Our Noise: The Story of Merge Records, the Indie Label That Got Big and Stayed Small
By John Cook with Mac MacCaughan & Laura Ballance (Paperback, 320 pages)
Published by Algonquin Books

For twenty years, Merge Records has remained true to their belief that you can sign bands because you love their music and respect what they’re trying to do. As giant corporate labels struggle for survival, Merge has, in the unlikeliest of times, garnered a loyal group of artists and a secure and growing fan base, and, most important, has brought us some of the best music of our time.

Our Noise tells the story of how Merge did it and continues to do it, through the eyes of cofounders Mac McCaughan and Laura Ballance, their fellow bandmembers in Superchunk, their friends who helped them along the way, and the bands who signed on with them. With over 300 images—from candid photos to the first silkscreened record covers to hand-drawn posters, scrawled-out setlists, postcards from the road, and letters—this is the history of the much-loved label as seen by thos who were there. Featuring interviews with and profiles of Superchunk, Butterglory, Neutral Milk Hotel, Lambchop, Spoon, The Magnetic Fields, and The Arcade Fire.

The story of Merge is the story of what happens when the good guys win.

-Excerpt from Our Noise back cover