Here is our ninth video in our Merge Video Retrospective series. This one comes from The Ladybug Transistor's 2007 album Can't Wait Another Day. It is for the melancholy tune "Always on the Telephone" which culminates with the chasing of a departing blimp. It's quite a cool visual that you can see in the still on the right.
Everyone's favorite local indie-pop orchestra Lost in the Trees is hitting the road in July on a two week tour of the eastern half of the US. The tour will kick off and end with shows in the Triangle. The tour opener will be on Saturday, July 4 at the Festival for Eno in Durham. A single day ticket is $13 and available via etix.com. The tour will wrap up with a big show at the Cat's Cradle on July 19 with The Kingsbury Manx and Midtown Dickens. Tickets for that show are $8 via etix.com.
Andrew Bird is hitting the the road again this fall and will return to the Triangle for not one, but two shows. He is teaming up with another phenomenal talent, St. Vincent for the tour, which will stop in Carrboro at the Cat's Cradle on October 7 and 8. Tickets for the shows will be $25 each and will go on sale on Friday, July 10 via etix.com.
We're just keeping rolling with our Merge Video Retrospective series here. Tonight's video comes from Tenement Halls' (led by Rock*A*Teens singer/songwriter Chris Lopez) 2005 album Knitting Needles & Bicycle Bells. It is a simple performance video for the groovy little song "Plenty is Never Enough." You can also download the song below.
Seattle based Sup Pop band Fruit Bats is gearing up to launch a new tour and album in August. The band will release their fourth album, The Ruminant Band, on August 4 via Sub Pop of course. Download the song "My Unsusual Friend" from the album below.
Merge's latest new band, Telekinesis is building quite a buzz lately and now the band can add a session on KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic to the resume. You can watch the performance below which features a bunch of songs from the band's self-titled, debut about (out now on Merge). If nothing else, it's worth watching just to see frontman Michael Benjamin Lerner play drums and sing at the same time. He pulls it off really well.
Here's the next video of our Merge Video Retrospective series. This is for "The Minister of Longitude" from The Music Tapes' 2008 album Music Tapes for Clouds and Tornadoes. The video follows the journey of giant metronome, interspersed with some random performance shots among other random things.
Here's the sixth video of our Merge Video Retrospective series. For this one, we go back to Merge founder Mac McCaughan, opting for Portastatic this time. This is the video for "San Andreas" from the 1995 album Slow Note From a Sinking Ship. It features all of the Mac you could ever want, sometimes even five of him at once. It's a pretty cheesy video, but cool none-the-less. Enjoy.
Here's the next video in our Merge Video Retrospective series. This is our most recent video so far, just being released last year. It is from American Music Club's latest album The Golden Age. The video is for the song "All the Lost Souls Welcome You to San Francisco" (you can download an mp3 below) and features the the group performing in the drink glasses of actress Grace Zabriskie (from Big Love, Twin Peaks). Enjoy and as always, stay tuned for more Merge videos.
In a surprising announcement today, Merge Records says that they will release a brand new Spoon single this Tuesday, June 30.
It's a weird, somber day in the world of music today, so let's lighten the mood with a ticket giveaway! Enter to win a pair of tickets to see Dex Romweber Duo at Duke Gardens next Wednesday, July 1.
Here's the fourth video from our Merge Video Retrospective series. This one is from Lambchop's (aka Kurt Wagner) 2002 album Is a Woman. It is for the title track "Is a Woman." The video is a beautiful animated video, following a leaf down a stream which then joins other leaves to find a home in a baron tree. It sounds a bit silly, but it's a beautiful video. Enjoy.
Sad, sad news has just been released. The King of Pop, Michael Jackson died at the UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles not long ago. He was taken to the hospital after an apparent cardiac arrest at his home.
Chatham County Line will be spending a large part of their summer touring Europe and playing shows with Jonas Fjeld, but they haven't forgotten where they're from. The band have announced a number of new shows in North Carolina.
Alina Simone rolled into the Triangle today straight off a plane from New York to play an early evening set at Duke Gardens. Supported by a guitarist and a drummer, Simone essentially played two sets without a break in-between.
We're jumping ahead about nine years for today's Merge Retrospective video. This one is for one of Spoon's most popular songs, "The Way We Get By," from their 2002 album Kill the Moonlight. It's a simple, yet aesthetically pleasing video for the groovy little song.
The big supergroup that goes by the moniker the Works Progress Administration has announced some scattered tour dates throughout the rest of the year. What's so special about this band you ask? It features Sara and Sean Watkins (of Nickel Creek), Glen Phillips, Luke Bulla, Benmont Tench (of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers), and Pete Thomas and Davey Faragher (of Elvis Costello and the Imposters). That's one hell of a band.
There is some good news and bad news about The Avett Brothers new album. Here's the bad news first. The release date of their new album I and Love and You has been pushed back from August and is now set to come out on September 29.
Here's our second video of what we've dubbed the "Merge Video Retrospective" series. This one is from Polvo. It's the video for "Tilebreaker" from their 1993 album Today's Active Lifestyles. The video really epitomizes lo-fi, indie videos of the 90's. It was shot in black and white and all of the non-performance shots don't seem to make any sense. Check it out below and stay tuned or even more Merge videos to come.
Here's some new music for you. The band is The Decks from Grosse Pointe, MI. They have a new album out titled Breath and Bone. Download two songs, "What You Said" and "Skeleton" from the album below.
The four original members of Sunny Day Real Estate, responsible for the band's first two albums for Sub Pop, are reuniting for a tour this fall. Unfortunately, the tour is not coming to the Triangle, so devoted fans will have to head to Washington DC or Atlanta to see the reunited band.
With the big XX Merge Festival now officially one month away, we thought we'd celebrate by digging up some music videos, old and new, from Merge's history. We'll shoot to bring you a video each day between now and the start of the XX Merge on July 22.
Psychedelic UK band The Clientele are gearing up to release their new album Bonfires on the Heath via Merge Records. The album, the follow-up to 2007's God Save the Clientele, will be released on October 6. Check out the track list for the album below.
Heart is on tour this summer and wil be criss-crossing the country through the fall playing cities big and small. The group has just added Cary to their itinerary. The band will play the Koka Booth Amphitheatre on September 4. It's good that the show is on the far end of the sweltering North Carolina heat bell curve. Tickets for the show go on sale on Friday, June 26 at 10 am here. There is a fan club pre-sale that starts on Thursday, June 25 at 10am here.
While on tour in April, Roman Candle recorded some new songs from Oh Tall Tree in the Ear, which is out now, for Daytrotter. The session has now been posted online for you to download and/or stream. The set includes "They Say," "Eden Was a Garden," "Why Modern Radio is A-OK" and "Starting From Scratch."
After a supporting Coldplay on a portion of their current tour, Pete Yorn is hitting the road on his own to support his new album Back & Fourth. The tour will bring Yorn back to the Lincoln Theatre in Raleigh on July 18. Tickets for the show are on sale now via etix.com for $25. Zee Avi will open the show.
Another week, another ticket giveaway! This week it's for a pair of tickets to see onetime Carrboro resident Alina Simone at Duke Gardens next Wednesday, June 24.
San Diego band Pinback are gearing up to hit the road this fall on a tour that will bring the band back to the Cat's Cradle on October 27. Tickets for the show went on sale today for $14 via etix.com.
Regina Spektor's new album Far will be released on June 23, but you can stream the entire album now. Head on over to Spektor's MySpace page to listen to the album.
We've told you that Polvo has a new album due out on September 8 via Merge Records titled In Prism, but now we have a song for you to check out. Download the third track from the album, the explosive "Beggar's Bow," below.
The rain was merciful Wednesday night and steered clear of the Duke Gardens where Megafaun played a great show.
Will Hoge is returning to the road in the coming months with his first lengthy tour schedule since is life-threatening scooter accident in Nashville last year. The tour will bring him to the Cat's Cradle on October 3. 