Score!

As most of you know, Merge Records is celebrating it's 20th anniversary this year with a special music subscription offer, SCORE!, that'll last you the entire year. TODAY is the LAST DAY to subscribe [I got my subscription in yesterday] so get out those credit cards. What you'll get - 14 celebrity-curated compilation CD's from the likes of David Byrne and Peter Buck, a Merge remix CD featuring remixes of Merge classics by the likes of Caribou and Junior Boys, a Merge covers CD featuring non-Merge artists including Broken Social Scene, The New Pornographers, Tracey Thorn and Jens Lekman, and The Shins, a 350+ page cover art book, a full-length comedy CD from Scharpling and Wurster, a SCORE box to put everything in after, plus a variety of other goodies(posters, CD's, digital downloads) that come up throughout the year. Already scheduled as part of the bonus stuff is an exclusive digital download of Superchunk's "The Clambakes Vol 4 — Sur La Bouche — Live in Montreal 1993" available to subscribers for download on January 13. For $199 US plus shipping you'll be getting Merge delivered to your mailbox each month. A lot better than getting that credit card bill right? And if you were thinking it was a tad expensive, just remember that ALL PROCEEDS will be going to charities handpicked by the 14 curators.

Later this year, Pitchfork reports that Merge will further celebrate with a five-day music festival in its native North Carolina from July 22-26. Perhaps this might deserve a visit.

Keep up-to-date with all SCORE!-related things over at the SCORE! blog.