American Laundromat Records | |
---|---|
Founded | 2004 |
Founder | Joseph H. Spadaro |
Distributor(s) | AMPED, Alliance, Ingram, Mid West |
Genre | Indie rock |
Country of origin | U.S. |
Location | Mystic, Connecticut |
Official website | www |
American Laundromat Records is an independent record label founded in 2004 by Joe Spadaro. [1]
ALR specializes in almost annual indie rock compilation albums, which have included tracks by OK Go, The Dresden Dolls, and The Watson Twins. Compilation tributes have been dedicated to the Pixies, The Cure, Kim Deal, Neil Young, The Smiths, and the 1984 film Repo Man . [2] The release of a double-CD tribute album to Wes Anderson, I Saved Latin!, was released in May 2014 and includes covers of David Bowie and The Kinks. [3]
American Laundromat Records was founded in April 2004 by Joe Spadaro [1] in Huntington Village, New York on Long Island. [4] According to Spadaro, he used a small tax-refund to produce the compilation album Transistor, [5] which featured eight indie bands contributing two original songs each. The bands, including The Atomic Hep Cats and AM, were mostly on the East coast. [1] Transistor had moderate success on college radio. [5]
After several more releases, in the summer of 2006 the label relocated to Mystic, Connecticut. That year the label secured international distribution through Darla Records. Besides releasing debut EPs, LPs, and compilations, in 2007 ALR began a 7" vinyl series of split singles featuring tracks from the label's network of indie bands. [4]
In 2005, the label began distributing Brooklyn-based all-girl indie band the Caulfield Sisters' debut EP Say It With Fire. [2] The band was afterwards named one of "NYC’s 10 Bands to Watch" by Time Out New York . The band was invited to perform on KEXP's Morning Show with John in NYC, and opened for Interpol. [4] In 2009 ALR released Julie Peel's debut album Near The Sun. [2] After the release Peel received an early invitation to showcase at SXSW in 2010, and tracks were placed in TV shows such as CW's Life Unexpected . The label also releases music by Dylan in the Movies. [4]
In late 2013 the label signed a new band: Tele Novella, an indie group based in Austin, Texas. [6] The pop foursome has members from a number of previous bands: [7] guitarist/vocalist Natalie Ribbons, bassist Jason Chronis, drummer Matt Simon, and Sarah La Puerta. [8] Ribbons was previously with Agent Ribbons, while Chronis and Simon were previously with indie band Voxtrot. [8] They have a 7" single, "Trouble in Paradise," that came out on April 22, 2014. [6]
Whatever, My Love is an album by The Juliana Hatfield Three, consisting of Hatfield, drummer Todd Philips, and bassist Dean Fisher. This is the band's first album in twenty two years. [9] The lead single, "If I Could," was released in December 2014 and was premiered in Rolling Stone .
In 2013 American Laundromat Records added a movie section to their website, and began taking orders for the Criterion Collection release of Repo Man on Blu-ray and DVD. [4]
After the success of the initial 2004 compilation, Transistor, the label began releasing indie rock-themed compilations and artist tributes on an almost yearly basis. In the fall of 2005 ALR produced its second record High School Reunion - a tribute to those great 80's films!, featuring indie-rockers such as Frank Black, Kristin Hersh, and The Dresden Dolls, and covering songs from 80's teen films. [2] All Music Guide called the project "One of the finest tribute records ever amassed," going on to say "let this serve as a blueprint for all future tribute sets." [10] Pitchfork, [11] Rolling Stone , VH1, Billboard , Spin , NME , and other publications covered the project as well. [4]
Afterwards came Dig For Fire - a tribute to Pixies,Cinnamon Girl - Women Artists Cover Neil Young for Charity [1] and Gigantic - a tribute to Kim Deal. The projects included contributions by bands such as They Might Be Giants, OK Go, Mogwai, and The Rosebuds. [2] In 2008 ALR began production on Just Like Heaven - a tribute to The Cure [4] which was officially released on January 27, 2009. The latter was co-produced by Joe Spadaro, who produced a number of the other compilations as well. It featured covers by artists such as Tanya Donelly, The Brunettes, and Grand Duchy. [2] The album had a positive reception, [12] and acknowledgement from Robert Smith. [4]
In 2010 ALR released Sing Me To Sleep - Indie Lullabies, a collection of lullabies and popular songs re-imagined as lullabies by indie artists. [2] All proceeds from the project are donated to The Valerie Fund, a non-profit for children with cancer and blood disorders. [4] Among the artists who contributed are Dean & Britta, Say Hi, and Sigur Rós. [2] Release shows with live performances by The Leisure Society, The Real Tuesday Weld, Tanya Donelly, Jenny Owen Youngs, and Julie Peel were held in tandem with the release in London and New York City. [4]
Please Please Please: A Tribute To The Smiths was released in late 2011, [13] with tracks by Elk City, Greg Laswell, Cinerama, Stars, and others, with Spadaro again producing. A Tribute To Repo Man was released in 2012, featuring artists such as The Tellers and Matthew Sweet. The 1984 film had a soundtrack featuring punk rock by artists like Iggy Pop and Black Flag. [2]
In May 2014 American Laundromat Records released I Saved Latin!, a double-CD tribute compilation to film director Wes Anderson. [3] In November 2013 ALR had opened up their website for pre-orders, selling a "deluxe" edition that includes a vinyl single and various clothing and objects themed to Anderson's films and characters. [14] Among the covered artists are The Kinks, the Rolling Stones, David Bowie and The Zombies. [15] Juliana Hatfield covers Elliott Smith's "Needle in the Hay," which was used in The Royal Tennenbaums, while Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin covers "Margaret Yang's Theme" from Rushmore, which was originally made for the film by Mark Mothersbaugh. [15] Other covers include Matt Pond's version of Nico's "These Days," and John Lennon's "Oh Yoko!" by The Ghost in You. [14]
The album was received positively by critics, with NME calling it "cohesive and pleasingly idiosyncratic," [16] and Delusions of Adequacy stating that "most of [the songs] embrace a shared autumnal aesthetic, which closely adheres to Anderson’s whimsical vision." [17]
This list is organized by catalog number, a roughly chronological number system established by the label and typically printed on or assigned to each official release.
Cat. No. | Title | Artist | Year | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
ALR-0001 | Transistor | Various (The Atomic Hep Cats, The Lovable Rogues, The Modifiers, AM, and The Bennies) | 2004 | |
ALR-0010 | High School Reunion A Tribute to Those Great 80's Films! | Various ( John P. Strohm, Matthew Sweet, The Dresden Dolls, Caulfield Sisters, etc.) | 2005 | |
ALR-0002 | Say It With Fire | Caulfield Sisters | 2005 | |
ALR-0006 | "Divine Candy" | Caulfield Sisters / Julie Peel | 2006 | |
ALR-0007 | "So Long City Skies" | John P. Strohm / Dylan in the Movies | 2007 | |
ALR-0008 | "Heart of Gold" | Tanya Donelly / Luff | 2007 | |
ALR-0011 | Dig for Fire – A Tribute to Pixies | Various (John P. Strohm, OK Go, Dylan in the Movies, They Might Be Giants, Mogwai, Morning Theft, The Rosebuds, Joy Zipper, etc.) | 2007 | 3 editions - Limited Edition 1st Pressing (21 songs), Bonus 3-Song Vinyl, LP (15 songs) |
ALR-0012 | Cinnamon Girl Women Artists Cover Neil Young For Charity | Various (Tanya Donelly, Britta Phillips, Lori McKenna, Veruca Salt, Dala, etc.) | 2008 | |
ALR-0013 | Gigantic - a Tribute to Kim Deal | Various (Rizzo, Francine, Witch Hats, Descartes A Kant, etc.) | 2008 | |
ALR-0015 | Songs for Film & TV | Various (Veruca Salt, Dresden Dolls, They Might Be Giants, John P. Strohm, etc.) | 2008 | |
ALR-0016 | "Everybody Hurts" / "Imagine" | Elk City / Steve Rizzo | 2008 | |
ALR-0018 | Just Like Heaven - A Tribute to The Cure | Various (Joy Zipper, Dean and Britta, Elk City, The Rosebuds, etc.) | 2009 | |
ALR-0019 | Near the Sun | Julie Peel | 2009 | |
ALR-0022 | "Josephine If You Only Knew" | Dylan in the Movies | 2010 | |
ALR-0023 | Sing Me to Sleep – Indie Lullabies | Various (The Leisure Society, Casey Mcija, The Coctails, Say Hi, etc.) | 2010 | Three editions - limited 1st pressing (21 songs), bonus 3-song vinyl, LP (14 songs) |
ALR-0024 | "Girl with the Black Tights" | Dylan in the Movies | 2010 | Feat. Tanya Donelly |
ALR-0025 | "Two Songs from Mohawk" | Caulfield Sisters | 2011 | |
ALR-0027 | Please Please Please: A Tribute To The Smiths | Various (Elk City, Greg Laswell, Cinerama, Stars, etc.) | 2011 | |
ALR-0028 | A Tribute to Repo Man | Various (The Tellers, Matthew Sweet, etc.) | 2012 | |
ALR-0032 | I Saved Latin! A Tribute to Wes Anderson | Various | 2014 | |
ALR-0035 | Whatever, My Love | The Juliana Hatfield Three | 2015 | |
ALR-0035 | Juliana Hatfield Sings Olivia Newton-John | Juliana Hatfield | 2018 | |
ALR-0046 | Weird | Juliana Hatfield | 2019 | |
"—" denotes unassigned catalog numbers. Sources: ALR-Music/aboutus |
Juliana Hatfield is an American musician and singer-songwriter from the Boston area, formerly of the indie rock bands Blake Babies, Some Girls, and The Lemonheads. She also fronted her own band, The Juliana Hatfield Three, along with bassist Dean Fisher and drummer Todd Philips, which was active in the mid-1990s and again in the mid-2010s. It was with the Juliana Hatfield Three that she produced her best-charting work, including the critically acclaimed albums Become What You Are (1993) and Whatever, My Love (2015) and the singles "My Sister" (1993) and "Spin the Bottle" (1994).
Throwing Muses are an American alternative rock band formed in 1981 in Newport, Rhode Island, United States, that toured and recorded extensively until 1997, when its members began concentrating more on other projects.
Martha Kristin Hersh is an American singer-songwriter, musician and author, known for her solo work and with her rock bands Throwing Muses and 50FootWave. She has released eleven solo albums. Her guitar work and composition style ranges from jaggedly dissonant to traditional folk. Hersh's lyrics have a stream-of-consciousness style, reflecting her personal experiences.
Belly are an alternative rock band formed in Rhode Island in 1991 by former Throwing Muses and Breeders member Tanya Donelly. The original lineup consisted of Donelly on vocals and guitar, Fred Abong on bass, and brothers Tom and Chris Gorman on guitar and drums respectively. The band released two albums during the early 1990s alternative rock boom before breaking up in 1995. They reunited in 2016 and mounted limited tours in the United States and United Kingdom that year.
Evan Griffith Dando is an American musician and frontman of the Lemonheads. He has also embarked on a solo career and collaborated on songs with various artists. In December 2015 Dando was inducted into the Boston Music Awards Hall of Fame.
Tanya Donelly is an American Grammy Award-nominated singer-songwriter and guitarist based in New England who co-founded Throwing Muses with her step-sister Kristin Hersh. Donelly went on to co-form the alternative rock band The Breeders in 1989, before leaving to front her own band Belly in 1991. By the late 1990s, she settled into a solo recording career, working largely with musicians connected to the Boston music scene.
Mark Mulcahy is an American musician and front-man for the New Haven, Connecticut-based band Miracle Legion. The band earned modest renown, especially in their native New England region, but disbanded after a sad turn of events with their record label, Morgan Creek Records. Mulcahy soon formed Polaris, a house band for the mid-1990s alternative television series The Adventures of Pete & Pete (1993–1996). They are perhaps best remembered for the song "Hey Sandy" featured in the opening credits of each show, and for nostalgic tunes such as "Waiting for October" and "Saturnine". Following the cancellation of Pete & Pete, Mulcahy found himself playing his own shows in New York City and rebuilding his career. Mulcahy has opened for notable artists including Oasis and Jeff Buckley and received homage from Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke, who dedicated a song to Mulcahy at a Boston show. Mark is this working on his solo career today via his own label Mezzotint.com.
Fort Apache Studios is a New England recording studio focusing on alternative rock sessions produced there since 1986.
Gary Smith is an American entrepreneur, record producer, and artist's manager, known for his work recording albums by alternative rock musicians since the mid-1980s at Fort Apache Studios. Smith, who is sole owner of the studio, first became a partner co-owning the studio business in the late 1980s, moving it from Cambridge, Massachusetts, to Bellows Falls, Vermont, in 2002.
The Brunettes were an indie pop or twee pop group from New Zealand formed in 1998 to 2009. The band consists of core members Jonathan Bree and Heather Mansfield, with additional contributions from part-time members such as Ryan McPhun and Princess Chelsea. The group had released several well-received albums such as Holding Hands, Feeding Ducks (2002), which received 4.5/5 stars from AllMusic. Signed to Lil' Chief Records, they had opened for bands such as Rilo Kiley and Beirut.
Joy Zipper is an American indie pop duo from Long Island, New York, made up of Tabitha Tindale and Vincent Cafiso, who are also a married couple. The duo has been playing dream pop since the late 1990s. The band is named for Tindale's mother.
Jed Davis is an American musician based in New York City. He sings and plays keyboards as a solo artist and with The Hanslick Rebellion, Collider, and Skyscape.
House Tornado is an album by the alternative rock band Throwing Muses. Produced by Gary Smith and engineered by Paul Q. Kolderie, it was recorded at Fort Apache Studios in Cambridge, MA. The album was released in 1988 internationally on the 4AD label, except in the United States, where it was released by Sire Records. Sire used a different album cover for its release, as the label was putting a strong promotional push behind the band, and label executives favored a picture of the band over the collage featured on the 4AD release.
"Needle in the Hay" is a song by American singer-songwriter Elliott Smith. It was released on January 1, 1995, by record label Kill Rock Stars as the sole single from his second studio album, Elliott Smith.
Throwing Muses is the 1986 debut album of the band Throwing Muses, released on British independent label 4AD. This was the first album by an American band to be released on 4AD, which had concentrated primarily on British-based acts up to this point. The release marked a shift in the label's direction; a year later 4AD would sign Pixies based in part on the band's connection to Throwing Muses, and by the mid-1990s much of the label's roster was made up of American bands.
The Fat Skier is a mini-LP by Throwing Muses, released on 6 July 1987 on the 4AD label in the UK and licensed to Sire Records in the US. It played at 33 ⅓ RPM on the A-side and at 45 RPM on the B-side. It reached number two in the Independent Albums Chart in the UK.
Elk City is an American art-pop band from New York City, New York, formed in 1997 as a spin-off of Melting Hopefuls. The original lineup consisted of Renee LoBue, Ray Ketchem and Peter Langland-Hassan.
Snowbird is a British/American band consisting of instrumentalist Simon Raymonde and vocalist Stephanie Dosen. Dosen, originally a member of the 1990s techno band Virus, sang live with Massive Attack in 2008 and later collaborated with The Chemical Brothers. Dosen and Raymonde first worked together on her second solo album, A Lily for the Spectre, released by Bella Union in 2007. The duo's debut album as Snowbird, Moon, was released on 27 January 2014 on Bella Union.
Whatever, My Love is a studio album by The Juliana Hatfield Three, consisting of Hatfield, drummer Todd Philips and bassist Dean Fisher. The album marks the band's first release in twenty two years, since their LP Become What You Are in 1993. The lead single from the Whatever, My Love, "If I Could," was released in December 2014, and was premiered in publications such as Rolling Stone. That month the album was made available for pre-order on American Laundromat Records, with an announced release date for February 17, 2015. In late December, Stereogum named the album "one of their most anticipated albums of 2015," and on January 4, 2015, Consequence of Sound named it "one of the 50 most anticipated albums of 2015."
Juliana Hatfield Sings Olivia Newton-John is the sixteenth studio album by American singer-songwriter Juliana Hatfield. It was released on April 13, 2018, by American Laundromat Records. It's a tribute album to Australian singer Olivia Newton-John, in which Hatfield covers thirteen songs sung by Newton-John, most of them originally released as singles. From every sale of the album, one dollar will be donated to the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Wellness & Research Centre, Newton-John's own cancer treatment organization. The following year, Hatfield released Juliana Hatfield Sings The Police.