Eleanor Friedberger’s fantastic Personal Record is out June 4. The design features gorgeous, sun-drenched photography by Moses Berkson, with a 12” x 24” fold-out poster in the LP package. There are a lot of beautiful people on Merge, but Eleanor is one of the few who doesn’t run for the hills when a camera comes out. It’s a gift to a designer (and a fan) so it is no surprise we have leveraged photography for both of her records. If you have seen her live, you know that she is the whole package: a gifted songwriter, confident and generous in her performance, while being entirely human, and funny. All of this is transmitted on Personal Record. Pre-order it now. And go see her on tour this summer! If you need another nudge, check out this irresistible video for “Stare at the Sun” directed by Scott Jacobson. (click the image to make it big and glorious.)

Eleanor Friedberger’s fantastic Personal Record is out June 4. The design features gorgeous, sun-drenched photography by Moses Berkson, with a 12” x 24” fold-out poster in the LP package. There are a lot of beautiful people on Merge, but Eleanor is one of the few who doesn’t run for the hills when a camera comes out. It’s a gift to a designer (and a fan) so it is no surprise we have leveraged photography for both of her records. If you have seen her live, you know that she is the whole package: a gifted songwriter, confident and generous in her performance, while being entirely human, and funny. All of this is transmitted on Personal Record. Pre-order it now. And go see her on tour this summer!


If you need another nudge, check out this irresistible video for “Stare at the Sun” directed by Scott Jacobson.

(click the image to make it big and glorious.)

She & Him billboard, Los Angeles. Album art by the fabulous Hum Creative. Photo of Matt and Zooey by Autumn de Wilde.

She & Him billboard, Los Angeles. Album art by the fabulous Hum Creative. Photo of Matt and Zooey by Autumn de Wilde.

Merge Records SXSW Showcase for 2013. Sweet lineup. Clickety-click to see big.

Merge Records SXSW Showcase for 2013. Sweet lineup. Clickety-click to see big.

Flexi discs came free with pre-orders of the Telekinesis LP.

Flexi discs came free with pre-orders of the Telekinesis LP.

Merge is mobile! Free from the app store.

Merge is mobile! Free from the app store.

New Telekinesis record! Dormarion. This is the fourth project (at least?) I have worked on with Michael Benjamin Lerner, who is an ALL CAPS ENTHUSIASTIC KIND OF GUY! He is lovable, humble, and a super fun collaborator. Michael has a fantastic visual sensibility and we had much fun assembling a trove of images (I love Dropmark for this) that made our collective socks roll up and down. After journeying around a bit, we landed very close to where we started. Super restrained, totally analog, not pretending to be anything it isn’t: just shapes cut from drugstore construction paper.  The lettering is “Swept” by Peter Bekke.

New Telekinesis record! Dormarion. This is the fourth project (at least?) I have worked on with Michael Benjamin Lerner, who is an ALL CAPS ENTHUSIASTIC KIND OF GUY! He is lovable, humble, and a super fun collaborator.

Michael has a fantastic visual sensibility and we had much fun assembling a trove of images (I love Dropmark for this) that made our collective socks roll up and down. After journeying around a bit, we landed very close to where we started. Super restrained, totally analog, not pretending to be anything it isn’t: just shapes cut from drugstore construction paper.  The lettering is “Swept” by Peter Bekke.

Mount Moriah, Miracle Temple. Our instincts were uncannily aligned. It went something like this: three of us nodding yes together over the wires to the following consecutive decisions: photography > burning house > this burning house. All of that took about two months and it’s not like it was as easy as falling out of a tree, but it was one of those collaborations that felt graced with kismet.  Get to know this gorgeous band with the enchanting vids from their self-titled record, collected here. Both of these records are in heavy rotation in my studio and I can envision that enduring for the next thirty years. No joke. Must-haves.

Mount Moriah, Miracle Temple.

Our instincts were uncannily aligned. It went something like this: three of us nodding yes together over the wires to the following consecutive decisions: photography > burning house > this burning house. All of that took about two months and it’s not like it was as easy as falling out of a tree, but it was one of those collaborations that felt graced with kismet. 

Get to know this gorgeous band with the enchanting vids from their self-titled record, collected here. Both of these records are in heavy rotation in my studio and I can envision that enduring for the next thirty years. No joke. Must-haves.

It’s Merge Winter Sampler time. (Drawn with one index finger and an iPad.)

It’s Merge Winter Sampler time.

(Drawn with one index finger and an iPad.)

Andromeda what you’re doing and Pleiades love your platters by dropping one of these stellar Merge slipmats on your Taurontable. Pegasus.

Andromeda what you’re doing and Pleiades love your platters by dropping one of these stellar Merge slipmats on your Taurontable. Pegasus.

Hospitality “The Drift” b/w “Monkey” Killer 7-inch from killer band. Stream “Monkey” on p/fork.

Hospitality “The Drift” b/w “Monkey”

Killer 7-inch from killer band. Stream “Monkey” on p/fork.

Sometimes it’s this easy. (Flock of Dimes 7-inch.)

Sometimes it’s this easy. (Flock of Dimes 7-inch.)

This.

This.

Pop-up LP package for The Music Tapes’ Mary’s Voice This is a thing that I made with Julian Koster, mostly over the course of two days in Toronto (with a planning and inspiration session w/ Julian and Robbee Cucchiaro months earlier over pie at Wanda’s.) We ate, laughed, played backyard baseball with my children, and made many mock-ups of pop-up structures at my dining table, guided and inspired by the amazing collection of vintage pop-up books that Julian hauled here from New York.  The structure of our pop-up is not extreme, though we are proud of small triumphs like the steps the little note had to hop up to arrive on its riser.  Julian is a rare golden soul, a humble ringmaster of imagination and childlike wonder, a storyteller and creator of experiences that are as familiar as a cup of hot chocolate and yet wholly unexpected and otherworldly. I’m pretty sure he has a direct line to Santa, Glinda the Good Witch, and that flying dog-dragon from Neverending Story. I can’t wait to see what he and The Music Tapes’ crew create with The Traveling Imaginary.

Pop-up LP package for The Music Tapes’ Mary’s Voice

This is a thing that I made with Julian Koster, mostly over the course of two days in Toronto (with a planning and inspiration session w/ Julian and Robbee Cucchiaro months earlier over pie at Wanda’s.) We ate, laughed, played backyard baseball with my children, and made many mock-ups of pop-up structures at my dining table, guided and inspired by the amazing collection of vintage pop-up books that Julian hauled here from New York. 

The structure of our pop-up is not extreme, though we are proud of small triumphs like the steps the little note had to hop up to arrive on its riser. 

Julian is a rare golden soul, a humble ringmaster of imagination and childlike wonder, a storyteller and creator of experiences that are as familiar as a cup of hot chocolate and yet wholly unexpected and otherworldly. I’m pretty sure he has a direct line to Santa, Glinda the Good Witch, and that flying dog-dragon from Neverending Story. I can’t wait to see what he and The Music Tapes’ crew create with The Traveling Imaginary.

Hand-drawn lettering on the cutting room floor …

Hand-drawn lettering on the cutting room floor …

Ladies and gentlemen: Bob Mould! I have had a few projects in a row where the design process has flowed like a really great conversation. With Silver Age, not only did I fall in love with these songs, but Bob Mould is a peach; he’s generous, articulate, and clearly relishes collaboration. He kicked off our dialogue by sending me a photo of the sign for Crissy Field, which a) made me cry (I miss San Francisco!) and b) described a typographic sensibility that set the tone for the visual language. The typeface here is Monod Brun, designed by V.H. Fleisher in 2009. Bob also knew he wanted a symbol of some sort to represent the album. In the end, I designed ten symbols—one for each song—which all appear on the back of the album. I will hold off showing the rest of the artwork until it’s printed because there is going to be some production bling that I would hate to shortchange. In the meantime, check out this mammoth list of tour dates.

Ladies and gentlemen: Bob Mould! I have had a few projects in a row where the design process has flowed like a really great conversation. With Silver Age, not only did I fall in love with these songs, but Bob Mould is a peach; he’s generous, articulate, and clearly relishes collaboration. He kicked off our dialogue by sending me a photo of the sign for Crissy Field, which a) made me cry (I miss San Francisco!) and b) described a typographic sensibility that set the tone for the visual language. The typeface here is Monod Brun, designed by V.H. Fleisher in 2009.

Bob also knew he wanted a symbol of some sort to represent the album. In the end, I designed ten symbols—one for each song—which all appear on the back of the album. I will hold off showing the rest of the artwork until it’s printed because there is going to be some production bling that I would hate to shortchange.

In the meantime, check out this mammoth list of tour dates.