Tuesday, July 28, 2009
National Skyline Lambchop's Singalong: Wagner & Co. Steal the Show at Merge's 20th Anniversary
Posted by D Patrick Rodgers on Tue, Jul 28, 2009 at 3:57 PM
Merge Records just turned 20 years old--a totally datable age, if you can look past some slight emotional immaturity and an inability to purchase booze. To celebrate two decades-worth of remarkable releases, Merge put on a massive self-congratulatory celebration--we're not the only ones who do it--that featured performances from Superchunk, Spoon, a reunited 3Ds, She & Him, Daniel Bejar, Wye Oak, local pride-and-joy "alt-country/soul/chamber-rock/gospel hybrid" outfit Lambchop and more. The festivities went down this past weekend in North Carolina, and The Washington Post's David Malitz provided some very thorough coverage. Apparently he (and many others) found Lambchop's set to be most satisfactory:
...the results are in and it's unanimous -- Lambchop stole the show at XX Merge. Check the Twitter and the blogs. They don't lie. And I say this as someone who has never really been a huge fan of the unclassifiable Nashville collective...Kurt Wagner led this 11-piece version of the band -- complete with a three-piece horn section -- through a perfectly-paced hour-long set that featured a bunch of total pros completely in sync and firing on every cylinder. To borrow a line from a band that they upstaged, Lambchop put on a clinic... When the band finished up everyone in the club knew something special had just happened.
Props to the 'Chop for once again making us proud to call ourselves fellow Nashvillians. It should probably be noted that flagship Merge acts Arcade Fire and Neutral Milk Hotel were "conspicuously absent from the list of confirmed bands." Despite rumors that they'd show up, looks like they didn't. Still, certainly seems like folks got along just fine without 'em.
Comments (6)
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So how many hipster points do I win for having been at Merge X?
Fuck I can't believe that was 10 years ago.
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I guess I'm equally elderly as TobintheGnome, as I was also at Merge X. If I remember correctly (which is questionable), Lambchop stole the show there as well, closing out their set with a cover of Al Green's "Love And Happiness". Oh, and The Magnetic Fields debuted about a third of '69 Love Songs' the night before. Hell of a weekend.
Oh, and The Magnetic Fields debuted about a third of '69 Love Songs' the night before. Hell of a weekend
I remember being really pissed about this. I wanted to hear Holiday & Charm of the Highway Strip. All they played were songs from 69.
I was also disappointed that Ganger (who were scheduled to play) broke up just prior to the show. Having Olivia Tremor Control fill it was pretty cool though.
I really wanted to go but had obligations I could not get around.
I am however enjoying the SCORE compilations. It's like a Christmas present every month or so. So far I like Georgia Hubley and Phil Morrison's comps the best. Weakest comp so far from Zach Galikfianakis.
Wish there was a little more love for Butterglory, Pipe, and I can't believe none of them have included a Polvo track, WTF!.
The covers comp in theory is brilliant but the execution from most of the artists is kinda lackluster....fairly disappointing.
Buried somewhere deep in my closet are several minidiscs featuring the Merge X sets from Olivia Tremor Control, The Magnetic Fields, and Lambchop. I'll have to dig them out and give them fresh listens.
I also had tickets to Merge XV but ended up being unable to go. However, I totally forgot about Merge XX until the Pitchfork article came out last night.
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