Pre-order Tracey Thorn's Love and Its Opposite in the Merge store

Tracey Thorn will release her Merge Records debut, Love and Its Opposite, on May 18. Recorded in Berlin and London, the ten-song collection boasts eight original compositions and two covers (a duet with Jens Lekman on Lee Hazlewood's "Come on Home to Me" and a poignant reading of The Unbending Trees' "You Are a Lover"). The album also features guests such as Hot Chip's Al Doyle, The Invisible's Leo Taylor, Nashville songwriter-drummer Cortney Tidwell, and Lost Valentinos' guitarist Jono Ma.

Download the first single, "Oh, The Divorces!" from Love and Its Opposite now, and visit the newly redesigned TraceyThorn.com and follow Tracey on Twitter for more information about what Tracey is up to as the release date draws near.

Pre-order Caribou's Swim on CD and LP!

Caribou mastermind Dan Snaith's latest recording sees him getting busy in the basement with some expertly constructed, rave-tinged sounds that sing with soul.

The full-band Caribou have announced their world tour that begins in Manchester, England, on April 19. The North American leg of the tour will begin on May 3 in Toronto, Canada.

Caribou's new album Swim will be released on April 20 and is available for pre-order now in the Merge store on CD and double-LP. Watch the video for "Odessa" too!

Pre-Order classic Destroyer reissues now!

On April 20, we will reissue Destroyer's City of Daughters and Thief on CD and Streethawk: A Seduction on CD and LP. All three releases have been remastered, and the CDs will feature shiny new packaging!

City of Daughters, Thief, and Streethawk: A Seduction are available now for preview and pre-order in the Merge store. Pre-order all three on CD in the Merge store for a special bundle price of $29.98!

The Magnetic Fields' 69 Love Songs on vinyl; documentary at Full Frame Film Festival

The Magnetic Fields' 69 Love Songs is now available for pre-order as a limited-edition vinyl box set that includes all 69 love songs re-mastered for vinyl on six 10" records and housed in a super-sized 69 Love Songs box, along with a 10" version of the original booklet featuring liner notes written by Lemony Snicket author Daniel Handler.

From now until April 20, pre-order the vinyl box set at the discounted price of $89.98 in the Merge store.

On Saturday, April 10, Strange Powers, a documentary about The Magnetic Fields, will premiere at the Full Frame Film Festival in Durham, North Carolina. In addition to beautiful performances, we get the history of The Magnetic Fields, from early footage of their first shows through the success of 69 Love Songs, all the way up to the band's transitional period after the release of Distortion. This documentary is far more than just a "glimpse of the recluse at work"; it's a wonderfully captivating film about one of America's greatest living songwriters.

Watch the trailer for Strange Powers, a Magnetic Fields documentary ten years in the making!

Exclusive Record Store Day releases from Telekinesis, The Love Language, and Let's Wrestle, plus an autographed Superchunk picture disc!

Merge will join in the celebration of Record Store Day on Saturday, April 17, with the release of three exclusive 7-inches from Telekinesis, Superchunk, and a split 7-inch from The Love Language and Let's Wrestle.

Superchunk - "Misfits and Mistakes" b/w "Misfits and Mistakes" (Meatwad Version) Originally released in 2007 in extremely limited quantity, "Misfits and Mistakes" is the first and only picture disc Merge has ever produced. Recorded for Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters, "Misfits and Mistakes" is performed by Superchunk and covered on side B by Meatwad himself! Each 7-inch picture disc arrives in stores autographed by all four members of Superchunk and is available at a special price exclusively for Record Store Day!

Telekinesis - "Dirty Thing" b/w "Non-Toxic" and "The Drawback" This is the first new music from Telekinesis since their 2009 Merge debut Telekinesis!, which was described by NPR Monitor Mix's Carrie Brownstein as "perfectly crafted and utterly gleeful." These three tracks will be available on 7-inch vinyl only!

Let's Wrestle / The Love Language - "I'm So Lazy" b/w "Brittany's Back (demo version)" With this split 7-inch created exclusively for Record Store Day, we introduce two exciting new Merge bands: Let's Wrestle and The Love Language! Featuring brand-new songs from both bands, these tracks will be available on 7-inch vinyl only!

Record Store Day is a yearly celebration in which independently owned record stores come together with artists to celebrate the art of music. Special vinyl and CD releases and various promotional products are made exclusively for the day, and hundreds of artists in the United States and in various countries across the globe make special appearances and performances.

For more information on Record Store Day and where you can find a store near you, visit recordstoreday.com.

New Teenage Fanclub-Shadows-in June!

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

It has been five 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 is 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 plans to tour the US in September.

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

Track Listing:
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 01 London - Koko (Camden Crawl headline)
May 27 Manchester - The Academy 2
May 28 Sheffield - The Leadmill
May 30 Dublin - The Academy
Jun 01 Aberdeen - The Warehouse
Jun 02 Glasgow - O2 ABC
Jun 03 Edinburgh - The Picture House
Jun 04 Leeds - The Cockpit
Jun 06 Bristol - O2 Academy
Jun 07 Birmingham - O2 Academy 2
Jun 08 London - O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire

Wye Oak announce My Neighbor / My Creator EP; on tour with Shearwater

Less than a year after their acclaimed, dark triumph The Knot, Baltimore's Wye Oak offer My Neighbor / My Creator, a vibrant EP that brims with melody and creative detours over five new recordings. My Neighbor / My Creator is available now via digital download in the Merge store. The EP will be available at all other digital outlets on April 20, and the CD will be in stores on June 8. You can also buy the CD from Wye Oak during their spring tour dates.

Collaborating with outside producers for the first time, Jenn Wasner and Andy Stack's four new songs feel loose and direct, from the tumbling opener "My Neighbor" to the propulsive "Emmylou." "My Creator" and "I Hope You Die" begin like ballads but soon reveal unexpected layers of saxophone and percussion over Wasner's cascading vocals. Chris and Mickey Freeland, brothers with ties to everything from Oxes' math-rock explorations to Baltimore's indie hip-hop scene, helmed the new EP's recordings in their own Beat Babies studio, and they bring new textures to Wye Oak's ever-expanding sound. There's a heavier reliance on keyboards, culminating in Mickey's own stunning remix of The Knot's "That I Do" which must be heard to be believed.

Anything but a stopgap, My Neighbor / My Creator is yet another significant step forward for this young band.

Download "I Hope You Die" from My Neighbor / My Creator now! Watch video of Wye Oak playing at NPR's Tiny Desk, too!

Track Listing:
1. My Neighbor
2. Emmylou
3. My Creator
4. I Hope You Die
5. That I Do (Mickey Free Remix)

Mac and Jim of Superchunk play "Passenger Side" premiere in Toronto on April 7

On April 7, Mac and 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). 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 provided music supervision, and Mac contributed an original song as well as a Superchunk song for the film. After the screening, Mac and Matt 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!

Be part of the audience when Spoon performs on Jimmy Kimmel Live!

Sign up now for free tickets to see Spoon perform in Los Angeles on the outdoor stage at Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Thursday, April 15! The performance will air later that night on ABC.

Spoon is currently on tour, and their new album Transference is available on CD, LP and digital download in the Merge store.

Radar Brothers' The Illustrated Garden in stores; new tour dates!

Radar Brothers' The Illustrated Garden was released late last month to fabulous reviews.

As Spin described, the audience at our SXSW showcase was "smitten" as Radar Brothers played to a packed house. "The bros" have added new shows in southern California, and we are expecting more soon! Get your copy of The Illustrated Garden on CD and digital download now in the Merge store!

Radar Brothers on tour
4/17 Los Angeles, CA Echo Curio
4/26 Los Angeles, CA Echo
6/17 San Diego, CA Soda Bar
6/18 Santa Cruz, CA The Crepe Place
6/21 Portland, OR Mississippi Studios
6/22 Seattle, WA Sunset Tavern
6/24 San Francisco, CA Rickshaw Stop

"Each track glows like a golden hour snapshot capturing a certain sunset idealism." ~Pitchfork

"The record spins the mood that Radar Brothers fans have come to expect: that feeling of being happily sunbaked and mildly delirious, subsisting on pure sensory intake." ~The Onion AV Club

"Singer/guitarist Putnam's languid, dreamy songs are melodic, moody, and always a treat to listen to." ~Tape Op

Let's Wrestle tour the US; debut album in stores now!

Let's Wrestle continue their North American tour with Quasi this week! In the Court of the Wrestling Let's is available on CD and digital download in the Merge store now.

"The tension between refusing to grow up and yearning to move on is the emotional engine that drives the band and its impressively confident record." ~Pitchfork

"Gonzalez is a romantic, tipping his hat to Roy Orbison on "In Dreams" and penning the upbeat "We Are the Men You'll Grow to Love Soon," in which he croaks, "We are the most reliable guys in the world" and offers to buy drinks. He's so smart and winning, it'd be a shame to say no." ~The AV Club

Let's Wrestle on tour (all dates with Quasi except 4/7):
Apr 07 Chapel Hill, NC - Local 506 (with White Rabbits)
Apr 15 St. Paul, MN - Turf Club
Apr 16 Madison, WI - Annex
Apr 17 Detroit, MI - Magic Stick
Apr 18 Toronto, ON - Horseshoe Tavern
Apr 19 Montreal, QC - Il Motore
Apr 20 Cambridge, MA - Middle East Downstairs
Apr 22 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
Apr 23 Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda's
Apr 24 Washington, DC - Black Cat
Apr 26 Carrboro, NC - Cat's Cradle
Apr 27 Atlanta, GA - 529
Apr 28 Birmingham, AL - The Bottletree
Apr 29 Nashville, TN - Mercy Lounge
Apr 30 Newport, KY - The Southgate House
May 01 Chicago, IL - Lincoln Hall

She & Him Billboard debut, on TV, and on tour!

Congratulations to She & Him whose sophomore album, Volume Two, debuted at #6 on the Billboard Top 200 chart!

She & Him appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman on April 2 and on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on April 5. While in New York, Matt & Zooey chatted with ABC's Dan Harris for Amplified. Radio appearances at KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic and WNYC's Soundcheck are also archived.

She & Him are currently on tour and Volume Two is available on CD and LP in the Merge store!

"The new album proves again that she's not a dabbler, just as it proves again that she and Mr. Ward, her producer, share similar ideals... It's breezy but sturdy, impeccably styled." ~New York Times

"You'd be hard pressed to find another album this year as fun and as flat-out enjoyable as this one." ~Washington Post

"She & Him has given Deschanel her best role yet, one that shows off her charm and intelligence to best effect-- one that she is essentially writing for herself." ~Pitchfork

Shout Out Louds prep for US tour, perform on MTV Iggy

Shout Out Louds visited MTV Iggy while they were here earlier in the spring. Check out great live performances of three songs from their new album Work as a preview to their fast-approaching North American tour!

Click song titles for the videos:
Walls"
"Play the Game"
"Fall Hard"

Work is available on CD, LP and digital download in the Merge store.

The Clean play NYC show and Chris Knox benefit

On their way to All Tomorrow's Parties in England, The Clean will stop in NYC to play a star-studded sold-out benefit for Chris Knox on May 6, as well as a headlining show at The Bell House in Brooklyn on Friday, May 7.

Tickets are on sale now for The Bell House, and you can get The Clean's most recent album, Mister Pop, as well as any of their catalog releases in the Merge store. The Chris Knox benefit album Stroke is available now as a limited-edition 2-CD set and digital download in the Merge store.

Lou Barlow + the missingmen announce summer tour!

Lou Barlow + the missingmen will hit the road this summer in support of Lou's most recent release, Goodnight Unknown. This will be the first chance to see Lou playing headlining shows with the missingmen since the new album came out, so get your tickets early! If you don't see your city below, don't despair! More dates will be announced soon!

Borrowing the live-band energy of Dinosaur Jr. and the stylistic reach of Sebadoh, Barlow has built on Emoh's full production and written a set of immediate, melodic pop songs that Lou describes as "a cross between my later work with Folk Implosion and my earlier work with Sebadoh...to my ears, anyway."

Visit our special LooTube channel for a series of videos and a making-of documentary from Goodnight Unknown. You can also preview the full album and order your copy on CD or digital download now in the Merge store.

Lou Barlow on tour!
Jun 10 San Diego, CA - The Casbah
Jun 11 Tucson, AZ - Plush
Jun 12 Santa Fe, NM - Santa Fe Brewing Co.
Jun 14 Austin, TX - Mohawk
Jun 15 Dallas, TX - The Loft
Jun 16 Norman, OK - Opolis
Jun 17 Kansas City, MO - Record Bar
Jun 18 Denver, CO - Larimer Lounge
Jun 19 Salt Lake City, UT - Urban Lounge
Jun 21 Seattle, WA - Tractor Tavern
Jun 22 Vancouver, BC - Media Club
Jun 23 Portland, OR - Doug Fir Lounge
Jun 25 San Francisco, CA - Cafe Du Nord
Jun 26 Los Angeles, CA - Bootleg Theater

"Barlow has released music under a number of names-Sebadoh, Sentridoh, The Folk Implosion, Lou's Wasted Pieces-but regardless of the moniker, his songs have remained unmistakably his own." ~NPR Music