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My Old Kentucky Bookclub : Our Noise : The Story of Merge Records
Mac McCaughan and Laura Ballance must be forgiven for failing to participate in the ongoing mass eulogizing of indie record labels. Truth be told, they've been too concerned with other matters, specifically, navigating both a band and a label into their third decade of existence. John Cook's Our Noise (available from Algonquin on September 22nd) chronicles the "rags-to-highly-respected-and-influential-rags" story of Merge Records, a label that traces its humble beginnings to hand-labeled cassettes and a rented house in North Carolina. Of course, that part of the story is common to literally hundreds, maybe thousands, of fledgling labels that began sprouting up in the 1980s. What sets Merge apart, aside from this lovingly-researched tome, is the fact that the label has weathered the economics of a fickle industry, as well as a parade of delivery formats (cassettes > vinyl > CD > digital), to not just survive two decades, but also to release so many bona fide classics of independent music.
One could argue the story of Merge Records begins with Superchunk, the band McCaughan and Ballance have been fronting since the late 80s, and indeed, Superchunk's 1992 singles collection, Tossing Seeds, was the label's first full-length release. Since then, Merge has unleashed a murderer's row of celebrated releases upon the ears of the world, including much-loved offerings from Arcade Fire, Spoon, Neutral Milk Hotel and one of my faves, American Music Club. Look in on your hard drive, in your CD collection, or even in that moldy box of vinyl in your parents' basement, and you are almost assured of finding the Merge imprint.
Our Noise chronicles the trials, tribulations and not unoccasional triumph of the label through a series of interviews with the men and women, famous and otherwise, responsible for Merge's enduring, and perhaps unlikely, success. The candid photos alone are worth the price of admission, the Ryan Adams-penned introduction is workmanlike, and the play-along sampler is a nice touch, but the insights provided by McCaughan and Ballance, along with the likes of Stephin Merritt, Britt Daniel and Ed Roche, make Our Noise a must-have for the indie-music fan in your household. And if you are that said indie-music fan, there's nothing wrong with buying yourself an early Christmas present.
MP3 : She & Him - Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?
MP3 : Destroyer - Dark Leaves Form A Thread
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Labels: Book Review, Merge, My Old Kentucky Bookclub, Our Noise, The Story of Merge Records
posted by Luftmensch @ 1:25 PM
1 Talk back to yo' mama!
1 Talk back to yo' mama!:
Nice post. Totally agree with you about how Mac & co. haven't gone down the crybaby road and are finding ways to connect with their customers and continuing to put out great music. Plus Mac is just plain swell in general.
I wanted to also let you know — in a totally non spammy way, of course — that Mac is gonna be part of my organization Future of Music Coalition's upcoming Policy Summit in Washington, DC on Oct. 4-6. He'll be appearing on a panel called "The New DIY."
This is our eighth Policy Summit, and we always try to make sure that indie artists and labels have a seat at the table to discuss the issues that affect them with technologists, policymakers, entrepreneurs, legal eagles and industry so-and-so's.
Just putting it out there. . . If this seems interesting to you, check out the Policy Summit site.
That wasn't too spammy or troll-ish, was it? It's so hard to tell sometimes. . .
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