A Trickle from the Vault

A couple songs for you, in what we hope to be a regular Merge Blog series of rare/live mp3s:

Destroyer & The Treacherous Fops - The Music Lovers (mp3): Live @ Cats Cradle, Carrboro, NC, July 31, 2004 at the Merge 15th Anniversary Festival.

This cut is culled from the one and only performance to date by The Treacherous Fops--comprised of Mac McCaughan on guitar, Spott on trumpet, Paul Finn on keys, Paul Cardillo on bass, and the incomparable Lee Waters manning the skins. Destroyer is Mr. Dan Bejar.

The Broken West – Brass Ring (mp3): Live at the Great Scott, Allston, MA, March 3, 2007. Special thanks to Bradley's Almanac, one of the best blogs in Blogland, for the Broken West show!

For non-digital, real life shows near you, check out the Merge Tour Dates.

Anyone with rare/live recordings (especially lossless) of any Merge bands and a disposition towards sharing, please send a message to:

wilson
wilson (at) mergerecords (dot) com

Jump to permalink!

Radar Bros. on Morning Becomes Eclectic!

Jump to permalink!

The Making of the "Always on the Telephone"

Gary and Isobel chat about the making of The Ladybug Transistor video for "Always on the Telephone" on NY Noise. See the video below!

Jump to permalink!

Superchunk love!

photo via theoreticalgirl

Jump to permalink!

Caribou Tour Diary: Goodbye, North America

photo by Dave Evans

Check out more great photos and a show review at My Old Kentucky Blog

so today (may 4th) would've been my last day with caribou but unfortunately Brad Weber is still out of commission. fortunately for me i will going to europe with caribou to finish off their may dates. i couldn't be more excited as i have never played shows outside of north america.

my old band was supposed to do a european tour but we broke up prior to starting the tour. it was a bummer but i am now making up for that by playing probably some of the biggest shows that i will ever play in my life (ATP festival).

the u.s. dates have been absolutely incredible. i think about how incredibly blessed i have been to be a part of this band for this short period of time. it has really helped me re-gain my confidence. after i had to cancel my own tour i was struggling to find out how the hell i would re-coup my losses and start over. being out with caribou has definitely put things into perspective and the advice that i have received from the guys is irreplaceable. i still think of what i would be doing had i not received that phone call or, rather, if my van did not break down and i got an email while on the road.

it might be a little harder for me to update this blog while in europe but i will do my best.

Recent Playlist:
Archie Shepp: Pichin' Can
Cave: Hunt Like Devil/ new songs from upcoming 7"
Tambourine Ensemble
Love: Da Capo
Human Arts Ensemble: Under The Sun
D'Angelo: Voodoo
Erykah Badu: Mamma's Gun
Common: Electric Circus
Amnesty: Free-Your-Mind: The 700 West Sessions

Ahmed
replacement drummer

Jump to permalink!

Destroyer Nerd Love!

An extremely long treatise on two Destroyer records by two of our most favorite Destroyer super-fans: Matt Lemay and David Malitz.

Get your copies of all Destroyer's releases here and start your own arguments here.

Jump to permalink!

The Rosebuds visit My Old Kentucky Blog

photo by Dave Evans via My Old Kentucky Blog

The Rosebuds are on tour with British Sea Power and stopped to play an in-studio session for My Old Kentucky Blog's Sirius Satellite radio show. Also, check out loads of photos and diary from the road courtesy of Tim, the photographer they have on the road with them.

Download Sweet Beats, Troubled Sleep (Night of the Furies Remixed) for free here!

Jump to permalink!

She & Him on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson

Get your copy of Volume One here.

Jump to permalink!

The Ladybug Transistor on Swedish TV

Jump to permalink!

Wye Oak on Who's Next?

Wye Oak visited Yahoo at the Gibson Showroom in Austin TX during SXSW this year! Here's their exclusive performance of "Regret" from If Children:



and interview:

Jump to permalink!

Caribou Tour Diary: O Columbus

It's weird to live in a town that has artists on the bubble. You see these people go from playing shitty dive bars to bigger venues. They go on tour and come back with interesting stories. You read about them on blogs and they get front page and cover photos in your local free weekly. It's weird. What's even weirder is to be in a different town and hear music from your home town being played and danced to by people you don't know.

We played in Tucson last night. It's a nice town very similar to where I went to high school (Kent, OH). There are two kinds of people here: hippies and college kids. It's pretty funny, actually. Anyway, after the show we hung out with some kids at an apartment. Walking into the place I head a familiar music that I soon realized was Psychedelic Horseshit, a band from Columbus, OH. I was a little confused. It sounds so cliche' but it's so hard to realize how much of an impact your local scene is making in music when you're living it. Columbus, OH is such a humble town. There are so many bands doing big things but you wouldn't know it if you saw any of these people. The music from the guys in Psychedelic Horseshit, Times New Viking and Pink Reason is a true representation of their lives. It's not sugar coated one bit. Dirty, grimy with an optimistic and fun overtone to it.

At home, I see these guys all the time sitting at Cafe Bourbon Street arguing about silly stuff and getting drunk and laughing with each other about how fucking cold Columbus is in April. I've never been so proud to be a part of that.

It's funny that it took me hearing a Columbus band hundreds of miles away from home to really understand and appreciate how great of a scene our town has. Seriously, though. It's so hard to gauge what's going on in your town until you leave. As far as we're all concerned we're just making music because it makes us happy. We don't know what the hell is going on outside of the city limits. It's fun to tour and we all want more people to listen to our music but at the end of the day we're just having fun and excited to go to Carabar and see each other every weekend. You'll see Blueprint talking with John from El Jesus De Magico about whatever. Envelope and Wes wildin out at a Weedsteeler show. Daymon Dodson running merch at a CDR show. We've got such an incredible thing going!

I'm sure that anyone can read this and say similar things about his/her home town. These are just my thoughts. I love Columbus, OH and regardless of where I end up I will represent that town to the fullest.

Long Live Daymon Dodson!

cheers!

ahmed
the replacement drummer

Jump to permalink!