Pitchfork

This year marks Merge Records' 20th anniversary and the label that brought us Arcade Fire, Superchunk, and Spoon is looking to celebrate. Big time. The uber-indie is planning a five-day festival in its native North Carolina this summer to commemorate its longevity-- we're not sure which Merge bands are playing the blowout just yet but you can save the dates July 22-26 on your Google calendar right now. And, not to get all ShamWow on your ass, but that's...not...all!

SCORE! Merge Records: The First 20 Years is a tricked-out subscription series currently being offered by the label and, while we've reported on the mega-set extensively before, it's worth another mention since the January 11 deadline date is now mere days away. The $199 SCORE! subscription is a gift that will keep giving skinny kids goosebumps throughout 2009. It includes a 350+ page cover art book, a CD filled with non-Merge bands like the Shins, Bright Eyes, and Broken Social Scene covering their favorite Merge artists, another CD filled with artists like Battles and Four Tet remixing Merge artists, along with 14 CDs worth of Merge hits compiled by some of the coolest people on earth including Amy Poehler, David Bryrne, and Jonathan Lethem. It's basically indie-rock heaven x5000-- you even get a conversation-starting SCORE! box to put all that cool stuff in! Needless to say, the whole package isn't available on iTunes. You can order it on Merge's site, though.