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This collection has access restrictions. For details, please see the restrictions.
This collection has use restrictions. For details, please see the restrictions.
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the Duplication Policy section for more information.
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Collection Overview
| Size | Approximately 4200 items |
| Abstract | Merge Records was founded in Chapel Hill, N.C., in 1989, by Mac McCaughan and Laura Ballance, at the same time that McCaughan and Ballance founded local independent rock band Superchunk. The record label began as a way to release recordings by Superchunk and other "indie rock" bands in the early 1990s. Merge featured bands from the local Chapel Hill music scene and released recordings on 7" records and in audiocassette form. In 1992, Merge released its first full-length release. The label has continued to grow since then and includes a wide range of national and international artists on its roster. The collection consists of audio and video recordings and administrative records and marketing and promotion materials relating to bands represented by Merge Records. Audio formats include multi-track Masters, two-track Masters, lacquer discs, bin loop masters, audiocassettes, 8mm backup tape (Data8), alesis digital audio tape (ADAT), digital audio tape (DAT), U-matic masters, compact disc (CD) masters, commercially released compact discs (CD), and bootlegs. Video formats include digital video disc (DVD), one inch video masters, mini DV masters, U-matic masters, betacam masters, D-2 videotapes, videocassetts, and film. Administrative records and marketing and promotion materials include correspondence between bands and Merge Records staff, financial records, original artwork, news articles, press releases, postcards, photographs and negatives, published and manuscript versions of Our Noise: The Story of Merge Records (2008), which documents the business history of Merge Records, and other related materials. |
| Creator | Merge Records. |
| Curatorial Unit | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Folklife Collection. |
| Language | English |
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Information For Users
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Subject Headings
The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.
Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.
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Historical Information
Merge Records was founded in Chapel Hill, N.C., in 1989, by Mac McCaughan and Laura Ballance, at the same time that McCaughan and Ballance founded local independent rock band Superchunk. The record label began as a way to release recordings by Superchunk and other "indie rock" bands in the early 1990s. Merge featured bands from the local Chapel Hill music scene, including Polvo, Erectus Monotone, and Portastatic, and released recordings on 7" records and in audiocassette form. In 1992, Merge released its first full-length release, "Tossing Seeds" by Superchunk. Merge continued to release single- and full-length recordings on CD, LP and audiocassette. The label has continued to grow since then and includes a wide range of national and international artists on its roster.
Merge's 2004 release of the Arcade Fire album, "Funeral", reached the USA Billboard 200 chart. Arcade Fire's later release on Merge, "The Suburbs," climbed to number one on the Billboard chart and won a Grammy for Album of the Year in 2011. Merge has claimed other Billboard Top Ten releases from artists such as Spoon and She & Him, as well as notable releases from Dinosaur Jr., Neutral Milk Hotel, The Magnetic Fields, and M. Ward, among many others.
Merge celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2009 with a six-day music festival in Chapel Hill and Carrboro, N.C., along with a 17-disc CD box set and a book chronicling the history of the label, Our Noise, published by Algonquin Paperbacks.
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Scope and Content
The collection consists of audio and video recordings and administrative records and marketing and promotion materials relating to bands represented by Merge Records. Audio formats include multi-track Masters, two-track Masters, lacquer discs, bin loop masters, audiocassettes, 8mm backup tape (Data8), alesis digital audio tape (ADAT), digital audio tape (DAT), U-matic masters, compact disc (CD) masters, commercially released compact discs (CD), and bootlegs. Video formats include digital video disc (DVD), one inch video masters, mini DV masters, U-matic masters, betacam masters, D-2 videotapes, videocassetts, and film. Administrative records and marketing and promotion materials include correspondence between bands and Merge Records staff, financial records, original artwork, news articles, press releases, postcards, photographs and negatives, published and manuscript versions of Our Noise: The Story of Merge Records (2008), which documents the business history of Merge Records, and other related materials.
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Series Quick Links
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Series 1. Audio, 1987-2012.
Arrangement: By format.
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Subseries 1.1. Multi-track Masters, 1987-1999.
Arrangement: Alphabetical by band name.
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Subseries 1.2. Two-track Masters, 1988-2001.
Arrangement: Alphabetical by band name.
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Subseries 1.3. Miscellaneous Analog Recording Discs.
Arrangement: Alphabetical by band.
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Subseries 1.4. Bin Loop Masters, 1991-1992.
| SFC Audio Open Reel FT-20473/123 |
Superchunk: (Side A) Skip Steps 1 & 3, Seed Toss, Cast Iron, Tower, Punch Me Harder, Sprung a Leak; (Side B) 30 xtra, Tie a Rope, Press, Sidewalk, Creek, Throwing Things, 28 August 1991 #20473, Subseries: "1.4. Bin Loop Masters, 1991-1992." FT-20473/1231/4" Open Reel Audio 3.75 ips, OLE-354 |
| SFC Audio Open Reel FT-20473/124 |
Superchunk: (Side A) Precision Auto, From the Curve, For Tension, Mower, Package Thief, Swallow That; (Side B) I Guess I Remembered It Wrong, New Low, Untied, The Question Is How Fast, Trash Heap, Flawless, The Only Piece That You Get, 2 December 1992 #20473, Subseries: "1.4. Bin Loop Masters, 1991-1992." FT-20473/1241/4" Open Reel Audio 3.75 ips, OLE-049 |
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Subseries 1.5. Audiocassettes, 1992-1996.
Arrangement: Alphabetical by band name.
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Subseries 1.6. 8mm Backup Tape (Data8), 1996-2004.
Arrangement: Alphabetical by band name.
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Subseries 1.7. Alesis Digital Audio Tape (ADAT).
| SFC Audio Open Reel FT-20473/184 |
Superchunk (1-A) #20473, Subseries: "1.7. Alesis Digital Audio Tape (ADAT)." FT-20473/184Alesis Digital Audio Tape (ADAT) Previously listed as DAT-20473/1 |
| SFC Audio Open Reel FT-20473/185 |
Superchunk (1-B) #20473, Subseries: "1.7. Alesis Digital Audio Tape (ADAT)." FT-20473/185Alesis Digital Audio Tape (ADAT) Previously listed as DAT-20473/2 |
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Subseries 1.8. Digital Audio Tape (DAT), 1991-2001.
Arrangement: Alphabetical by band name.
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Subseries 1.9. U-Matic Masters, 1991-2000.
Arrangement: Alphabetical by band name.
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Subseries 1.10. Compact Disc (CD) masters, 1994-2008.
Arrangement: Alphabetical by band name.
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Subseries 1.11. Commercially Released Compact Discs (CD), 1992-2012.
Arrangement: Numerically by record release identifier.
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Subseries 1.12. Bootlegs, 1992.
| Audiodisc D-20473/15 |
Superchunk: Extra Chunky: Live at the Whiskey a Go Go, (Side A): Cool, (Side B): The Breadman, Los Angeles, Calif., 11 February 1992 #20473, Subseries: "1.12. Bootlegs, 1992." D-20473/157" vinyl Extra Chunky Records, UK |
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Subseries 1.13. 7" Audiodiscs, 1994.
Arrangement: Numerically by record release identifier.