This week’s focus is on an indie label called American Laundromat Records based in Stonington, CT. I’ll be reviewing a couple of their discs from the past year, and rounding out the week with a completely separate list of songs with a St. Paddy’s Day theme (read as: drunk songs).
So, who are these American Laundromat folks? Well, ALR was started as a hobby by an indie music addict Joe Spadaro in 2004, when he put together a 16-song compilation called “Transistor” (8 bands contributing 2 songs apiece). Since then, the label has done a lot of great tribute records, paying homage to songs by Pixies, Neil Young and Kim Deal, among others currently in the works. But the album that seemed to get them the most attention was “High School Reunion”, a tribute to the cheesy-yet-charming comedy movies of the ‘80s (Pretty In Pink, Say Anything, The Breakfast Club – you get the idea). It garnered national attention from reviews in Rolling Stone and Spin, and why not – it featured covers by such indie rock darlings as Frank Black, Kristin Hersh and the Dresden Dolls.
ALR have put themselves on the map as the masters of the cover record – as well as giving some love to the vinyl scene. They started pressing multi-colored 7” singles for various projects, all with original sleeve art. ALR are some of real the good guys in the scary music landscape that surrounds us – and they’re not even making any money, they swear! That’s gotta give them extra cred, right?
Seriously though, check out their web site for more info on their upcoming projects:
http://www.alr-music.com/
And check back here in the next few days for some reviews…
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