Warning: This is an ecstatic early plug for the upcoming fan-dream book, Our Noise: The Story of Merge Records, the Indie Label that Got Big and Stayed Small.

As Magnet magazine is quoted, "[Merge] might be responsible for more indie-rock classics than any other label in the past two decades." David Byrne considers their survival "kind of amazing these days." NPR asserts they're "one of the top independent labels in the world." In Our Noise author John Cook shows the letter that Glitterhouse sent to Mac McCaughan and Laura Ballance (in Superchunk, of course, and who started the label) originally sent turning down European distribution (it's hilarious, considering what Merge would achieve); to the later days when Mac feels giddy and weird hanging out near Dr. Dre and Springsteen at Coachella.

more...

Your astrological forecast for October 2006 told in CD reviews, featuring Bettie Serveert, Drydin, El Perro Del Mar, Geoff Reacher, Heartless Bastards, Lambchop, Noel Ellis, Page France, Pleasurecraft, Say Hi to Your Mom, Scanners, & the Wedding Present.