December 21, 2011 – 3:41 pm
1. most-life changing event of 2011: my daughter Eleri sleeping through the night
2. best rediscovery: sleep (see #1)
3. favorite mix: MGMT-curated Late Night Tales. Listened to this over and over and over again (OMG, that Bauhaus cover!)
4. favorite old albums I listened to for the first time this year: Terry Reid’s Superlungs, and No Other by Gene Clark
5. album I would’ve played if I’d ever hosted that vision quest I kept talking about: Eye Contact by Gang Gang Dance
6. reissue I was psyched to see: Nowhere by Ride
7. favorite Netflix instant-view: “The Trip” (the Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon version, not the Peter Fonda, Bruce Dern, Dennis Hopper version—not gonna say anything bad about that one either, though)
8. book I stayed up too late reading: The Passage by Justin Cronin (scary!)
9. one cool thing (of many, of course!) I discovered about Eleri: she likes to drink pickle juice
10. best lucky break: not catching scabies from Urban Outfitters
December 19, 2011 – 6:11 pm
Goreaphobia, Apocalyptic Necromancy
Mia Doi Todd, Cosmic Ocean Ship
Bill Callahan, Apocalypse
Raekwon, Shaolin vs. Wu-Tang
In Solitude, The World. The Flesh. The Devil
Hate Eternal, Phoenix Amongst the Ashes
Dos, Dos y Dos
Animals As Leaders, weightless
Brutal Truth, End Time
Hatchback, Zeus and Apollo
Of Antiquity, Nocturnal Grind
notes: Wye Oak should be here but we toured with them + they’re labelmates + I intend to sing “Civilian” at some point so like there’s a proximity factor that’s too intense but Civilian was top 3 for me; Ride for Revenge has a new album due in December and they’re reliable best-of-year dudes; I listened to much more classical music than popular music this year.
December 19, 2011 – 5:30 pm
Douglas Smith’s “Baker’s Dozen” of Best Vegan Donuts:
Top tens? Come on… its a Vegan Donut list… you know I had to pick a baker’s dozen. 13 donuts from 4 bakeries in 4 different states. What food should my next vacation be centered around?
1. Blueberry Donut – Pepples Vegan Donut Farm
2. Chai Tea Donut – Dun Well Doughnuts
3. The Loop (Fruit Loop) Donut – VooDoo Doughnut
4. Salted Caramel Donut – Pepples Vegan Donut Farm
5. Peanut Butter and Jelly Donut – Dun Well Doughnuts
6. Kaffir Lime Donut – Pepples Vegan Donut Farm
7. Cinnamon Sugar Donut – Dun Well Doughnuts
8. Glazed Donut – VooDoo Doughnut
9. Lemon Lavender Donut – Dun Well Doughnuts
10. Toasted S’more Donut – Dun Well Doughnuts
11. Marshmallow Cream Donut – Vegan Treats
12. Diablos Rex Donut – VooDoo Doughnut
13. Jelly Filled Donut – Vegan Treats
Bonus Pastry! Apple Fritter – Pepples Vegan Donut Farm
It was so good I blacked out… could have also been diabetic shock.
Lauren Bernal’s top 10 Wild Flag moments of 2011 or how to appear like a stalker/huge nerd:
1. Hearing a rumor Carrie and Janet were playing music together with Mary
Timony?! Prayers: answered.
2. They signed to Merge!!! (“the secret” works!)
3. Video of “Future Crimes” from their first show. There may have been
goosebumps involved…
4. Future Crimes/Glass Tambourine 7″ YES!
5. Both Rock Shop shows. Possibly the best of my life. (cc: Erin)
6. THE RECORD! (the best of 2011 and all other years ever)
7. Wild Flag with Sonic Youth, at the Bell House, and Bowery Ballroom
(bonus: Yellow Fever and Eleanor Friedberger as openers)
8. “Romance” and “Electric Band” videos (Can Wild Flag have a tv show a la
The Monkees, please?)
9. My #1 most listened to song in 2011: “Something Came Over Me”
10. Just knowing Wild Flag exists.
Pete D’Angelo’s Top 10 Beers of the Year:
Founders Breakfast Stout
Full Sail Session Black
Dogfish Head Bitches Brew
Sixpoints Crisp
Pretty Things Jack D’or
Trappist Rocherfort 10
Sierra Nevada / Dogfish Head Life & Limb 2
Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout
Sierra Nevada Celebration 2011
Captain Lawrence Xtra Gold Tripel
November 23, 2011 – 12:09 pm
Jamie & James sport this season’s hottest shirt, brought to you by Wild Flag!
The Rosebuds visited KEXP Seattle for a live in-studio performance on Saturday, July 9. The session is now archived at KEXP.org!
The band recently released a video for the track “Woods,” directed by Steve Choo. Watch it on the Merge Blog now!
You can order The Rosebuds‘ new album Loud Planes Fly Low on CD, LP, and digital download now in the Merge store, or at your favorite local record store.
The Rosebuds on tour:
# – w/ Bon Iver
July 12 Vancouver, BC Media Club
July 14 Boise, ID The Neurolux
July 15 Salt Lake City, UT Urban Lounge
July 16 Denver, CO Hi-Diver
July 19 Minneapolis, MN 7th Street Entry
July 20 Eau Claire, WI House of Rock
July 21 Madison, WI UW Union Terrace
July 22 Milwaukee, WI Riverside Theater #
July 23 Milwaukee, WI Riverside Theater #
July 24 Chicago, IL Chicago Theatre #
July 25 Indianapolis, IN Murat Theatre #
July 27 Nashville, TN Ryman Auditorium #
July 28 Atlanta, GA Cobb Energy PAC #
July 29 Raleigh, NC Raleigh Amphitheater #
July 30 Richmond, VA The National #
Aug 01 Washington, DC 9:30 Club #
Aug 03 Upper Darby, PA Tower Theatre #
Aug 05 Boston, MA House of Blues #
Aug 06 Holyoke, MA Mountain Park #
Aug 08 Toronto, ON The Sound Academy #
Aug 09 New York, NY United Palace Theatre #
Aug 10 Brooklyn, NY Celebrate Brooklyn! #
John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats will appear on WUNC’s The State of Things on Friday, July 8, at 12 noon ET. John will speak with host Frank Stasio and play a couple of solo acoustic songs for your listening enjoyment. Tune in to 91.5 FM in the Triangle or listen online.
The Mountain Goats‘ latest album, All Eternals Deck, is available now on CD, LP, and digital download in the Merge store.
RCRDLBL posted a remix by the Ladybug Transistor’s own Michael O’Neill (aka DJ LGBT) today!
Listen to the remix at RCRDLBL.com
DJ LGBT—Michael O’Neill of both Men as well as the band in question—transforms The Ladybug Transistor’s “Clutching Stems” from a pretty anthem in the vein of Arcade Fire into an intensely percussion-driven epic that just barely carries the suggestion of club music. O’Neill raises the stakes by excavating the song’s darkness, latent in the lyrics. “It’s all coming apart,” Gary Olson sings and instead of a delay-drenched guitar sounding off, the song’s melody cuts out, leaving only the rhythm of the ominously clanging thump of the drums.
Clutching Stems is in stores on June 7. Pre-order in the Merge store now!
The Ladybug Transistor on tour:
May 31 Madrid, Spain – El Sol
Jun 01 Huesca, Spain – CC Matadero
Jun 02 Barcelona, Spain – Catwalk
Jun 03 Valencia, Spain - Matisse
Jun 04 Zaragoza, Spain – CAI Independencia
Jun 29 New Haven, CT – BAR (FREE SHOW!)
Jun 30 Cambridge, MA – TT the Bear’s
July 06 Brooklyn, NY – Knitting Factory
July 07 Pittsburgh, PA – Carnegie Museum of Art Sculpture Court
July 08 Kalamazoo, MI – The Strutt
July 09 Madison, WI – UW Madison Union Terrace
July 10 Chicago, IL – Schuba’s
July 11 North Manchester, IN – The Firehouse (FREE SHOW!)
July 12 Cincinnati, OH – Mayday (FREE SHOW!)
July 15 Baltimore, MD – Ottobar
July 16 Raleigh, NC – Kings Barcade
July 17 Charlottesville, VA – The Southern
The Mountain Goats visited WXPN’s World Cafe studios on their recent tour to perform songs from March’s All Eternals Deck. The session will air today on NPR’s World Cafe. Visit NPR.org for local airtimes, or you can listen live on WXPN’s live stream at 2PM EST.
The Mountain Goats head to Europe in a few weeks but will be back on the North American roads in June! Check the tour page for all new shows!
May 22 Dubin, Ireland Whelans
May 24 Brighton, UK Coalition
May 25 London, UK KOKO
May 27 Manchester, UK Academy 3
May 28 Leeds, UK Brudenell Social Club
May 29 Glasgow, Scotland King Tuts
May 30 Newcastle, UK Cluny
June 14 Minneapolis, MN Varsity Theater
June 16 Seattle, WA The Showbox
June 17 Vancouver, BC The Biltmore Cabaret
June 18 Portland, OR Aladdin Theater
June 20 San Francisco, CA The Fillmore
June 21 Costa Mesa, CA Detroit Bar
June 23 Los Angeles, CA El Rey Theatre
June 24 Santa Barbara, CA SoHo Music Club
June 26 Bloomington, IN Plan-it-X REcords
July 27 Lewiston, NY Art Park #
July 28 Belknap, NH Meadowbrook Pavilion #
July 29 Shelburne, VT Ben & Jerry’s Concerts on the Green #
July 30 Montreal, QC Osheaga Festival
July 31 Baldwinsville, NY Paper Mill Island Amphitheater #
August 03 Grand Rapids, MI Meijer Gardens #
August 04 Indianapolis, IN Egyptian Room #
August 05 Chicago, IL Lollapalooza
August 06 Chicago, IL Lollapalooza
# with Bright Eyes
This past weekend marked the fifth annual AUX Experimental Arts Festival in Athens, GA. Attendees witnessed a special performance by The Soap Scums (Laura Carter, Peter Erchick, John Fernandes, Eric Harris, & Jeff Mangum), which we now present to you, toast and all:
Thanks to Sloan Simpson & Mike White for the recording!
Jeff Mangum also has some tour dates coming up (!!):
Aug 12 Toronto, ON Trinity St. Paul’s United Church
Aug 13 Toronto, ON Trinity St. Paul’s United Church
Sep 09 Cambridge, MA Sanders Theatre at Harvard University
Sep 10 Boston, MA Jordan Hall at New England Conservatory
Sep 30 Asbury Park, NJ ATP America – I’ll Be Your Mirror – Paramount Theatre
Oct 03 Asbury Park, NJ ATP
Oct 29 New York, NY Town Hall
Nov 06 Jersey City, NJ Loew’s Jersey Theatre
February 24, 2011 – 5:28 pm
All Enternals Deck is available for pre-order from the Merge Store now!
November 17, 2010 – 12:49 pm
As of tomorrow, November 18, the Merge catalog will be removed from eMusic.
We at Merge are longtime fans of eMusic; it has for years been one of the premiere places to discover new and independent music, and their editorial is among the best around. We are truly grateful for their coverage, and have enjoyed working with them for many years.
Unfortunately, eMusic’s unilateral changes in an effort to bring on the major labels has created a situation where it would be harmful to the interests of Merge and our artists to continue our partnership at this time.
We encourage those who regularly purchase Merge titles from eMusic to head to your local independent record store, the Merge Digital Store, or one of our other digital music partners.
1. most-life changing event of 2011: my daughter Eleri sleeping through the night
