Performances from XX Merge festivities hit the web

While the XX Merge Converse "take away" series still has three more videos to roll out, the big kahuna has hit the web. It turns out we didn't have to wait long to see the results of all those cameras positioned around the Cat's Cradle and Memorial Hall of those nights in July.

A boatload of videos are now available to view over at Bablegum.com including performances by Superchunk, She & Him, Spoon, American Music Club, Telekinesis, Polvo, Pipe, Richard Buckner, Wye Oak, The Clientele, The Ladybug Transistor, Destroyer, Conor Oberst & the Mystic Valley Band, Oakley Hall and Imperial Teen.

So if you were there, go relive at great five nights of music and if you were not there, go check out what you missed. I'm still hoping these performances and many more make their way to a DVD in the not-to-distant future.

XX Merge night 5 at Memorial Hall: Wye Oak and American Music Club

So here we are. The final night of XX Merge at Memorial Hall. The line-up was solid and the show was great. Let's get started.

Young Baltimore duo Wye Oak took the stage first. They played a set mostly of songs from their brand new album The Knot, released on July 21. "That I Do," "Take It In" and "For Prayer" were all stellar tunes. They also played a fantastic new rocking song, which you can see a video of here.

Jenn Wasner's vocals shined throughout the set and Andy Stack gets huge props for playing the drums so well while also playing bass lines on the keyboard. This was my first time seeing Wye Oak live, like many of the bands at XX Merge, and they were truly excellent.

Merge video retrospective: American Music Club - "All the Lost Souls Welcome You to San Francisco"

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.

Click here for the rest of the Merge Video Retrospective series.

American Music Club - "All the Lost Souls Welcome..." (mp3)

Merge announces 'mostly complete' list of XX Merge performers

Merge Records has just announced what they call a "mostly complete" list of bands that will be playing at the XX Merge Festival in July. Check out the full list below with some mp3s. The line-up for the Sunday, July 26 show at Memorial Hall in Chapel Hill will include She & Him, American Music Club and Wye Oak. Other than that, Merge will not be announcing the line-ups for each show at the Cat's Cradle on July 22-25. You're just going to have to trust them.

What surprises do Merge have in store if this is a "mostly" complete list?

Individual tickets for each night at the Cradle will go on sale on May 13 at 10 am for $32 a night via etix.com. Tickets for the final night at Memorial Hall will go on sale on May 13 at 10am via etix.com too, but will also be available at CD Alley in Chapel Hill, Schoolkids Records in Raleigh and at the Memorial Hall box office.

July can't get here quick enough.

[UPDATE: Added two new bands to the line-up, 3Ds and Pure.]

XX Merge performers:
3Ds
Lou Barlow
The Broken West ("Auctioneer")
Richard Buckner ("Gauzy Dress in the Sun")
The Clientele
Destroyer ("Dark Leaves Form a Thread")
Erectus Monotone
The Essex Green ("Cannibal Sea")
Guv'ner
Imperial Teen
The Ladybug Transistor
Lambchop ("Slipped Dissolved and Loosed")
The Magnetic Fields
The Music Tapes ("Majesty")
Oakley Hall
Conor Oberst & the Mystic Valley Band ("Nikorette")
Pipe
Polvo
Portastatic ("Trajectory")
Pure
Radar Bros. ("Warm Rising Sun")
The Rosebuds ("Life Like")
Spent
Spoon
Matt Suggs
Superchunk ("Hyper Enough")
Tenement Halls
Telekinesis ("Coast of Carolina")
Versus
M. Ward ("Rave On")

Sunday, July 26 @ Memorial Hall:
She & Him ("Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?")
American Music Club ("All The Lost Souls Welcome You To San Francisco")
Wye Oak ("Take It In")