Portastatic

Infobox musical artist
Name = Portastatic


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Origin = Chapel Hill, North Carolina, US
Genre = Rock and roll, indie rock, Brazilian, film scores
Years_active = 1992–present
Label = 18 Wheeler, Matador, Hello, Esther, Merge
Associated_acts = Superchunk
URL = [http://www.portastatic.com/ www.portastatic.com] [http://www.myspace.com/portastaticnc Portastatic myspace]
Current_members = Mac McCaughan
Past_members =

Portastatic is an American indie rock band founded in the early 1990s by Mac McCaughan. Portastatic began as a solo project for McCaughan, lead singer and guitarist of the indie rock band Superchunk. Since then it has evolved into a full-fledged band, which sometimes includes Superchunk guitarist Jim Wilbur and McCaughan's brother Matthew.

Tom Scharpling of "18 Wheeler" fanzine (and later a popular DJ on WFMU) was so impressed by McCaughan's solo material that he cajoled him into releasing it under the fanzine's own imprint; so came 1993's "Starter" 7". Since then, under the Portastatic moniker, McCaughan has recorded several records drawing on a number of genres, including traditional indie rock, lo-fi, soundtrack and Brazilian music.

The name "Portastatic" is rumored to have been derived from a portable recording device. Due to the quality of the recordings, Mac McCaughan added "static" to "porta" to form "Portastatic." (See nweis22.googlepages.com)

Discography

Official Albums

1994 - I Hope Your Heart Is Not Brittle (CD/LP) [Merge]
1995 - Slow Note From a Sinking Ship (CD/LP) [Merge]
1997 - The Nature of Sap (CD/LP) [Merge]
2003 - Summer of the Shark (CD) [Merge]
2005 - Bright Ideas (CD) [Merge]
2006 - Be Still Please (CD) [Merge]
2008 - Some Small History (CD) [Merge]

Demo Albums

2005 - Ideas for Bright Ideas (CD) [The Portastatic Label]
2006 - Some Small Things You Can't Defend (CD) [The Portastatic Label]

oundtracks

2001 - Looking For Leonard (CD) [Merge]
2006 - Who Loves the Sun (CD) [Merge]

ingles and EP'S

1993 - Starter (7") [18 Wheeler]
1994 - Naked Pilseners (7"/CD EP) [Matador]
1994 - Hello CD of the Month (CD EP) [Hello]
1994 - San Andreas Crouch (7") [Ester]
1995 - Scrapbook X's (7") [18 Wheeler]
1995 - Scrapbook (Double 7"/CD EP) [Merge]
1996 - Spying on the Spys (7") [Merge]
1997 - Split 7" w/ Ida (Split 7") [Trash Heap]
1997 - Split 7" w/ The Landing (Split 7") [Sarang Bang]
1997 - Split 7" w/ The Ladybug Transistor (Split 7") [After Hours]
2000 - De Mel, De Melão (CD EP) [Merge]
2001 - The Perfect Little Door (Featuring Ken Vandermark)(CD EP) [Merge]
2003 - Autumn Was a Lark (CD EP) [Merge]
2005 - Looking For A Power Supply (CD EP) [Houston Party]
2005 - I Wanna Know Girls (Digital EP) [iTunes/Merge]
2006 - Sour Shores (Digital EP) [Merge]

Compilation Appearances

1994 - Ow!, Quit It! (7") [Volvolo]
1994 - A Day in the Park (CD/LP) [The Now Sound]
1994 - Rows of Teeth (CD) [Merge]
1995 - Speed Kills #7 (10") [Speed Kills]
1996 - Extra Walt! (Double 7") [Walt]
1998 - Blatent Doom Trip (CD) [Simple Solution]
1998 - Chunklet #14 (CD) [Chunklet]
1999 - Oh, Merge (CD) [Merge]
2000 - Come on Beautiful - The Songs of American Music Club (CD) [Big Night]
2001 - Snowstorm - A Tribute To Galaxie 500 (CD) [Elefant]
2002 - Survive and Advance Vol. 1 (CD) [Merge]
2002 - Survive and Advance Vol. 2 (CD) [Merge]
2003 - Survive and Advance Vol. 3 (CD) [Merge]
2003 - Compulation Vol. 1: Songs From North Carolina (CD) [Pox World Empire]
2004 - Old Enough 2 Know Better - 15 Years of Merge Records (CD) [Merge]
2006 - Songs for Sixty Five Roses (CD) [Songs for Sixty Five Roses]
2008 - Love Goes On - a Tribute to Grant McLennan (CD) [Rare Victory]