Merge Records

Arcade Fire play “We Used to Wait” and “Sprawl II” on Saturday Night Live!

The Love Language play around the Triangle this weekend

This weekend, The Love Language celebrates the release of Libraries at a few Triangle area stores. This is your last chance to see the band locally before their US tour with Local Natives in September! Stuart talked to Aquarium Drunkard this week about the album, the influences, and their recent gigs.

Saturday 8/21 – 4PM @ Schoolkids in Raleigh, NC
Sunday 8/22 – 2PM @ Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, NC

The Love Language on tour:
08-21 Raleigh, NC Schoolkids Records
08-22 Chapel Hill, NC Flyleaf Books
08-28 Wilmington, NC The Soapbox
09-03 Atlanta, GA The Earl
09-04 Charlotte, NC Visulite Theatre
09-11 Raleigh, NC Hopscotch Festival
09-12 Nashville, TN Exit / In
09-13 Baton Rouge, LA Spanish Moon
09-14 Austin, TX Emo’s Inside
09-17 Los Angeles, CA The Music Box at Fonda
09-18 Los Angeles, CA The Music Box at Fonda
09-19 Solana Beach, CA Belly Up Tavern
09-20 Santa Barbara, CA SOHO Music Club
09-22 San Francisco, CA Fillmore
09-24 Seattle, WA Showbox at the Market
09-25 Portland, OR Wonder Ballroom
09-28 Boulder, CO Fox Theatre
09-30 Omaha, NE The Waiting Room
10-01 Minneapolis, MN First Avenue
10-03 Columbia, MO The Blue Note
10-05 Oklahoma City, OK Academy of Contemporary Music
10-06 Dallas, TX House of Blues
10-07 Houston, TX House of Blues

Remember when the Houston Rockets beat the Knicks?

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One year ago today…

Photos by Brian Vetter

O Canada

Many of us here at Merge HQ have a long-running curiosity about/bemusement with our wonderful neighbors to the north:  Canada.  We’ve spent plenty of time getting to know our friends out in Vancouver, in Montreal, the native Ontarians, etc.

Today, the curtain was pulled back a little more.

This afternoon, I opened an email from friend-of-Merge Phil at Toronto-based digital provider Puretracks which contained one amazing sentence and a link.  The line?  “So I thought I would send you a video of me dancing in a mall this weekend for fun.” The link?:

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A+, my friend.

Limited-edition Ron Liberti poster for Record Store Day

Ron Liberti, graphic artist and frontman for Merge band Pipe, designed an awesome poster in celebration of Record Store Day. Hand-screened and limited to 100, you can get yours now at recordstoreday.com!

New Teenage Fanclub album – Shadows – in June!

Teenage Fanclub return on June 8, 2010 with a brand new album, Shadows, and a UK tour.

It has been 5 long years since their last album Man-Made was released to universal acclaim, so it is no overstatement to say the new album is keenly anticipated. While most bands are lucky to have one great songwriter, Teenage Fanclub are blessed with three, hence Shadows is overflowing with the kind of gorgeous, harmony-driven classics you’d expect to find on a greatest hits album. Teenage Fanclub plan to tour the US in September.

Shadows will be released on CD and digital download on June 8, but you can download “Baby Lee” for free now!

Tracklisting:
1. Sometimes I Don’t Need To Believe In Anything
2. Baby Lee
3. The Fall
4. Into The City
5. Dark Clouds
6. The Past
7. Shock And Awe
8. When I Still Have Thee
9. Live With The Seasons
10. Sweet Days Waiting
11. The Back Of My Mind
12. Today Never Ends

Tour dates (so far!):
May 1st – London Koko – Camden Crawl Headline
May 27th – Manchester Academy 2
May 28th – Sheffield Leadmill
May 30th – Dublin The Academy
June 1st – Aberdeen
June 2nd – Glasgow ABC
June 3rd – Edinburgh The Picture House
June 4th – Leeds The Cockpit
June 6th – Bristol Academy
June 7th – Birmingham Academy 2

The Clientele make television debut on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon

Don’t miss Alasdair, Mark, James, and Mel who will wind up their North American tour in support of their new album, Bonfires on the Heath on March 23 at the Bowery Ballroom. Also, on March 24, The Clientele will make their late-night television debut on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon—set your DVR now!

Featured on individual critics’ year-end lists at The Onion AV Club, Pitchfork, NPR Music, and more, Bonfires on the Heath is in a sense a return to the Clientele’s roots, the dreamlike suburban landscapes first encountered in the early singles, their trippy sense of menace stronger now. Back in London, they’ve drawn on older traditions of English folk, which exist here side by side with the band’s more familiar bossa and pop elements. Mel Draisey’s contributions on piano and violin add beautifully to MacLean’s timeless, eerie songs.

Bonfires on the Heath is available on CD, LP (with MP3 download), and digital download in the Merge store. Watch video of The Clientele playing a stripped-down version of “Bonfires on the Heath” from XX Merge!

Spoon on The Late Show with David Letterman tonight!

Spoon will appear on The Late Show with David Letterman tonight! Other guests include Tom Hanks and the US Olympic bobsled team.

Having just completed a largely sold out UK/Europe trek, the dudes of Spoon are gearing up for their 2010 North American tour, which commences with a March 17 South by Southwest kick off show at Stubbs in Austin, with Spoon headlining a bill featuring Broken Bells, Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, The Walkmen and more. Tickets are selling out fast, so don’t wait!

Spoon’s new album Transference is available now on CD, LP and digital download in the Merge store.

SPOON NORTH AMERICAN TOUR 2010
17-March Stubbs – Austin, TX
18-March Republic – New Orleans, LA
19-March Workplay Soundstage – Birmingham, AL
20-March Tabernacle – Atlanta, GA
22-March 9:30 Club – Washington, DC * SOLD OUT
23-March 9:30 Club – Washington, DC * SOLD OUT
24-March The National – Richmond, VA
26-March Radio City Music Hall – New York, NY * SOLD OUT
27-March House of Blues – Boston, MA, USA * SOLD OUT
29-March Sound Academy – Toronto, ON
30-March Royal Oak Music Theatre Royal – Oak, MI
1-April Aragon Ballroom – Chicago, IL
2-April First Avenue – Minneapolis, MN * SOLD OUT
3-April First Avenue – Minneapolis, MN * SOLD OUT
5-April Ogden Theatre – Denver, CO
6-April Ogden Theatre – Denver, CO
7-April In the Venue – Salt Lake City, UT
9-April Moore Theatre – Seattle, WA
10-April Moore Theatre – Seattle, WA
11-April Orpheum Theatre – Vancouver, BC
12-April McDonald Theater – Eugene , OR
13-April Fox Theater – Oakland, CA
17-April Indio, CA – Coachella

Tall Dwarfs records on sale for $6 !

The fantastic Tall Dwarfs records Weeville and Fork Songs are on sale for six bucks each from our good friends at Cloud Recordings, with 100% of the proceeds going to benefit Chris Knox in his recover from last year’s stroke.

And don’t forget to pick up Stroke: Songs for Chris Knox in record stores now.

Zach Galifianakis SCORE! video at The AV Club

As a gentle reminder of the limited number of SCORE! 20 Years of Merge Records box sets available in the Merge store, The Onion AV Club is streaming the Zach Galifianakis video from his curated compilation for one week only. Watch the video now.

Visit the Merge store for more information about what is included in SCORE! 20 Years of Merge Records, and order your box set today before they are gone forever! All proceeds will benefit charities chosen by the 14 curators.

Wye Oak announce spring tour

Wye Oak just announced spring tour dates with Shearwater in support of their 2009 release, The Knot! Jenn & Andy will also be in Austin for the SXSW festival.

Spin Magazine described The Knot in their “Best Albums You May Have Missed” roundup, “Singer/guitarist Jenn Wasner’s hypnotic songwriting has obvious Americana roots, but on the duo’s sophomore full-length, her dreamy vocals artfully join ragged riffs to drummer/keyboardist Andy Stack’s layers of thunderstorm drums and surging keyboard drones.”

Preview and purchase The Knot on CD and digital download in the Merge store.

Also, listen and watch their live performance from the studios of Oregon Public Broadcasting!

Wye Oak on Tour:
1/29 Baltimore, MD G Spot
3/24 Atlanta, GA The Earl
3/25 Chapel Hill, NC Local 506
3/26 Washington, DC Rock and Roll Hotel
3/27 New York, NY Bowery Ballroom
3/28 Philadelphia, PA Johnny Brenda’s
3/30 Cambridge, MA TT The Bear’s
3/31 Montreal, QC Canada La Sala Rossa
4/01 Toronto, ON Canada Lee’s Palace
4/02 Ithaca, NY Castaways
4/04 Chicago, IL Lincoln Hall
4/06 Minneapolis, MN 400 Bar
4/07 Grinnell, IA Gardner Lounge – Grinnell College
4/09 Norman, OK The Opolis
*All shows with Shearwater except 1/29

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On Tour

Archers of Loaf [+]

February
25 San Francisco, CA Great American Music Hall
26 Los Angeles, CA Troubadour
April
26 New York, NY Bowery Ballroom
27 Cambridge, MA Middle East - Downstairs
28 Cambridge, MA Middle East - Downstairs
[see all]

Richard Buckner [+]

February
22 New Haven, CT BAR
24 Lexington, KY Cosmic Charlie's
25 Atlanta, GA Highland Inn Ballroom
27 Easton, MD The NightCat
March
02 Bayport, NY The Grey Horse Tavern
[see all]

Caribou [+]

April
17 Mexico City Foro Sol
18 Mexico City Foro Sol

Crooked Fingers [+]

February
29 Los Angeles, CA Hotel Cafe

Destroyer [+]

April
14 Indio, CA Coachella
21 Indio, CA Coachella

Hospitality [+]

February
25 San Francisco, CA Great American Music Hall
26 Los Angeles, CA Troubadour
29 Toronto, ON Horseshoe Tavern
March
02 Boston, MA Brighton Music Hall
03 New York, NY Bowery Ballroom
[see all]

Imperial Teen [+]

February
24 San Francisco, CA Cafe Du Nord
25 San Francisco, CA Amoeba Records

Lambchop [+]

February
23 Berlin Babylon
24 Berlin Babylon
25 Dresden Beatpol
26 Leipzig Werk II
27 Vienna Konzerthaus
[see all]

The Love Language [+]

March
09 Charlotte, NC Visulite Theatre
10 Savannah, GA Savannah Stopover at Ships of the Sea Museum
11 Atlanta, GA Variety Playhouse
12 Baton Rouge, LA Red Star Bar
20 Birmingham, AL The Bottletree
[see all]

The Magnetic Fields [+]

March
06 Hudson, NY Helsinki Hudson
07 Philadelphia, PA Union Transfer
10 Minehead All Tomorrow's Parties curated by Jeff Mangum
18 Vancouver The Vogue
19 Seattle, WA Neptune Theatre
[see all]

Jeff Mangum [+]

February
10 Athens, GA 40 Watt
11 Athens, GA 40 Watt
March
07 Dublin Vicar Street
09 Minehead ATP curated by Jeff Mangum
10 Minehead ATP curated by Jeff Mangum
[see all]

the Mountain Goats [+]

March
09 Denton, TX 35 Denton
13 New York, NY Carnegie Hall
24 New York, NY Merkin Hall

Portastatic [+]

February
11 Chapel Hill, NC The Cave
18 Durham, NC Duke Coffeehouse
23 San Francisco, CA Swedish American Hall

Superchunk [+]

February
11 Chapel Hill, NC The Cave
18 Durham, NC Duke Coffeehouse
23 San Francisco, CA Swedish American Hall

Versus [+]

March
09 London The Lexington
April
10 Brooklyn, NY The Bell House

M. Ward [+]

March
20 London Leicester Square Theatre
21 Paris Le Zenith
22 Lyon Transbordeur
23 Lille Theatre Sebastopol
25 London Royal Albert Hall
[see all]

Wild Flag [+]

March
07 Perth The Bakery
09 Melbourne Corner Hotel
10 Victoria Golden Plains Festival
11 Brisbane The Zoo
13 Sydney Manning Bar
[see all]

Wye Oak [+]

February
23 Los Angeles, CA Troubadour
24 San Francisco, CA The Independent
see all tour dates

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