There's an interesting interview with Mac McCaughan at PopMatters (here). He talks about Superchunk and the rise of Merge Records. Like Saddle Creek, his label seems to have succeeded by not trying to succeed. "It's really a matter of whether we like the music or not," McCaughan says in the interview. "We're not looking at the commercial potential or the bottom line. We don't try and narrow it down to one thing that we're looking for. We appreciate experimental bands and in some ways it's a gut reaction. A lot of bands we'll discover when they mail us music, or someone emails us some tracks, and sometimes it's just not the thing that feels right for us to do at the time, and sometimes it's the fact that we have too many releases coming out in a certain time period. Merge is a really small family, so things just work out or don't based on any number of reasons. Really it's not a specific thing ... it's a gut feeling about the music." He goes on to say that he learned a lot from Gerard Cosloy when Superchunk was on Matador "and their roster is certainly something to envy." I don't know the sales figures, but these days Merge has a more envious roster than Matador (to me, anyway).

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Todd Snider is at The Waiting Room tonight with Jonny Burke. Seems like Snider's been passing through Omaha for 20 years. His music isn't my thing, but I have to hand it to the guy for sticking with it as long as he has. $18, 9 p.m.

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Tomorrow's column is the conclusion of the Ladyfinger trilogy that began three weeks ago. Check back to see how it ends.

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