I packed as many of the songs off of Merge Records 25th Anniversary 7-Inch Subscription Collection “Or Thousands of Prizes” into one two hour show, while still maintaining some witty banter with guest J.FRAHM. Highlights include never-before heard tracks, alternate takes and covers from Superchunk, Lambchop, Vertical Scratchers, Redd Kross, Spoon, Ex Hex, The Clientele, and more!
I signed up for one seven-inch record a month. What I got was:
– One seven-inch record a month for a year.
– A gorgeous magnetic-sealed, metal-stamped box to store all the records in.
– A bonus 12″ EP with six current Merge roster bands covering each other.
– a CD of all the seven-inch record tracks
– A surprise mail delivery to kick things off with a special t-shirt and a bunch of stickers.
Merge only printed 1200 copies of this, and the numbers are handwritten! Along with the box set of records, the label sponsored a weekend of shows in Chapel Hill and a run for charity with Merge bands playing along the route.
In preparation for this show, I went a little overboard on the social media. Early wins – a retweet by Merge and a response via Instagram from Jason Narducy (bass player for Bob Mould, touring for Superchunk, and heading up his own band Split Single) quickly turned into me making ridiculous demands of Narducy and Bob Mould himself.
This all started because I noticed that there were two glaring omissions from the whole birthday record collection: Bob Mould and Arcade Fire. I love everything about the record collection, but it makes you wonder…
Cracked Machine 