Our Noise: The Story of Merge Records, the Indie Label That Got Big and Stayed Small

An absolutely fascinating account of the life of independent label Merge Records and the band (Superchunk) that gave it life, over the past 20 years. What was started by Mac and Laura of Superchunk fame to put out 7" records of their bands and their friends' bands in Chapel Hill, NC, in the late '80s has become one of the most influential and successful independent labels in the music business. While other labels and major labels are imploding with massive sales declines in recent years, Merge soldiers on during its most successful era ever, with only one guiding principle - they put out the music of bands that they like, regardless of commercial viability, and will stay with the band as long as the band wants, regardless of sales. Profits are split 50-50 with the artist (major labels are more like 85-15) and there is never any thought of interference or suggestion of what the artist should do. As a result, some of the most successful albums in indie rock history have been released on Merge, including Neutral Milk Hotel's immortal "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea", The Magnetic Fields' 3-CD "69 Love Songs", Spoon's "Girls Can Tell" and The Arcade Fire's "Funeral".The book consists largely of interviews with those involved over the last 20 years (the bands, the Superchunk members, friends, family, roadies, etc.), told in an impressive narrative form that reads as a fascinating story of a group of music outsiders who learned how to make the music they loved outside the corporate system, and make enough money to survive for 20 years and counting. The history of Superchunk is intertwined with the history of Merge (it's about a 50/50 split in the book), so for any even casual fan of this classic band, this is a must-read. But the story of Merge is equally fascinating, as are the in-depth chapter-long discussions of several Merge artists, including The Arcade Fire, Spoon, The Magnetic Fields, Matt Suggs, Lambchop, and Neutral Milk Hotel. I can't recommend this enough.

Preface: Superchunk is my favorite band. But this book -- told via a well-crafted string of dialogue from musicians, producers, A&R reps and friends -- is not just about Superchunk. It's about a community of musicians who got together with the sole purpose of creating and sharing music.("Come on, fellahs, let's get together and write a song!") I think of Merge as the big brother who lets you peek at his LPs when he's not looking and might let you make a mix tape to share with your peers. (That's how I learned about Iron Maiden as well as Anvil. Remember Tank: The Filth Hounds of Hades?) Through my interest in Superchunk (thanks to a mix tape from Todd -- forever grateful), I discovered a lot of other great bands on the label. Certainly it helps if you are a fan of any of the featured bands: Superchunk, Magnetic Fields, Spoon, Arcade Fire, Neutral Milk Hotel, Lambchop, Butterglory; but it's a great story and gives insight into the changing music industry (the decline of corporate rock). I also like to think Our Noise might inspire you to get off your butt and make Your Own Noise heard -- whether it's home-brewing, writing songs, RPGing, gardening, knitting whatever. (The perfect graduation gift? Required reading for Harvard MBA?) Now, perhaps this book would be boring to many people. After all, I grew up with Merge discovering the bands, seeing the shows (Halloween at State College changed my life). But, I just love how the story is revealed with honesty, humor, thoughtfulness in their own words. Who is they? A lot of different people. In fact, there is very little narration. This book is really well constructed, much like a documentary film. The relationships are vivid and real. There's a lot of pride, but little pretension. Great photos, too. Mysteries still remain. Like why was that guy yelling hot dogs and hamburgers at Merge 10?

Okay, I just found out about this book. I read some of the good reviews and some of the bad and figured for 15 bucks it was worth a try. And I am very glad I bought it!First of all, since Superchunk is such an integral part of the first two thirds of Merge's history, if you're interested in Superchunk you'll love this book. I was hoping it would go into that with a little depth and was very surprised to find out how much. There is also very honest appraisal of the band's fallen stock in the last decade.As for "how to run an indie label", this book is great. There's a lot in there about their early business model, how they handled increasing demand, why they didn't have contracts at first, what forced them to start contracts, how big labels treated both Superchunk the band and Merge the label, and much more. For the people who said this book is basically an advertisement, I was surprised to find people readily admitting to guilt - Superchunk admitting to remixing "Hyper Enough" for radio, Merge themselves pushing their artists on the world through definite non-indie channels.One of the coolest things about this book is if there's a Merge artist you like - from the obscure Butterglory to the ubiquitous Arcade Fire - there's good stuff in there, from both label and artist. Find out how Stephin Merritt annoyed Mac & Laura (it wasn't the major label jump) or Spoon's bass player suing Spoon for allegedly co-writing the first Spoon album (I have been a Spoon fan for over 10 years and never knew that; explains why they don't play songs from the first LP anymore!).To conclude: GOOD BOOK. LOTS OF GOOD PICTURES. NEEDED MORE PICTURES OF LAURA!

A very great story