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MERGE RECORDS 15 YEAR ANNIVERSARY WEEKEND July-August 2004 Recorded by Brandon on a Sony TCD-D7 portable DAT recorder (in SP mode) with binaural cardoid microphones analog-transfer to PC edited and volume-adjusted in Cool Edit Pro TOTAL: 243 tracks, 16:13:15 I recorded complete sets by all listed artists. Lou Barlow and Arcade Fire played Wednesday the 28th, but I couldn't make it. --------------------------- THURSDAY, JULY 29, 2004 THE CAT'S CRADLE, CARRBORO, NC THE ROSEBUDS 13 tracks, 33:19 I stood a few rows back from the stage, directly in the center. This turned out to be a bad idea, since the vocals come out of the big speakers to the far-left and far-right, with none in the center. I just thought the vocals were mixed kinda low until halfway through Buckner, when I figured it out and moved. RICHARD BUCKNER 13 tracks, 45:50 See note above about the vocals. Too bad... there's not much to recommend Buckner if you can't hear what he's singing about. THE ESSEX GREEN 13 tracks, 45:40 The glitch at the start of song 1 is my fault (recording levels set too high). M. WARD 12 tracks, 54:22 He wore a hat. SUPERCHUNK 20 tracks, 75:20 Guest vocals by Ash Bowie and Lou Barlow. There was a whole lot of applause before they came back out for "What Do I". I cut most of it, since I was talking right over the mics during the break. This one sounds great in headphones. --------------------------- FRIDAY, JULY 30, 2004 THE CAT'S CRADLE, CARRBORO, NC DOUBLE DYNAMITE 10 tracks, 46:05 They caught me off guard, so I was still adjusting microphones during song 1. PORTASTATIC 9 tracks, 41:29 David Kilgour played on track 5, but wouldn't turn around and face us. RADAR BROS. 11 tracks, 40:40 For a while (most of the show, really), whenever the drummer hits his foot pedal, there's a loud clacking sound. A mic problem, I guess. It was more distracting in person than it is on the recording. VERSUS 10 tracks, 47:42 Ira Kaplan on tambourine for track 8. The band invited people on stage to slow dance during the last song, and some couples did. CAMERA OBSCURA 11 tracks, 45:10 Started the set wearing cute animal masks, but soon took 'em off. The guy wore a silly soccer costume throughout. CROOKED FINGERS 15 tracks, 64:10 Funny, the sound on this isn't as good as I thought it would be. Before and during the final song, a man who claps very loudly stood next to me. For the encore, CF planned to play another new song and possibly "chumming the oceans", but the keyboard stopped working. Bachmann looked angry for a while, then strapped on his guitar instead. --------------------------- SATURDAY, JULY 31, 2004 THE CAT'S CRADLE, CARRBORO, NC SHARK QUEST 8 tracks, 49:13 I stood way in back for this one. The three-second silence in the middle of one of their songs is my fault. Actually, there are three or four such silences throughout these recordings. All are my fault. MATT SUGGS AND THEE HIGHER BURNING FIRE 10 tracks, 39:04 I sat on a bench in back. People in front of me talked loudly. THE LADYBUG TRANSISTOR 13 tracks, 48:17 Some sound problems on stage for this one. DESTROYER 10 tracks, 37:49 The singer has a beard. SPOON 21 tracks, 69:36 Britt's vocals sounded muddy in person, where I was standing. It's not just the recording. --------------------------- SUNDAY, AUGUST 1, 2004 CAROLINA THEATRE, DURHAM, NC DAVID KILGOUR 13 tracks, 53:44 David's band was Georgia & Ira from Yo La Tengo, and three members of Lambchop. THE CLIENTELE 10 tracks, 39:43 These guys sounded dreamy in the big theater. LAMBCHOP 21 tracks, 103:16 I could've tampered endlessly with the volume levels to make the quiet parts louder and the loud parts quieter, but I didn't. So I guess you can't listen to it in the car very easily, but it works fine in headphones with the volume way up.

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