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| Pitchfork |
 In one of the introductory essays to The Merge Records Companion, label co-founder and Superchunk bassist Laura Ballance trumpets the book as a "representation of the essential relationship between 'product' and purchaser, or in this case, Music and Music Lover." The same could be said for the other Score! releases-- the two publicly available compilations (The Covers, released in April, and the newly released The Remixes), as well as the 14 subscription-only compilations curated by a seemingly disparate group of folks that includes "The Office"'s Mindy Kaling, novelist Jonathan Lethem, and bon vivant David Byrne. All these objects are examples of the implicit trust (or, if you prefer a more blunt phrasing, brand loyalty) that, to some extent, exists in the indie music world between the consumer and the purveyor. At the very least, it most definitely existed back when Merge Records engaged in the time-honored indie label tradition of glue-and-paste record-sleeve parties.Now, in an environment where labels are almost secondary channels through which fans can acquire their favorite tunes, the power of a label's brand is diminishing in conjunction with its profit margin. According to Merge's other co-founder/Superchunk member, Mac McCaughan, this waning of influence comes at a time when the importance of such branding is perhaps at an all time high. He recently mentioned in an indie-label roundtable organized by NPR contributor and former Sleater-Kinney member Carrie Brownstein: "The Internet allows you access to all the music you could want, and that's the problem-- if you don't know what you are looking for, it's like trying to find a good record in a thrift shop. So the label is... a filter, or at least a starting point for fans."...full text |
| Crawdaddy |
| What the heck have we been complaining about? The music industry isn’t dead, and the proof is in the unbelievable (and ever-growing) strength of the great independent labels. This year, one of the greatest of the great independents, Merge Records, celebrated 20 years of doing things right and once again showed us why they’ve lasted so long by giving US a gift for THEIR anniversary. The SCORE! box set hearkens back to the days of the mail order seven-inch in which Merge was born. Fans would pre-order the set, and then receive its components in the mail over the course of the year. The box set contains curated mixtapes, a specially compiled disc of covers, and the most recent piece, a collection of Merge songs re-envisioned by electronic musicians and producers called SCORE! 20 Years of Merge Records: THE REMIXES! The mix contains seemingly disparate selections (the Magnetic Fields and Mark Robinson? Lambchop and Junior Boys?) that together make a pretty mind-altering record. It was a great opportunity for Merge to call on some of their friends and neighbors in music whose sound may not have fit onto the Merge roster to finally collaborate. True to their name, New York’s +/- both add and subtract from the Rosebuds’ “Bow to the Middle”, turning it into a jaunty, effervescent gem. Caribou’s “Irene” is a somber chase through a dark, sonic forest according to Hands Off Cuba, and Polvo’s “Kalgon” is a Rosetta Stone for outer space according to Caribou, with the addition of digital mumblings to the original analog melody. Static and a soft, thumping beat behind Spoon’s “The Ghost of You Lingers”, added by remixer John McEntire, smooth the track’s edges....full text |
| Popmatters |
| This, the latest addition to the Merge Records 20-year celebration (the covers album came out in April), doesn’t come out until November 17th, but the entire album is available to stream from the Merge website right now. The stream is only up for a limited time, but when it dries up you can check out a ton of Merge XX video over at Converse and Babelgum. SONG LIST 01 Kalgon (Polvo) by Caribou 02 Mother of Pearl (Pram) by Barbara Morgenstern 03 Baby’s Way Cruel (Guv’ner) by Four Tet 04 Drill Me (I Was So There Remix) (Portastatic) by The Blow 05 The Ghost of You Lingers (Spoon) by John McEntire 06 No Cars Go (Arcade Fire) by Jason Forrest 07 Volcana! (I Hope Your Train Crashes Remix) (The 6ths) by Xiu Xiu 08 Bow to the Middle (The Rosebuds) by +/- 09 Irene (Caribou) by Hands Off Cuba 10 Washington, D.C. (The Magnetic Fields) by Mark Robinson 11 Nashville Parent (Lambchop) by Junior Boys...full text |
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