Pitchfork: Merge Celebrates 15th with 3xCD Comp, Concert

Merge Celebrates 15th with 3xCD Comp, Concert
In stark contrast to Mac McCaughan's 40th, spent weeping in the dark over Blue Bunny ice cream, Home Improvement reruns

It's a forgivable offense to occasionally confuse Merge Records with Matador Records-- after all, they start with the same letter, they've worked with some of the same artists, they're both on the Eastern seaboard, and yes, they've both been around for 15 years. It's almost eerie, really. A scant two weeks on the heels of Matador's announcement of their 15-year bonanza (translation: a compilation, a concert), Merge have announced their own 15-year bonanza (comp, concert). However, Merge's strategic marketing divisions seems to have one up on Matador, as their details are already nailed down.

First up, on July 13th, will be a three-disc compilation of Merge artists past and present, entitled Old Enough to Know Better. Fans will note that Merge's ten-year celebration only rated one disc, so they're upping the ante this time, with two discs of previously released material, and one of rare and hard-to-find non-album tracks (a la Matador's ten-year Everything Is Nice comp).

It couldn't have been a simple task to weed through 15 years of records and pare it all down to just two discs, and for the most part Merge has done a fine job, but the all-inclusiveness does have a downside-- there's a fucking Music Tapes track. It's nearly at the end of disc two, though, so you can just shut that shit off after The Clean. All proceeds from Old Enough to Know Better-- which, incidentally, will run you a mere $14.98-- will go to the Future of Music Coalition, which is, for the record, a fine destination for your money. The goodies:

Disc 1:
01 Neutral Milk Hotel: "Song Against Sex"
02 Superchunk: "Cool"
03 Butterglory: "She's Got The Akshun!"
04 3D's: "Beautiful Things"
05 East River Pipe: "Shiny Shiny Pimpmobile"
06 The Clientele: "(I Want You) More Than Ever"
07 Guv'ner: "Break A Promise"
08 Lambchop: "Your Fucking Sunny Day"
09 Pram: "Track Of The Cat"
10 Polvo: "ragic Carpet Ride"
11 The Magnetic Fields: "Long Vermont Roads"
12 Portastatic: "Noisy Night"
13 Buzzcocks: "Jerk"
14 Spent: "Excuse Me While I Drink Myself To Death"
15 Rock*A*Teens: "Hwy R"
16 Ganger: "Cats Dogs & Babies Jaws"
17 Beatnik Filmstars: "Now I'm A Millionaire"
18 The Ashley Stove: "Dancing Music"
19 Breadwinner: "Exploder"
20 Pipe: "Chula"
21 And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead: "Mistakes & Regrets"

Disc 2:
01 Spoon: "Anything You Want"
02 The Ladybug Transistor: "Oceans In The Hall"
03 M. Ward: "Outta My Head"
04 Versus: "Eskimo"
05 Third Eye Foundation: "In Bristol With A Pistol"
06 Imperial Teen: "Ivanka"
07 Bricks: "A History of Lies"
08 Matt Suggs: "Where's Your Patience Dear?"
09 Annie Hayden: "Slip Is Showing"
10 David Kilgour: "Today Is Gonna Be Mine"
11 Seaweed: "Thru The Window"
12 Erectus Monotone: "Old New"
13 Destroyer: "Modern Painters"
14 Paul Burch: "Isolda"
15 Mad Scene: "Spilled Oranges"
16 The Essex Green: "Late Great Cassiopia"
17 The Karl Hendricks Trio: "Naked And High On Drugs"
18 The Rosebuds: "What Can I Do?"
19 The Clean: "E Motel"
20 The Music Tapes: "An Orchestration's Overture"
21 Spaceheads: "Angel Station"

Disc 3 (new/previously unreleased/hard to find):
01 M. Ward: "One More Goodbye"
02 Angels Of Epistemology: "Fiction Romance"
03 The Radar Brothers: "Painted Forest Fire"
04 Portastatic: "Some Small History"
05 The Ladybug Transistor: "Jersey Streets"
06 Camera Obscura: "San Francisco Song"
07 Shark Quest: "Monsters"
08 East River Pipe: "Chrystal Queen"
09 The Essex Green: "Mendicino"
10 The Clientele: "Where The Universes Are"
11 Richard Buckner: "Dogwood"
12 The Rosebuds: "Happily Ever After"
13 Crooked Fingers: "La Maleta Fea"
14 Spent: "Corvette Summer"
15 Spoon: "Decora"
16 Destroyer: "Streethawk II"
17 Lambchop: "The Gap In My Education (Berman)"
18 Superchunk: "Freaks In Charge"
19 David Kilgour: "On The Outside"

Oh yeah, we said a show, too, right? Well, it's a little more than that. The cream of Merge's crop will play over the course of four nights (historians will note: one more than at the ten-year shindig), three of which will take place at the Cat's Cradle in Carrboro. The fourth night of the festival will take place at the Carolina Theatre in Durham, presumably to make a little more room for the many, many musicians who take the stage when Lambchop plays (not to mention the additional string section that will be attending this performance).

We don't have any specific details, but Merge is reportedly also trying to "set up some other periphery events around the shows." Will there be face painting? Water balloon fights? Civil War reenactments? Or just heavy drinking? Only time will tell. Tickets for all shows will go on sale May 1st. Lineups:

07-29 Carrboro, NC - Cat's Cradle
Superchunk, M. Ward, The Essex Green, Richard Buckner, The Rosebuds

07-30 Carrboro, NC - Cat's Cradle
Crooked Fingers, Camera Obscura, Versus, Radar Bros., Portastatic, Double Dynamite

07-31 Carrboro, NC - Cat's Cradle
Spoon, Destroyer, Ladybug Transistor, Matt Suggs, Shark Quest

08-01 Durham, NC - Carolina Theatre
Lambchop, The Clientele, David Kilgour