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2012 Year End Lists: Mac McCaughan

Non-Merge Favorites of 2012:

Tanlines – Mixed Emotions
Chuck Prophet – Temple Beautiful
Cat Power – Sun
Spider Bags – Shake MY Head
PARKS & REC
Tim Hecker / Daniel Lopatin – Instrumental Tourist
Tig Notaro at Haw River Ballroom
WTF Podcast w Marc Maron
Andy Stott – Luxury Problems
Bat for Lashes – The Haunted Man
Converge – All We Love We Leave Behind
GIRLS tv show
Aimee Mann – Charmer
Rebecca Gates – The Float
playing MotorCo with John Darnielle and Greg Cartwright vs Amendment One
VEEP
Bill Fay – Life Is People
AC Newman – Shut Down The Streets
NEW GIRL
Laetitia Sadier – Silencio
Titus Andronicus – Local Business
Run DMC & Seaweed live at Fun Fun Fun Fest
playing w Spider Bags & Titus Andronicus at noon in Downtown Durham
FOX NEWS ELECTION NIGHT COVERAGE
Sharon Van Etten – Tramp
Personal Space – Electronic Soul 1974-84 (Various)
The Sea and Cake – Runner
Hot Chip – In Our Heads

favorite books i read this year:

Le Freak by Nile Rodgers
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
Bedsit Disco Queen by Tracey Thorn
This Is How You Lose Her by Junot Diaz
The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker
The Trees The Trees by Heather Christle
Agorafabulous! Dispatches From My Bedroom by Sara Benincasa

Mac McCaughan joins early voting rally in Durham, NC This Friday!

Early voting has begun in North Carolina, and to help spread the word, Mac McCaughan of Superchunk, Portastatic & Merge will perform solo at a concert to raise awareness for Early Voting Friday, October 26 at Durham Central Park with Chapel Hill’s Spider Bags and New Jersey band Titus Andronicus.

Lantern Restaurant of Chapel Hill and Toast of Durham will also be serving soup at the event.

Read Mac’s entry to the 90 Days, 90 Reasons project about the importance of turning North Carolina “blue.” Follow @superchunk on twitter for more information on other events happening in North Carolina this week as details are confirmed. Spread the word!

And, no matter which state you live in, please vote!

Friday, October 26 @ Durham Central Park
11 AM – 1:30 PM
Noon – Mac McCaughan solo
12:30 – Spider Bags
1:15 – Titus Andronicus

The Concert to Defeat NC Amendment One featuring Bob Mould, The Love Language, Superchunk & more!

Merge Records is teaming up with the Haw River Ballroom, Cat’s Cradle and others in opposition to North Carolina’s Amendment One including the Coalition to Protect ALL North Carolina Families – to throw a Benefit Concert with Bob Mould, David Cross, Stuart McLamb of The Love Language, Tig Notaro, Amber Tamblyn and Superchunk (Acoustic Duo.) The concert will be held on May 6 at the Haw River Ballroom in Saxapahaw, NC. Limited tickets are available to this special seated event for a donation of $80 and a limited edition silk-screened poster of the event designed by Matthew Klimas is included in the ticket price.

Click to buy tickets for a donation which includes a limited edition silk-screened poster

On September 13th, the North Carolina Legislature proposed an amendment to the Constitution that would ban legal recognition for all unmarried couples, strip protections and benefits from families across our state, hurt our business climate and economic development and put our children in danger. We are proud to be a member of a coalition of groups, individuals and families dedicated to defeating this amendment at the polls on May 8 and protecting North Carolina from the harms it represents. For more information about the Coalition to Protect NC Families, visit their website.

2011 Year End Lists: Mac McCaughan

Wow, my shit is mainstream this year. I think if i would have had some more time with albums by  EMA, Cass McCombs, St Vincent, Craig Taborn, Andy Stott, Colin Stetson, Girls, Kurt Vile, & Shabazz Palaces they probably would have ended up on here too. Not enough hours in the day!  As usual, Merge stuff is disqualified though it’s what i listened to & loved the most…

Top Non-Merge Albums of 2011

War On Drugs – Slave Ambient
Bill Callahan – apocalypse
J Mascis – several shades of why
Dum Dum Girls – Only In Dreams
Fucked up – David comes to life
Wilco – The Whole Love
Tim Hecker – Ravedeath 1972
Sidi Toure – Sahel Folk
PJ Harvey – Let England Shake
Feist – Metals
Malkmus/Jicks – Mirror Traffic
Yuck – Yuck
Junior Boys – It’s All True
Ballake Sissoko & Vincent Segal – Chamber Music
Real Estate – Days
William Tyler – Behold the Spirit

Favorite Reissues of 2011

Sorry Bamba – Vol 1 1970-79
REM – Life’s Rich Pageant
El Rego – El Rego
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds – Let Love In
Mark Hollis – Mark Hollis & Talk Talk – Laughing Stock
Bitch Magnet – Bitch Magnet
V/A – Local Customs: Pressed At Bodie
Void – Sessions 81-83

Tracks

Bright Eyes – “Shell Games”
Robyn – “Call Your Girlfriend”
Nicky Minaj – “Super Bass”
Bon Iver – “Perth”
Mt. Moriah – “Only Way Out”
Cut Copy – “Need You Now”
Kreashawn – “Gucci Gucci”
Adele – “Rolling In The Deep”
James Blake – “The Wilhelm Scream”
Tom Waits – “New Years Eve”

Art Highlights of 2011

Tacita Dean – FILM
Miyazaki / Ghibli Museum, Tokyo
Kara Walker – Drawings at Sikkema Jenkins
DE-NATURED – Ackland Museum
Yayoi Kusama retrospective at Museo Reina Sofia
Barry Flanagan – Early Works 1965 – 1982
de Kooning retrospective at MOMA
Josephine Halvorson – What Looks Back at Sikkema Jenkins
Marcel Dzama – Behind Every Curtain at David Zwirner
Becoming: Photographs from the Wedge Collection – Nasher Museum

Comedy makes me laugh.

The Best Show on WFMU
Louis CK in all formats.
Amy Schumer – Cutting
Rob Delaney
Todd Barry
Parks n  Recreation
Patrice O’Neal (RIP) – Elephant In the Room
Maria Bamford
Marc Maron’s WTF

Orange County Social Club celebrates 10 years

This month marks the 10-year anniversary of Orange County Social Club, a neighborhood bar in Carrboro, North Carolina, founded by our dear friend and former Merge-intern-turned-employee Tricia Mesigian.

OCSC marks its first decade with a week-long celebration that begins this Sunday, October 9, at 4 p.m. in the bar’s parking lot. There will be free music by several local bands and food for purchase from Neal’s Deli, the proceeds from which will benefit MusiCares.

Then Monday through Thursday from 6–8 p.m., OCSC will host indoor semi-acoustic shows, with an additional solo set at 9 p.m. on Tuesday by Mac McCaughan. On Thursday evening, Shark Quest, who put out three lovely albums on Merge, will play an instrumental set. While all of these evening shows are free, donations will be collected and put towards a scholarship fund that Tricia has established with the Town of Carrboro to help send local aspiring entrepreneurs to a small-business training course.

And as if all that weren’t enough, there will be two shows at the Cat’s Cradle, both starting at 8 p.m., to cap off the week’s festivities. The show on Friday, October 14, includes an appearance by The Ghost of Rock, which features members of Pipe. On Saturday the 15th, Crooked Fingers will play some songs off of their soon-to-be-released album, Breaks in the Armor. Saturday also sees the return of Seven Brides for the Meatwagon, a covers supergroup that includes Jim Wilbur and Jon Wurster (on guitar!) of Superchunk. Jon reveals, “We will deliver unto you the best and worst of the ’90s, the 2000s, and the OCSC jukebox. We haven’t played in ten years, so cut us some slack.”

Tickets for Friday and Saturday are on sale now at Cat’s Cradle, OCSC, CD Alley, and Schoolkids Records. Proceeds from the Cradle shows will also go to MusiCares. Visit and “like” OCSC on Facebook for full details and updates on next week’s events.

Congratulations, Trish, on your much-deserved success!

Mac McCaughan scores films by Maya Deren for the Westobou Festival in Augusta, GA

Mac McCaughan of Superchunk and Portastatic has composed original scores for four films by noted experimental filmmaker Maya Deren, and he will perform them live on Thursday, September 29, at the world premiere of Transfigured Time: Music for the Films of Maya Deren, which opens the Westobou Festival in Augusta, Georgia.

Maya Deren (1917–1961) is often referred to as “the mother of the American underground cinema.” Her films are known for their startling and surrealistic imagery in which time and space are altered to create a world somewhere between dreams and reality. In 1946, Ms. Deren became the first filmmaker to receive a Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship, and later that year she was the recipient of the Cannes Film Festival Grand Prix Internationale. From photographer Cindy Sherman to artist Matthew Barney to filmmaker David Lynch, Maya Deren’s profound influence as a filmmaker and theorist resonates to this very day.

McCaughan’s compositional accomplishments include original scores for Who Loves the Sun and Looking for LeonardHis live scores for silent films include the Seattle International Film Festival’s presentation of Tod Browning’s The Unknown and Teinosuke Kinugasa’s A Page of Madness with Superchunk at the San Francisco Film Festival.

The evening will begin at 6 p.m. with a social hour in the lovely gardens of Sacred Heart Cultural Center. DJs will set the evening’s tone, and unique food and beverages will be available from The Bee’s Knees. The premiere of Transfigured Time: Music for the Films of Maya Deren will begin at sunset in the architectural splendor of Sacred Heart Cultural Center with McCaughan leading a small ensemble.

A co-production of Semi-Precious Productions and Sacred Heart Cultural Center, Transfigured Time will build upon the success of their presentation of 13 Most Beautiful: Songs for Andy Warhol’s Screen Tests at the 2010 Westobou Festival.

For tickets and more information, visit www.westoboufestival.com.

Mac to play solo for Moving Island benefit in Raleigh on Saturday, January 29

On Saturday, January 29 at 3 p. m., Mac McCaughan will play a solo set at Moving Island (804 N. West St.), downtown Raleigh’s new center for emerging arts, empowering technology, and the business of living. The show is part of Buoyancy 2011, a benefit for Moving Island.

The 2011 Buoyancy Benefit, features local bands such as Lonnie Walker, Old Bricks, Schooner, Naps and Heads on Sticks. All fifteen bands are donating time to raise money to kick start the classes and programming that this new alternative education and arts facility plans to provide. Tickets are available at Schoolkids Records, CD Alley, Chaz’s Bull City Records, and online at Brown Paper Tickets.

For the full Buoyancy Benefit roster and information about the Moving Island visit Movingisland.org.

Help get Moving Island afloat!

A Guide to 2010 Merge Digital releases

It’s easy to miss out on some of the digital-only releases we throw your way—the Internet is a pretty crowded place these days! Here’s a quick summary of what you may have missed:

The limited-edition Destroyer 12-inch “Archer on the Beach” is out-of-print in the Merge store, but you can now buy the songs via digital download!

Don’t miss out on Swim RemixesCaribou’s answer to what happens when you put one of the year’s hottest dance records in the hands of some of the world’s best DJs! With reworks of some of Swim’s hottest cuts by Junior Boys, Fuck Buttons, Nite Jewel, DJ Koze, Walls, Gold Panda, Gavin Russom, and more, Swim Remixes contains over an hour-and-a-half of new, fresh takes on Caribou’s latest opus.

Let’s Wrestle bring us a tasty piece of next year’s sophomore record with the “Getting Rest”/“When I Was In Hospital” digital single. Be warned: these young Londoners are not to be missed.

Shout Out LoudsFall Hard EP expands upon Work’s catchy first single with non-album cuts “Fall Hard Pt. 2” and “Can’t Explain.”

Lou Barlow + the missingmen’s = Sentridoh III is Lou’s first recorded output with new backing band the missingmen. Described by the band as “an almost live representation of the Lou Barlow + the missingmen live show,” this mini-album breathes new, rocking life into Sebadoh and Sentridoh classics, Lou’s solo material, and even a haunting cover of the timeless Skip James song “I’m So Glad.”

Tracey Thorn followed up this year’s gorgeous Love and Its Opposite with a pair of digital EPs, Why Does the Wind? and Opposites, that offer up wildly creative remixes of some of the album’s most-loved songs. Why Does the Wind? pairs the album track of the same name with remixes by Morgan Geist, Michel Clies, and André Lodemann, along with a radio edit and dub version. As for the Opposites EP, Tracey herself probably says it best: “If the remixes for the last single ‘Why Does the Wind?’ were aimed at the dancefloor, these are perhaps aimed more at the head.” Visionquest (“Swimming”), Walls (“Kentish Town”), and Blue Daisy (“Late in the Afternoon”) provide penetrating new takes presented alongside the originals.

Let’s also revisit Lambchop’s magnetic Live at XX Merge performance; Portastatic’s Make It Sound In Tune EP; digital reissues of Richard Buckner’s landmark albums Impasse, The Hill, and Bloomed; and The Ladybug Transistor’s fantastic Here Comes the Rain covers EP.

Our Holiday Coupon applies to digital releases, too, so download away!



Mac talks “Passenger Side” soundtrack; plays “Detroit Has a Skyline” with Jim in Toronto

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Mac & Jim of Superchunk play “Passenger Side” premiere in Toronto on April 7

On April 7, Mac & Jim from Superchunk and Portastatic will be at Royal Cinema in Toronto for the premiere of the film Passenger Side, written and directed by Matt Bissonnette (Looking for Leonard, Who Loves the Sun). The LA Weekly describes Passenger Side as “A thinking man’s Judd Apatow flick … literate, amusing, and unexpectedly moving.” Read a synopsis of the film and watch the trailer at passengersidemovie.com.

Mac and Matt Bissonnette did music supervision and Mac contributed an original song as well as a  Superchunk song for the film. After the screening, Mac and Matt Bissonnette will participate in a panel and Q & A session about the film. Mac and Jim will follow the panel with an acoustic set of Superchunk and Portastatic songs.

Tickets are available now in Toronto at Soundscapes (572 College St.), Rotate This (801 Queen St. West), and online at passengersidemovie.com. Check out Mac’s interview in Signal Magazine, too!

Jeff Mangum, The Clean, Portastatic & more announce Chris Knox benefit in NYC – SOLD OUT!

On Thursday, May 6, Jeff Mangum, The Clean, Portastatic, Yo La Tengo, Kyp Malone (of TV on the Radio), Claudia Gonson (of The Magnetic Fields), Sharon Van Etten, John Mulaney, Robert Scott, David Kilgour & Dimmer will unite in an evening of music at Le Poisson Rouge in New York City to benefit New Zealand musician Chris Knox, who suffered a series of life-altering strokes last year.

Hosted by Le Poisson Rouge, Wordless Music and WFMU, this show comes on the heels of the recent release of Stroke, a double album compilation of artists covering Knox songs with the proceeds going to benefit him and his family. All money raised for this event, save for circa $2,500 base costs to cover direct club expenses, is going straight to the Knox family.

This event is now sold out! Thank you very much!

Stroke is available now as a limited-edition 2-CD set and digital download in the Merge store.

Portastatic on “The Spark” with Tift Merritt

From the Portastatic Blog:

Local gal made good (and now living in the big city) Tift Merritt was back in NC recently and was kind enough to have me on her interview show The Spark, which she records for Marfa Public Radio…we talked about writing songs and listening to songs and record covers and all kinds of things, check it out here!