eidos)
2011 Year End Lists: Eric Bachmann, Crooked Fingers & Archers of Loaf
December 22, 2011 – 3:33 pm
Eric with Christina's son Sam who had never been up that high before!
No specific order:
El Resplandor: The Shining in Dubai – Nettle
Our Blood-Richard Buckner
Inside Silence – Wahid
Coney Island Winter – Garland Jeffries
Strange Mercy-St. Vincent
Little White Teeth-Little White Teeth
Cosmogramma Alt Takes EP-Flying Lotus
Pope Killdragon-Strand of Oaks
Tinariwen-Tassili
Civilian-Wye Oak
- Arcade Fire join Foo Fighters as Mick Jagger’s band for Saturday Night Live season finale
- M. Ward visits WNYC and The Late Show with David Letterman
- Merge partners with the Southern Folklife Collection at UNC
- New Superchunk 7-inch “This Summer” b/w “Cruel Summer” in June
- The Magnetic Fields premiere video for “Quick!”
- Redd Kross sign to Merge!
- Crooked Fingers releases acoustic version of Breaks in the Armor
- Hospitality visits NPR’s “Tiny Desk”
Stream full-length songs (at random) from our entire catalog.
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