In New York City, fall is marked by the leaves in Central Park changing color, the sun setting well before the end of the work day, the return of chunky knitwear and thigh-high boots, and thousands of audiophiles swarming Downtown Manhattan to attend the annual CMJ Music Marathon. During the Marathon, which rocks out nearContinue reading

THE SUBURBS–the new album from ARCADE FIRE, the Montreal-based, indie-rock sensation–has landed at #1 on Billboard’s Album Chart, beating out Eminem’s “Recovery” and Lady Gaga’s “The Fame.” Total copies sold in the first week? 156,000! As we posted earlier this week, Merge Records is the phenomenal indie label that has recorded all three of ArcadeContinue reading

Randomizer.org has spoken, and we are excited to announce the winners of this week’s Book Booty prize!  Marianne D., Kim K., Cat W., Paul B. and Mary E-B. are each going to receive a copy of Our Noise: The Story of Merge Records along with a special 2009 promotional sampler from Merge Records. Spanning theContinue reading

Yesterday on the Our Noise website we were excited to host a live chat with Merge Records founders Mac McCaughan and Laura Ballance, along with writer John Cook. A special thanks to Michael Azerrad, author of Our Band Could Be Your Life, who moderated the chat. In case you missed yesterday’s live chat, check outContinue reading

You scene kids probably already know about Merge Records (the awesome little label that produces some of the biggest indie bands out there–Arcade Fire, Spoon, Magnetic Fields–and just happens to be our “next-door neighbor” in Durham). To help celebrate their recent 20th anniversary, we published a book that chronicles the label’s success story. And toContinue reading