My Top 10 Favorite Merge Records LPs
These are my 10 favorite LPs that have been released on Merge Records (only 1 per band though). I’m sure that the omission of releases such as Neutral Milk Hotel – On Avery Island, Spoon – Girls Can Tell, Magnetic Fields – 69 Love Songs, and others will rub some people the wrong way. But, in all honesty, I’ve never understood the supposed greatness of Neutral Milk Hotel, I don’t like Spoon, and I like Magnetic Fields, but would have been totally happy with, say, 23 love songs. What am I missing though? What do you agree with? What makes you think I have my head up my ass?
Superchunk – Here’s Where The Strings Come In (MRG090)
I can’t think of anything that Superchunk has released that I don’t love. Were I to not have limited this list to one album per band, Superchunk records would have been littered throughout. As things stand, this is the one that I decided to list as it was my introduction to them. I bought Here’s Where The Strings Come In in a used record store without ever having heard the band, and from the second that “Hyper Enough” started playing and I heard their perfect blend of pop and punk, I was totally hooked. Over 10 years have passed since then, I’ve collected almost everything that they’ve done, and I can’t say that I’m even a bit less enamored than I was on first listen. Here’s hoping they have 20+ more years in the tank!
Camera Obscura – Let’s Get Out Of This Country (MRG276)
Let’s Get Out Of This Country is, in my opinion, one of the best indiepop albums of all time. It has the warm, autumnal feel and tone that has been the touchstone of all Camera Obscura releases, but on a level that is nearly impossible to match. The standout tracks like “Lloyd, I’m Ready To Be Heartbroken”, “Let’s Get Out of This Country”, and “If Looks Could Kill” are uniformly top notch but the remaining tracks are good enough that nearly any of them would be singles coming from a lesser band.
The Clientele – Strange Geometry (MRG267)
Strange Geometry showcases, better than any other of the band’s releases, the poetic, hyperliterate lyrics and wistful, 60’s-influenced, reverb drenched sounds of London’s Clientele. I think that this is supposed to be a sad record, but the sound is so inviting and the mood so infectious that it’s hard not to feel all good inside when it’s playing.
Polvo – Today’s Active Lifestyles (MRG040)
This 1993 release sounds like lo-fi before there was really a sub-genre called lo-fi. I’ve often seen Polvo referred to as math rock, though, for the life of me, I’ve yet to be able to wrap my head around what exactly math rock is. What I do know is that the songs on Today’s Active Lifestyles are deliciously unpredictable, always going one way when you expect them to go the other, featuring unusual structures and tempos from one catchy, feedback laden track to the next.
East River Pipe – Poor Fricky (MRG081)
A fine, carefully crafted set of lo-fi, home recorded songs (like Polvo, well before one out of every three releases was made in this manner) featuring usually quietly whimsical, though sometimes more upbeat (like on “Here We Go”) pop tunes.
Teenage Fanclub – Shadows (MRG392)
Shadows is probably the prettiest pop album to come out this year, and one of the best ever from this Scottish bunch. No small praise when past albums include the likes of Bandwagonesque, Grand Prix, and Songs From Northern Britain. More of the Byrdsian powerpop that fans have been consistently treated to by the Fannies over their two decade career.
The Ladybug Transistor – The Albemarle Sound (MRG154)
Like many of the other albums on this list, this 1999 release is steeped in the rich, warm, inviting sounds of the best that 1960’s pop music had to offer. While this sound might be a tad backward looking, it is pulled off with enough care and gusto that most of the songs could rest comfortably side-by-side with those that so clearly inspired them (mid-period Beach Boys, The Left Banke, and Emmit Rhodes, to name a few). I’ve enjoyed a handful of tracks off of each of The Ladybug Transistor’s albums, but The Albemarle Sound holds up from top to bottom better than any of the others.
Arcade Fire – Funeral (MRG255)
I wish that I could say that I loved all of the Arcade Fire’s output as much as I do this one. However, I’m afraid that I only deem what came after the remarkable Funeral to be so-so. Funeral has the anthemic thing that has become this band’s signature. But, here it sounds more delicate, vulnerable, earnest, and sincere than future releases where it comes off, to my ears at least, as overreaching.
Rosebuds – Birds Make Great Neighbors (MRG264)
This might be the most contentious pick on this list for many readers. I have quite a few music loving friends who do not love this album. I also recall that Birds Make Great Neighbors has been critically received perhaps worst than any other Rosebuds release. Little difference that makes to me though, as I went through a period of a couple of months right after this came out where I listened to it almost daily. And since that was a very eventful time in my life, this one will always hold a special place in my heart and mind.
Portastatic – Bright Ideas (MRG263)
One of the better side gigs, if not the best, that I can currently think of in the music world, Portastatic is Mac McCaughen’s project when he isn’t doing the Superchunk thing. The sound is mellower than most Superchunk releases, but you can still tell that it’s coming from the same place. Bright Ideas is just one of many solid releases for Portastatic, but it features “Through With People”, my very favorite track they’ve released, thus earning it a spot on this list.
