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 When it comes to musical tastes, I’ve always been an old soul. In college in the early ‘90s, when I should have been listening to so-called “college radio,” I was a huge Bruce Hornsby fan. Even now, you’re more likely to hear Hootie & the Blowfish on my iPod than, say, Grizzly Bear.

So Merge Records has never really been on my radar. Formed in Chapel Hill in 1989, it has been the home of such of-the-moment bands as Superchunk and Spoon, but the label never really lost its small-market hospitality. “Our Noise: The Story of Merge Records” is an oral history, compiled by journalist John Cook with the blessing of the label’s founders, Mac McCaughan and Laura Ballance, and input from most of the musicians, producers and others who have contributed to its growth.

Want to know why some bands make it and others don’t? It’s all here, from the prototypical stories of “we didn’t get along on tour” and “we had to fire the drummer” all the way to the overnight successes.

The most recent and biggest breakthrough has been the Montreal band Arcade Fire, which sold copies of its debut CD “Funeral” faster than Merge could print them, yet has remained with the label despite big-money offers from competitors.

Despite its multiple perspectives, the narrative zips along, and often feels like a big backstage round-table interview. Take this quote from producer Robert Schneider describing late-1990s band Neutral Milk Hotel:

“That band was never, in any way, what you would call tight or polished. They were like, if you took a carnival, and you played it on an AM radio, and then you stuck it in a bucket with a microphone and recorded it, and then took that recording and played it on a Victrola, and then rolled it down the stairs, and there’s someone there to catch it – that’s a Neutral Milk Hotel show.”

I don’t know about you, but I have to hear that band. I may not like it, but I can’t ignore it. And that’s the biggest strength and the biggest flaw of this book: if you know the music, it’s an excellent companion piece. If you don’t, you’re going to have to spend some more energy or cash to take a listen – and you can conveniently find both the book and the music at www.mergerecords.com.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to listen to some Neutral Milk Hotel.