Merge Records was started in the summer of 1989, by Laura Ballance & Mac McCaughan, the same summer they formed the band Superchunk in Chapel Hill, NC. The first couple releases were cassettes (remember those?), by WWAX and Bricks, followed by the first Superchunk (then known only as "Chunk") 7-inch single.
The vinyl 7-inch was the format of choice for the first 3 years of the label, with cash borrowed from friends to finance projects (including singles from Erectus Monotone, Angels of Epistemology, and more Superchunk) and bedrooms serving as Merge HQ until 1992, when the first Merge full-length release, Tossing Seeds by Superchunk, was came out on CD, LP, and cassette. With this release, Merge also forged a relationship with Touch and Go Records of Chicago, who have done an admirable job manufacturing and distributing the bulk of Merge's full-length releases since then.
Since '92 Merge moved from one charming-yet-run-down office to another until 2001, when we finally made the move from Chapel Hill down the road to a fine old building all our own in historic Downtown Durham, NC.
This summer they're throwing a party to mark their 20th anniversary: XX MERGE, five days of live music by Merge artists past and present in the summer heat of sunny North Carolina, July 22-26, 2009.
Telekinesis! by Telekinesis
Listen to 'I Saw Lightning' from the album:
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Outer South by Conor Oberst
Listen to 'Nikorette' from the album:
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Hold Time by M. Ward
Listen to 'Rave On' from the album:
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Leaves the Gutter by Superchunk
Listen to 'Misfits, Mistakes' from the EP:
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