Merge Records is an independent record label

Independent record label

An independent record label is a record label operating without the funding of or outside the organizations of the major record labels. A great number of bands and musical acts begin on independent labels.-Overview:...

 based in Durham, North Carolina

Durham, North Carolina

Durham is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the county seat of Durham County and also extends into Wake County. It is the fifth-largest city in the state, and the 85th-largest in the United States by population, with 228,330 residents as of the 2010 United States census...

. It was founded in 1989

1989 in music

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1989.-Events:*January 14 – Paul McCartney releases Снова в СССР exclusively in the USSR...

 by Laura Ballance

Laura Ballance

Laura Ballance is the bassist in the rock band Superchunk and co-founder of Merge Records along with Mac McCaughan.-References:...

 and Mac McCaughan

Mac McCaughan

Mac McCaughan is a founding member of the rock band Superchunk, and co-founder of Merge Records along with Laura Ballance. He also heads the band Portastatic, which began as a lo-fi side project and has blossomed into his main musical project...

. It began as a way to release music from their band Superchunk

Superchunk

Superchunk is an American indie rock band from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, consisting of singer/guitarist Mac McCaughan, guitarist Jim Wilbur, bassist Laura Ballance, and drummer Jon Wurster. Formed in 1989, they were one of the bands that helped define the Chapel Hill music scene of the 1990s...

 and music created by friends, and has expanded to include artists from around the world and records reaching the top of the Billboard music charts.

History

After releasing a number of 7" records and cassettes, the first Merge Records full-length CD release came on April 1, 1992 with MRG020 Superchunk - Tossing Seeds, the band's first collection of singles.

The label's first album to reach the USA Billboard 200

Billboard 200

The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...

 was the Arcade Fire's Funeral

Funeral (album)

Funeral is the debut full-length album by the Canadian indie rock band Arcade Fire, released on September 14, 2004 in North America by Merge Records and on February 28, 2005 in Europe by Rough Trade Records...

, a 2004 release. Arcade Fire gave the label its then highest-charting release with their follow-up, 2007's Neon Bible

Neon Bible

Neon Bible is the second album by Canadian indie rock band Arcade Fire, released in March 2007 on Merge Records. Originally announced on December 16, 2006 through the band's website, the majority of the album was recorded in a church that the band bought and renovated.Neon Bible became Arcade...

, which debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200, and, later, reaching #1 with their third album, 2010's The Suburbs

The Suburbs (Arcade Fire album)

The Suburbs is the third studio album by Canadian indie rock band Arcade Fire, released in August 2010. Coinciding with the announcement the band released a limited edition 12-inch single containing two tracks from the album, “The Suburbs” and “Month of May”. The album debuted at #1 on the Irish...

. Other Billboard Top Ten releases include Spoon's

Spoon (band)

Spoon is an American rock band formed in Austin, Texas. The band is composed of Britt Daniel ; Jim Eno ; Rob Pope and Eric Harvey .-History:...

 Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga

Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga

Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga is the sixth studio album by Austin, Texas indie rock band Spoon. It was released on Merge Records on July 10, 2007 to considerable critical acclaim. Its cover art comes from a portrait of artist/sculptor Lee Bontecou, taken by Italian photographer Ugo Mulas in 1963...

and Transference

Transference (album)

Transference is the seventh studio album by Austin, Texas indie rock band Spoon. It was released on January 18, 2010 in Europe, and on January 19 in North America...

, along with She & Him's

She & Him

She & Him is an American indie pop duo consisting of Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward . The band's first album, Volume One, was released on Merge Records in March 2008...

 (actress/musician Zooey Deschanel

Zooey Deschanel

Zooey Claire Deschanel is an American actress, musician, and singer-songwriter. In 1999, Deschanel made her film debut in Mumford, followed by her breakout role as young protagonist William Miller's troubled older sister Anita in Cameron Crowe's 2000 semi-autobiographical film Almost Famous...

 along with M. Ward

M. Ward

Matthew Stephen Ward, known by his stage name M. Ward, is a singer-songwriter and guitarist who rose to prominence in the Portland, Oregon music scene. In addition to his solo work he is known as a member of She & Him and Monsters of Folk.-Career:...

, a popular Merge folk musician) Volume Two

Volume Two (She & Him album)

Volume Two is the second studio album by She & Him, a collaboration between M. Ward and actress Zooey Deschanel. It was released on March 17, 2010 through P-Vine Records in Japan, in the United States on March 23, 2010 through Merge Records, and on April 5, 2010 on Double Six Records in the UK.The...

. Other notable Merge releases include Neutral Milk Hotel's

Neutral Milk Hotel

Neutral Milk Hotel was an American indie rock band formed by singer, guitarist and songwriter Jeff Mangum in the early 1990s. The band was noted for its experimental sound, obscure lyrics and eclectic instrumentation....

 In the Aeroplane Over the Sea

In the Aeroplane Over the Sea

In the Aeroplane Over the Sea is the second studio album by American indie rock band Neutral Milk Hotel, released in the United States on February 10, 1998 on Merge Records...

, The Magnetic Fields's

The Magnetic Fields

The Magnetic Fields is the principal creative outlet of singer-songwriter Stephin Merritt...

 69 Love Songs

69 Love Songs

69 Love Songs is a three-volume concept album by The Magnetic Fields released in 1999. As its title indicates, the album is composed of 69 love songs, all written by Magnetic Fields frontman Stephin Merritt.-Conception and live performance:...

, Caribou's

Caribou (musician)

Daniel Victor Snaith is a composer, musician and recording artist under stage names Caribou, Manitoba and Daphni. Under the supervision of Kevin Buzzard, he obtained a PhD in mathematics at Imperial College London.- Career:...

 Polaris Prize-winning Andorra

Andorra (album)

Andorra is a 2007 album by Caribou. The gatefold vinyl record release also features an MP3 download coupon for the album.On September 29, 2008, the album was named the winner of the 2008 Polaris Music Prize.-Track listing:# "Melody Day" – 4:11...

, M. Ward's Hold Time, Camera Obscura's

Camera Obscura (band)

Camera Obscura are an indie pop band from Glasgow, Scotland. The band formed in 1996 and have released four albums to date.-History:Camera Obscura were formed in 1996 by Tracyanne Campbell, John Henderson, and Gavin Dunbar. Several other members performed with the band before David Skirving joined...

 Let's Get Out of This Country

Let's Get Out of This Country

Let's Get Out of This Country is the third LP from the indie pop band Camera Obscura.It was produced by Jari Haapalainen of The Bear Quartet. "Lloyd, I'm Ready to be Heartbroken" was played over the opening credits of the film P.S...

, and She & Him's Volume One

Volume One (She & Him album)

Volume One is the first album by She & Him, a collaboration between M. Ward and actress Zooey Deschanel. It was released by Merge Records on March 18, 2008....

.

In February 2009, due to adverse market conditions it was announced that Touch and Go Records

Touch and Go Records

Touch and Go Records is an independent record label based in Chicago, Illinois, USA.After its genesis as a hand-made fanzine in 1979, it grew into one of the key record labels in the American 1980s alternative and underground rock scenes, Touch & Go carved out a reputation for releasing adventurous...

 would no longer manufacture and distribute records for Merge and many other independent record label

Independent record label

An independent record label is a record label operating without the funding of or outside the organizations of the major record labels. A great number of bands and musical acts begin on independent labels.-Overview:...

s; Merge had been "under the Touch and Go umbrella" ever since its 1992 release of Tossing Seeds. Merge quickly reached an agreement with the Alternative Distribution Alliance

Alternative Distribution Alliance

The Alternative Distribution Alliance was created in 1993 by Warner Music Group and Sub Pop Records as a joint venture to distribute and manufacture records owned by indie labels. Headed up by Mitchell Wolk, ADA is the leading "indie" distribution company in the U.S. for both physical and digital...

 to continue distribution of its releases.

In September 2009, Algonquin Paperbacks released Our Noise: The Story of Merge Records, a book chronicling the label's history. This followed a 6-day music festival in Chapel Hill

Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Chapel Hill is a town in Orange County, North Carolina, United States and the home of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and UNC Health Care...

 and Carrboro

Carrboro, North Carolina

Carrboro is a town in Orange County in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The population was 19,582 at the 2010 census. The town, which is part of the Durham-Chapel Hill metropolitan statistical area, was named after North Carolina industrialist Julian Shakespeare Carr.Located near Chapel Hill and...

, NC, featuring over 40 Merge acts from around the world celebrating the 20th anniversary of the label's first release. The label also released a subscription-only 17-disc box set SCORE! 20 Years of Merge Records throughout the 20th anniversary year curated by pop culture tastemakers the likes of David Byrne

David Byrne

David Byrne may refer to:*David Byrne , musician and former Talking Heads frontman**David Byrne , his eponymous album*David Byrne , Irish footballer*David Byrne , English footballer...

, Amy Poehler

Amy Poehler

Amy Meredith Poehler is an American comedian, actress and voice actress. She was a cast member on the NBC television entertainment show Saturday Night Live from 2001 to 2008. In 2004, she starred in the film Mean Girls with Tina Fey, with whom she worked again in Baby Mama in 2008. She is...

, Zach Galifianakis

Zach Galifianakis

Zachary Knight "Zach" Galifianakis is an American stand-up comedian and actor known for his numerous film and television appearances including his own Comedy Central Presents special...

, Jonathan Lethem

Jonathan Lethem

Jonathan Allen Lethem is an American novelist, essayist and short story writer. His first novel, Gun, with Occasional Music, a genre work that mixed elements of science fiction and detective fiction, was published in 1994. It was followed by three more science fiction novels...

, Peter Buck

Peter Buck

Peter Lawrence Buck , is an American rock guitarist who is best known for playing in and co-founding alternative rock band R.E.M....

, David Chang

David Chang

David Chang is a noted Korean-American chef. He is chef/owner of the Momofuku restaurant group, which includes Momofuku Noodle Bar, Momofuku Ssäm Bar, Má Pêche, Milk Bar and Momofuku Ko in New York City, the latter for which he was awarded two Michelin stars in 2009, and Momofuku Seiōbo in...

, Mindy Kaling

Mindy Kaling

Vera Mindy Chokalingam , better known as Mindy Kaling, is an American actress, comedian, writer and producer who plays Kelly Kapoor on the NBC sitcom The Office. Kaling is also a co-executive producer and writer of several of the show's episodes.-Early life:Kaling was born Vera Chokalingam in...

 and more, with all proceeds going to charities.

In August 2010, Merge Records released Arcade Fire's The Suburbs

The Suburbs (Arcade Fire album)

The Suburbs is the third studio album by Canadian indie rock band Arcade Fire, released in August 2010. Coinciding with the announcement the band released a limited edition 12-inch single containing two tracks from the album, “The Suburbs” and “Month of May”. The album debuted at #1 on the Irish...

 to critical acclaim, preceding the band's headlining appearance at Lollapalooza

Lollapalooza

Lollapalooza is an annual music festival featuring popular alternative rock, heavy metal, punk rock and hip hop bands, dance and comedy performances, and craft booths. It has also provided a platform for non-profit and political groups. The music festival hosts more than 160,000 people over a...

. The album went straight to number one on the US and UK charts. Famed director and Monty Python

Monty Python

Monty Python was a British surreal comedy group who created their influential Monty Python's Flying Circus, a British television comedy sketch show that first aired on the BBC on 5 October 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four series...

 member Terry Gilliam

Terry Gilliam

Terrence Vance "Terry" Gilliam is an American-born British screenwriter, film director, animator, actor and member of the Monty Python comedy troupe. Gilliam is also known for directing several films, including Brazil , The Adventures of Baron Munchausen , The Fisher King , and 12 Monkeys...

 also directed a live online broadcast of the bands's concert from the historic Madison Square Garden

Madison Square Garden

Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...

 in New York

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 following the album's release, which was streamed live by an estimated 1.8 million unique viewers. The Suburbs

The Suburbs (Arcade Fire album)

The Suburbs is the third studio album by Canadian indie rock band Arcade Fire, released in August 2010. Coinciding with the announcement the band released a limited edition 12-inch single containing two tracks from the album, “The Suburbs” and “Month of May”. The album debuted at #1 on the Irish...

 won the Grammy for Album of the Year in February, 2011.

Artists

• The 6ths
  The 6ths
  The 6ths is a band created by Stephin Merritt, also the prime mover behind The Magnetic Fields, The Gothic Archies and Future Bible Heroes.One story has it that the band was conceived when Merritt, observing that there was no tribute album dedicated to him, decided to make one himself...
  
  
• The 3Ds
  The 3Ds
  The 3Ds were an alternative pop/rock band based from Dunedin, New Zealand, together from 1988 to 1997. The band was formed in May 1988 by* Dominic Stones — drums,* Denise Roughan — bass, keyboards, tambourine, vocals...
  
  
• American Music Club
  American Music Club
  American Music Club is a San Francisco-based alternative rock band led by singer-songwriter Mark Eitzel.-History:Although born in California, Eitzel spent his formative years in Okinawa, Taiwan, Great Britain and Ohio before returning to the Bay Area in 1981...
  
  
• Arcade Fire
• Lou Barlow
  Lou Barlow
  Louis Knox Barlow is an American alternative rock musician and songwriter. A founding member of the groups Deep Wound, Dinosaur Jr., Sebadoh and The Folk Implosion. Barlow is credited with helping to pioneer the lo-fi style of rock music in the late 1980s and early 1990s...
  
  
• Beatnik Filmstars
• Breadwinner
  Breadwinner (band)
  Breadwinner was a math rock-band based in Richmond, Virginia composed of: Pen Rollings , Robert Donne , and Chris Farmer . Rollings had previously been a member of hardcore punk outfit Honor Role...
  
  
• The Broken West
  The Broken West
  The Broken West was an American power pop band, formed in Los Angeles, California in 2004, and now signed to Merge Records. The members are Ross Flournoy , Dan Iead , Brian Whelan , Rob McCorkindale , and Scott Claassen...
  
  
• Richard Buckner
  Richard Buckner
  Richard Buckner is an American singer-songwriter born in California. After living in Edmonton, Alberta for a number of years, he currently resides in Brooklyn, NY...
  
  
• Paul Burch
  Paul Burch
  Paul Burch is a Washington, D.C.-born musician, songwriter and producer. Burch moved to Nashville in the early '90s where he began singing in the city's '50s-era honky tonks, garnering the attention of Marianne Faithfull and Chet Atkins...
  
  
• Butterglory
  Butterglory
  Butterglory is an American indie-rock band from Lawrence, Kansas. Contemporaries of indie rock groups like Pavement and Archers of Loaf, the band helped explore similar musical territories and expand the genre...
  
  
• Buzzcocks
  Buzzcocks
  Buzzcocks are an English punk rock band formed in Bolton in 1976, led by singer–songwriter–guitarist Pete Shelley.They are regarded as an important influence on the Manchester music scene, the independent record label movement, punk rock, power pop, pop punk and indie rock. They achieved commercial...
  
  
• Camera Obscura
  Camera Obscura (band)
  Camera Obscura are an indie pop band from Glasgow, Scotland. The band formed in 1996 and have released four albums to date.-History:Camera Obscura were formed in 1996 by Tracyanne Campbell, John Henderson, and Gavin Dunbar. Several other members performed with the band before David Skirving joined...
  
  
• Caribou
• The Clean
  The Clean
  The Clean are an influential Indie rock band that formed in Dunedin, New Zealand in 1978. Led through a number of early rotating line-ups by brothers Hamish and David Kilgour, the band settled down to their well-known and current line-up with bassist Robert Scott...
  
  
• The Clientele
  The Clientele
  The Clientele are a London-based British band with Alasdair MacLean on vocals and guitar, Mark Keen on drums, James Hornsey on bass and Mel Draisey on violin, keyboards, backing vocals and percussion....
  
  
• Crooked Fingers
  Crooked Fingers
  Crooked Fingers is a North Carolina band led by former Archers of Loaf lead singer Eric Bachmann. The band was previously based in Seattle, Washington and Atlanta, Georgia before moving to Denver. The band released albums on WARM Records and Merge Records before going completely independent in 2008...
  
  
• Dan Bejar
  Dan Bejar
  Daniel Bejar is an independent singer-songwriter from Vancouver renowned for his challenging and often cryptic lyrics and unorthodox vocals featured in many of his songs. Bejar has gained widespread popularity through his musical collaborations with Vancouver indie-rock band The New Pornographers,...
  
  
• Destroyer
  Destroyer (band)
  Destroyer is a Canadian indie pop band fronted by singer-songwriter Dan Bejar.- Overview :Daniel Bejar is an independent pop singer-songwriter from Vancouver who formed Destroyer in 1995. He self-produced his first album, the lo-fi We'll Build Them a Golden Bridge, which was recorded at his in...
  
  
• Dinosaur Jr
  Dinosaur Jr
  Dinosaur Jr. is an American alternative rock band formed in Amherst, Massachusetts in 1984. Originally called Dinosaur, prior to legal issues that forced the group to change their name, the band disbanded in 1997 until reuniting in 2005...
  
  
• East River Pipe
  East River Pipe
  East River Pipe is the name under which Fred Cornog records. Cornog was born in Norfolk, Virginia, and raised in Summit, New Jersey. After high school, Cornog worked a series of menial jobs before succumbing to alcoholism, depression, drug abuse and eventual homelessness, ending up in the...
  
  
• Matt Elliott
• The Essex Green
  The Essex Green
  The Essex Green are an indie rock band from Brooklyn, NY. The band is primarily composed of songwriters Jeff Baron, Sasha Bell and Chris Ziter, and specialize in a classic sound inspired by 1960s–1970s pop and folk in the tradition of bands like The Left Banke and Fairport Convention.-History:The...
  
  
• The Extra Lens
• Future Bible Heroes
  Future Bible Heroes
  Future Bible Heroes is one of several musical groups led by Stephin Merritt, best known for his work with The Magnetic Fields. He shares vocal duties with Claudia Gonson, who sings on the entirety of 2002's Eternal Youth...
  
  

• Ganger
  Ganger
  Ganger were an alternative rock/post rock band from Glasgow, Scotland, with members who also played with Bis, Aereogramme, and Fukuyama.-History:...
  
  
• Guv'ner
  Guv'ner
  Guv'ner was an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1993 following a relationship between members Charles Gansa and Pumpkin Wentzel. Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth discovered the band when he was handed a demo of theirs by Julia Cafritz of Pussy Galore, who had known Wentzel...
  
  
• Annie Hayden
  Annie Hayden
  Annie Hayden was one of four members of the 90s indie rock band Spent. In the year 2000 she embarked on her solo career, releasing The Rub. Her second solo album followed in 2005, also released on Merge Records, titled The Enemy of Love....
  
  
• Honor Role
• Imperial Teen
  Imperial Teen
  Imperial Teen is a San Francisco-based indie pop group made up of Roddy Bottum primarily on guitar/vocals, Will Schwartz primarily on guitar/vocals, Lynn Truell primarily on drums and backing vocals, and Jone Stebbins primarily on bass and backing...
  
  
• The Karl Hendricks Trio
  The Karl Hendricks Trio
  The Karl Hendricks Trio is a rock band from Pittsburgh. In the span of twelve years, they have released seven albums, toured, and even played as a four-piece rock band. Now firmly a trio again, the band's latest album was 2007's The World Says . The current line-up includes Jake Leger on drums and...
  
  
• David Kilgour
  David Kilgour (musician)
  David Kilgour is a musician from Dunedin, a city in the South Island of New Zealand. He first started playing guitar as a teenager in the late 1970s...
  
  
• The Ladybug Transistor
  The Ladybug Transistor
  The Ladybug Transistor is a Brooklyn-based indie pop group associated with The Elephant Six Collective.Started in 1995 by Gary Olson, Edward Powers and Javier Villegas, the band quickly released Marlborough Farms on Park N' Ride records, adding and subtracting a couple members and going on an...
  
  
• Lambchop
  Lambchop (band)
  Lambchop, originally Posterchild, is a band from Nashville, Tennessee. Lambchop is loosely associated with the alternative country genre...
  
  
• Let's Wrestle
  Let's Wrestle
  Let's Wrestle are an English indie rock band based in London. The band consists of Wesley Patrick Gonzalez , Sam Pillay , and Darkus Bishop .- History :...
  
  
• The Love Language
  The Love Language
  The Love Language is an indie rock band from Raleigh, North Carolina headed by Stuart McLamb.-Origin:The Love Language began amidst a torrent of quarter-life crises and angst. Following a split with his band, The Capulets, Stuart McLamb and his girlfriend broke up and he fell into a serious...
  
  
• The Mad Scene
  The Mad Scene
  The Mad Scene is a musical group based in New York City. Core members are guitarist Hamish Kilgour , and guitarist/bassist Lisa Siegel.-Career:The band was founded in 1990 in Auckland, New Zealand...
  
  
• The Magnetic Fields
  The Magnetic Fields
  The Magnetic Fields is the principal creative outlet of singer-songwriter Stephin Merritt...
  
  
• The Mountain Goats
  The Mountain Goats
  The Mountain Goats is an American indie rock band formed in Claremont, CA by singer-songwriter John Darnielle. For many years, the sole member of the Mountain Goats was Darnielle himself, despite the plural moniker....
  
  
• The Music Tapes
  The Music Tapes
  The Music Tapes is an experimental pop music project of Elephant 6 member Julian Koster, also of Neutral Milk Hotel, and the earlier Chocolate U.S.A....
  
  
• Neutral Milk Hotel
  Neutral Milk Hotel
  Neutral Milk Hotel was an American indie rock band formed by singer, guitarist and songwriter Jeff Mangum in the early 1990s. The band was noted for its experimental sound, obscure lyrics and eclectic instrumentation....
  
  
• Oakley Hall
  Oakley Hall (band)
  Oakley Hall is an American folk rock band based in Brooklyn, New York.The group was founded in 2002 and is named for Oakley Hall, an American novelist. The group's songs combine elements of rock, bluegrass, and old-time music, prominently featuring the male-female vocal harmonies of lead vocalists...
  
  
• Conor Oberst
  Conor Oberst
  Conor Mullen Oberst is an American singer-songwriter best known for his work in Bright Eyes. He has also played in several other bands, including Desaparecidos, Norman Bailer , Commander Venus, Park Ave., Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band, and Monsters of Folk.-Musical career:Oberst began...
  
  
• Conor Oberst & The Mystic Valley Band
• Pipe
• Robert Pollard
  Robert Pollard
  Robert Pollard is an American rock musician and singer-songwriter who is the leader and creative force behind indie rock group Guided by Voices, who disbanded in 2004, only to reform in 2010...
  
  
• Polvo
  Polvo
  Polvo is an American indie noise rock band from Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The band, formed in 1990, is fronted by guitarists/vocalists Ash Bowie and Dave Brylawski. Brian Quast plays drums, and Steve Popson plays bass guitar...
  
  
• Portastatic
  Portastatic
  Portastatic is an American indie rock band founded in the early 1990s by Mac McCaughan. Portastatic began as a solo project for McCaughan, lead singer and guitarist of the indie rock band Superchunk...
  
  
• Pram
  Pram (band)
  Pram are an experimental band who formed in the Balsall Heath/Moseley area of Birmingham, England in 1990.-History:Originally from Harrogate, North Yorkshire, Rosie Cuckston and Matt Eaton went to school together. They moved to Birmingham in the late 80s, schoolfriend Andy Weir keeping in touch...
  
  
• Pure
  Pure
  -Computing:* A pure function* Pure Software, a company founded in 1991 by Reed Hastings to support the Purify tool* Pure-FTPd, FTP server software* Pure , functional programming language based on term rewriting-Companies and products:...
  
  

• Radar Bros.
  Radar Bros.
  The Radar Bros. are an indie rock band from Los Angeles, CA currently consisting of Jim Putnam , Be Hussey and Stevie Treichel and joined by Dan Iead , and Ethan Walter in the studio and on recent tours. The band's original members were Jim Putnam, Senon Williams and Steve Goodfriend...
  
  
• The Rock*A*Teens
• The Rosebuds
  The Rosebuds
  The Rosebuds are an indie rock band from Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Its current members are Ivan Howard and Kelly Crisp...
  
  
• Tom Scharpling
  Tom Scharpling
  Tom Scharpling is an American radio host, comedian, television writer, producer and music video director. He is best known for hosting the weekly freeform radio call-in comedy program The Best Show on WFMU and for acting as a writer/executive producer for the TV show Monk.Scharpling is also noted...
  
  
• Seaweed
  Seaweed (band)
  Seaweed is a band from Tacoma, Washington who were active throughout the 1990s. Their style of music is a combination of punk rock and grunge, mostly due to its 'dirty' sound.-History:...
  
  
• Shark Quest
• She & Him
  She & Him
  She & Him is an American indie pop duo consisting of Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward . The band's first album, Volume One, was released on Merge Records in March 2008...
  
  
• Shout Out Louds
  Shout Out Louds
  Shout Out Louds are an indie rock band from Stockholm, Sweden.The group has toured with bands such as The Strokes, Kings of Leon, The Magic Numbers, The Rosebuds, The Essex Green, and Johnossi...
  
  
• Spaceheads
• Esperanza Spalding
  Esperanza Spalding
  Esperanza Spalding is an American multi-instrumentalist best known as a jazz bassist and singer, who draws upon many genres in her own compositions...
  
  
• Spent
  Spent (band)
  Spent was an American Indie Rock band from Jersey City, New Jersey consisting of singer/guitarist John King, guitarist/singer/keyboardist Annie Hayden, bassist/occasional vocalist Joe Weston and drummer Ed Radich.-History:...
  
  
• Spoon
  Spoon (band)
  Spoon is an American rock band formed in Austin, Texas. The band is composed of Britt Daniel ; Jim Eno ; Rob Pope and Eric Harvey .-History:...
  
  
• Ashley Stove
• Matt Suggs
  Matt Suggs
  Matt Suggs is an American indie rock musician.Born and raised in Visalia, California, Suggs was a member of Butterglory in the 1990s before launching a solo career in 2000. He released two albums on Merge Records, which Richie Unterberger described as "reminiscent of...The Kinks' Ray Davies"...
  
  
• Superchunk
  Superchunk
  Superchunk is an American indie rock band from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, consisting of singer/guitarist Mac McCaughan, guitarist Jim Wilbur, bassist Laura Ballance, and drummer Jon Wurster. Formed in 1989, they were one of the bands that helped define the Chapel Hill music scene of the 1990s...
  
  
• Teenage Fanclub
  Teenage Fanclub
  Teenage Fanclub are an alternative rock band from Bellshill, Scotland. The band is composed of Norman Blake , Raymond McGinley , Gerard Love and Francis MacDonald , with songwriting duties shared equally among Blake, McGinley and Love...
  
  
• Telekinesis
  Telekinesis (band)
  Telekinesis is Michael Benjamin Lerner, an indie rocker based out of Seattle who is currently signed to Merge Records. While on tour Lerner is joined by Cody Votolato from Portland, OR and Jason Narducy from Evanston, IL, as of August 2010...
  
  
• Tenement Halls
• The Third Eye Foundation
• Times New Viking
  Times New Viking
  Times New Viking is a lo-fi indie rock band from Columbus, Ohio. The lineup consists of guitarist Jared Phillips, drummer Adam Elliott, and Beth Murphy on keyboards. Murphy and Elliott share vocal duties....
  
  
• Tracey Thorn
  Tracey Thorn
  Tracey Anne Thorn is an English pop singer and songwriter. She is best known as being one half of the duo Everything but the Girl, which is currently on extended hiatus.-Personal life:...
  
  
• Verbena
  Verbena (band)
  Verbena was a rock band from Birmingham, Alabama, founded in the early 1990s by Scott Bondy, and Daniel Duquette Johnston who would become mainstays for the entirety of the bands career, despite undergoing several line-up changes...
  
  
• Versus
  Versus (band)
  Versus is an American indie rock band formed in 1990 by Richard Baluyut, Fontaine Toups and Edward Baluyut in New York City. Richard and Fontaine were to remain the two core members throughout the band's history. The band was noted for their marriage of indie pop songwriting and vocal harmonies to...
  
  
• M. Ward
  M. Ward
  Matthew Stephen Ward, known by his stage name M. Ward, is a singer-songwriter and guitarist who rose to prominence in the Portland, Oregon music scene. In addition to his solo work he is known as a member of She & Him and Monsters of Folk.-Career:...
  
  
• White Whale
  White Whale (band)
  White Whale is a Lawrence, Kansas-based indie rock band composed of former members of Butterglory, The Get Up Kids, and Thee Higher Burning Fire...
  
  
• Wye Oak
  Wye Oak (band)
  Wye Oak are an indie folk rock duo from Baltimore, Maryland, USA, composed of Andy Stack and Jenn Wasner . Their sound has been described as "earnest folk-influenced indie rock with touches of noise and dream pop"...