It’s caroling time again!  Julian Koster and his Singing Saw will come to your house to bring songs, stories, and good cheer to you and your friends – all you have to do is invite them!

Julian introduced the world to the wonderful holiday traditions of his friends, The Singing Saws, last year with The Singing Saw at Christmastime. This bizarre and beautiful album and it’s accompanying glimpse into Julian’s vivid imagination has become an instant holiday classic.  The Singing Saw at Christmastime is available on CD, LP and digital download. Stream the whole album in the Merge store, and visit the Merge blog to watch a video of Julian & the Singing Saw performing “Santa Claus is Coming to Town.”

You may invite the carolers to visit your house by emailing musictapescaroling@gmail.com or by mailing a handwritten letter to 450 N. Harris St. Athens, GA  30601 (due to time constraints, please send an email to let the “caroling ambassador” know you are sending a letter). Be sure to include an email address or telephone number for reply.  Invitations where the hosts indicate that they would be willing to entertain outside guests on caroling night are preferred. Please note your permission to invite others from the area to your house and whether you can offer the carolers a place to sleep in your letter or email.

Once the limit on houses on a given night has been reached, the address of each house that will welcome guests will be distributed via email to all who email musictapescaroling@gmail.com and ask to attend. The addresses of the houses will not be posted online.

Proposed Caroling Path:
December 7th, 8th, 9th: Georgia, Tennessee, Indiana & Lower Half of Illinois
December 10th, 11th, 12th: Chicago, Illinois, Michigan
December 13th, 14th, 15th: Ohio, Pittsburgh, Western NY
December 16th, 17th, 18th: Upstate NY, New England (CT, RI, VT etc)
December 19th, 20th, 21st: Philadelphia, NYC, Baltimore, DC, Chapel Hill

On November 17th, we will digitally release Lambchop – Live at XX Merge in the Merge store and our usual digital outlets. Only purchases from the Merge store will include a free download of the concert film. Live at XX Merge will also be available as a limited edition CD on November 24th, but those who pre-order the CD from the Merge store may download the audio on November 17th. The concert film is available exclusively in the Merge store.

Live at XX Merge is available in the following formats from the Merge store:

• Limited Edition CD + high definition QuickTime download (1280×720) of the concert film – $12.98 (CD preorders before November 24 will also receive an MP3 download code via email on November 17)
• MP3 + high definition QuickTime download (1280×720) of the concert film – $12.99 (Available November 17)
• MP3 + standard definition QuickTime download (400 × 225) of the concert film – $9.99 (Available November 17)

As Merge fans know, Lambchop has been on the label since 1993, releasing a string of widely varied but consistently brilliant records. But the live Lambchop experience has been somewhat elusive in the U.S.  While the band has toured the gilded theaters of Europe and elsewhere for nearly two decades, the Nashville group has seldom toured their home country. Kurt Wagner has performed solo on a recent Yo La Tengo tour, and Lambchop supported their recent album, (OH) Ohio, as an intimately stripped-down quintet in a couple of short bursts over the last year.  To help celebrate Merge’s 20th Anniversary the band showed up in one of their largest lineups in recent memory — 11-strong, including multiple guitars, keyboards, piano, and a horn section. Lambchop performing live is always a powerful proposition, but on this night they started quietly with “I Will Drive Slowly” from their first album (I Hope You’re Sitting Down) and accelerated from there, each song seemingly faster and more intensely played than the last, building to a furious finale of “Up With People” and an epic “Give It.” By the end of their set, everyone in the packed Cats Cradle – band and audience both – was levitating a few inches off the ground…

Lambchop’s set at XX Merge was professionally recorded and filmed, and is available now for those who missed it, or for those who want to go back again.

Lambchop – Live at XX Merge
Recorded by Nick Peterson
Mixed by Mac McCaughan
FOH Engineer: Mark Luecke

A Show Cobra Film
Directed by Matt Boyd
Produced by Jason Ross

On November 17, we will release SCORE! 20 Years of Merge Records: The Remixes! on limited edition CD and digital download. All proceeds will benefit charities chosen by the SCORE! curators.

Click the link below to download a free MP3 of the Xiu Xiu remix!

Track listing:
1. Caribou- Kalgon (Polvo)
2. Barbara Morgenstern- Mother of Pearl (Pram)
3. Four Tet- Baby’s Way Cruel (Guv’ner)
4. The Blow- Drill Me (I Was So There Remix) (Portastatic)
5. John McEntire- The Ghost of You Lingers (Spoon)
6. Jason Forrest- No Cars Go (Arcade Fire)
7. Xiu Xiu- Volcana! (I Hope Your Train Crashes Remix) (The 6ths)
8. +/- {Plus/Minus} – Bow to the Middle (The Rosebuds)
9. Hands Off Cuba- Irene (Caribou)
10. Mark Robinson- Washington DC (The Magnetic Fields)
11. Junior Boys- The Nashville Parent (Lambchop)

The Remixes! is one of three components of our 20th anniversary subscription box set that is available to non-subscribers. Proceeds for all SCORE!-related releases will benefit the charities chosen by the SCORE! subscribers.

SCORE! 20 Years of Merge Records: The Covers! was released in April and features covers of Merge songs by non-Merge artists such as: The Shins, The New Pornographers, The National, and more! The Covers! is now available in the Merge store.

The Merge Records Companion, a visual discography book featuring the first 20 years of Merge relesases is available in the Merge store now, too!

Thank you for your support of Merge Records and for helping us celebrate our 20th anniversary by raising money for those in need.

In celebration of the limited-edition release of the Merge Records Companion, we are holding a contest! To enter, visit the Merge message board and post a photograph of you and your favorite Merge album in the “Make Your Own Companion” forum for a chance to win an XX Merge prize pack. The winner will be announced in the December newsletter.

The CD-sized Merge Records Companion contains photographs of every 7-inch, album, EP, and DVD (plus two cassettes!) Merge put out during our first 20 years. All proceeds from this limited-edition book will benefit the charities chosen by the fourteen SCORE! curators.

We will release Spoon’s seventh LP, Transference, on January 26th!

Transference track listing:
1. Before Destruction
2. Is Love Forever?
3. The Mystery Zone
4. Who Makes Your Money
5. Written in Reverse
6. I Saw the Light
7. Trouble Comes Running
8. Goodnight Laura
9. Out Go the Lights
10. Got Nuffin
11. Nobody Gets Me But You

M. Ward will appear on PBS’s Austin City Limits on Saturday, October 31. Check your local listings for air times, and set the DV-R!

Since 1975, Austin City Limits has presented viewing audiences with live concerts from many of the world’s most acclaimed, accomplished, and pioneering talent. From living legends to pop stars to up-and-comers, musicians and songwriters representing nearly every genre of music have blessed the Austin City Limits stage at KLRU in Austin, TX, with their talent. The list is staggering: Ray Charles, B.B. King, Merle Haggard, Van Morrison, Elvis Costello, Fats Domino, Loretta Lynn, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Lucinda Williams, Tom Waits, Spoon, the Flaming Lips, Emmylou Harris, Arcade Fire, Leonard Cohen, Wilco…and now M. Ward!

Shout Out Louds just finished recording their third album, Work. The album was recorded at Bear Creek Studio in Seattle and was produced by Phil Ek (Fleet Foxes, Band of Horses, The Shins, Built To Spill, Modest Mouse).

Singer Adam Olenius explains their choice of the album title, Work:

I am fascinated by the process of creating something and almost working yourself to death, the relief that comes when it is over and the ability to just shut off a part of one’s life. Work also means that something “does work,” to reach a goal. A song from John Cale and Lou Reed’s “Songs For Drella” also inspired our album title choice.

Merge will release Work on February 23rd and will have tour dates to announce soon! Visit ShoutOutLouds.com for photos and a short video from the recording sessions.