Paste's Guide to XX Merge

July 22-26,
Carrboro, N.C.
MergeRecords.com/XXMerge

Lineup Highlights: Conor Oberst, Spoon, Magnetic Fields, Superchunk, She & Him, Destroyer, The Broken West, M. Ward, The Clientele, American Music Club, Portastatic, Lou Barlow, Music Tapes

Twenty years after its first releases (cassettes by WWAX and Bricks, and the first Superchunk 7-inch single), Merge Records is still at it. To celebrate the big 2-0, the Durham, N.C., label is throwing a festival in its former hometown of Carrboro. With Merge boasting some of the best artists of indie rock’s past and present, the possibilities for festival awesomeness are endless. The big question on everyone’s minds: Will Neutral Milk Hotel’s elusive Jeff Mangum show?

Download a .pdf schedule and map

Follow Paste's coverage of XX Merge on 1,000 Words