Ryan Adams, Bright Eyes, Death Cab on Merge Records Covers Album

Evan Schlansky

Updated:

June 26, 2009 5:44 pm

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Merge Records gets a sweet birthday present.

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2009 has been a pretty interesting year for covers projects.

So far, we’ve had Heroes, where artists like Bob Dylan and Paul McCartney chose who they wanted to represent them, and Dark Was the Night, the National-curated charity album that included nearly every big name in indie music. (While not a full-on covers record, it did contain a healthy handful.)

Now it’s the Merge Records’ Rosters’ turn to bask in the spotlight.

Over the last 20 years, the influential North Carolina record label has put out seminal albums by the likes of Neutral Milk Hotel, Crooked Fingers, Lambchop, Rob Pollard, and the Arcade Fire. They’re also the ones responsible for Conor Oberst’s solo album last year.

Now their being feted on the new compilation, SCORE! 20 Years of Merge Records: The Covers, which features non-Merge artists stepping into the shoes of their favorite Merge bands.

Check out the track list below.

We’re especially excited to hear St. Vincent play with the National, and The Apples in Stereo tackle “King of Carrot Flowers (Pt. 3).”

You can pre-order the set at Merge’s official website; the album hits stores April 7th.

Quasi – “Beautiful Things” (3Ds cover)
Les Savy Fav – “Precision Auto” (Superchunk cover)
The Shins – “Plenty Is Never Enough” (Tenement Halls cover)
St. Vincent and the National – “Sleep All Summer” (Crooked Fingers cover)
Broken Social Scene – “Complications” (The Clean cover)
Ryan Adams – “Like a Fool” (Superchunk cover)
Bright Eyes – “Papa Was a Rodeo” (Magnetic Fields cover)
Lavender Diamond – “New Ways of Living” (Destroyer cover)
The Apples in Stereo – “King of Carrot Flowers Pt. 3” (Neutral Milk Hotel cover)
Laura Cantrell – “Cowboy on the Moon” (Lambchop cover)
Bill Callahan – “Santa Maria” (Versus cover)
Barbara Manning – “Through With People” (Portastatic cover)
The Mountain Goats – “Drug Life” (East River Pipe cover)
The New Pornographers – “Don’t Destroy This Night” (Rock*A*Teens cover)
Tracey Thorn and Jens Lekman – “Yeah! Oh, Yeah!” (Magnetic Fields cover)
The Hive Dwellers – “My Noise” (Superchunk cover)
Ted Leo & the Pharmacists – “The Numbered Head” (Robert Pollard cover)
Okkervil River – “All You Little Suckers” (East River Pipe cover)
Death Cab for Cutie -“Kicked In” (Superchunk cover)
Times New Viking – “Neighborhood #1” (Arcade Fire cover)