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Olivia Newton-John Tribute Album - New Vinyl Pressing, Colours, Alternative Cover Art
Olivia Newton-John Tribute Album - New Vinyl Pressing, Colours, Alternative Cover Art

American Laundromat Records:

To celebrate the one-year anniversary of Juliana's Olivia Newton-John tribute, we're doing a very special 500 unit LP pressing with alternative cover art and cool vinyl colors. Please note in addition to the Cream and Pink/Purple Splash available on our website, there are 100 translucent clear vinyl that will only be available at select independent record shops.

Orders are being taken now with shipping anticipated for February 14, 2019. Ordering info and details of the indie shops at:

https://www.alr-music.com/collections/out-now/products/juliana-hatfield-sings-olivia-newton-john

The album only came out in April so it's unclear which calendar they have at ALR for their "one-year anniversary," but this is some pretty vinyl and lovely artwork nonetheless!

On the subject of the ON-J tribute, it is now owned by John Farrar, who wrote many of the songs and produced their original recordings:

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Weird Artwork and Audio Previews
Weird Artwork and Audio Previews

A few Instagram posts by American Laundromat Records from recent weeks:

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Juliana Hatfield Announces New Album Weird and Shares First Single – American Laundromat Records
Juliana Hatfield Announces New Album Weird and Shares First Single – American Laundromat Records

New album info time!

It's called Weird and is due for release on January 18, 2019.

Here's the first single - It's So Weird:

The new album by Juliana Hatfield featuring 11 brand new tracks. Available January 18, 2019 on CD, LP, CD, DL via www.alr-music.com

From American Laundromat Records blog post:

Freda Love Smith (Blake Babies, Sunshine Boys) and Todd Philips (Lemonheads, The Juliana Hatfield Three) each played drums on multiple songs while Hatfield played all of the other instruments (and some additional drums).

Album Bio:

Laura Fisher has written liner notes as an "Album Bio", which is effectively the first review. An excerpt:

Why wouldn’t you want to block out the world? Hatfield asks us. Outside the home are people who misread your facial expressions (“Staying In”), whose gestures of love feel like efforts to possess you (“It’s So Weird”), who drag you into a vortex of lies and gaslighting (“Paid to Lie”), and who have allowed every last shred of human experience to be commodified, from dignity, religion, and privacy to fake IDs and opioids (“Everything’s For Sale”). Outside the glowing orb of independence are other people’s demands, their power plays, their lies and misinterpretations. Who needs it?

Artwork:

Track List:

  1. Staying In
  2. It's So Weird
  3. Sugar
  4. Everything's For Sale
  5. All Right, Yeah
  6. Broken Doll
  7. Receiver
  8. Lost Ship
  9. Paid To Lie
  10. No Meaning
  11. Do It To Music

Bonus 7" Track List:

  1. On Your Feet
  2. The Family Stain

Order Info:

Orders are being taken now for Vinyl, CD, Cassette, and Bonus 7 inch vinyl in a variety of specialist bundles at https://www.alr-music.com/products/juliana-hatfield-weird

The album is also being distributed through Cargo Records in the UK.

T-shirts & Other Merch:

If that's not enough, American Laundromat Records also have a couple of new Juliana t-shirts for sale, for delivery in January 2019, and now Iron-On Patches too:

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The Safes - A Tribute To Juliana Hatfield Seven-Inch – American Laundromat Records
The Safes - A Tribute To Juliana Hatfield Seven-Inch – American Laundromat Records

New covers of Juliana's Universal Heart-beat and I See You are now available to order.

American Laundromat Records:

Chicago's The Safes are thrilled to release a 2-song, 7” tribute to Juliana Hatfield; one of their favorite artists. The Safes tracked this single with the one and only Steve Albini and, to turn this up to 11, The Safes asked their friends Ted Ansani and Mike Zelenko of legendary power pop trio Material Issue to be the rhythm section for this recording. Give it listen. These songs are as good as songs get -- The Safes saw no reason in trying to improve upon perfection and just had fun rockin' these classics.

Exclusive pressing on red vinyl. Original artwork by Nicole Anguish at Daykamp Creative. Only 500 copies exist. All 45's include a digital download card.

Juliana:

I'm so tickled by The Safes' joyful, lovable versions of my two songs! I think they really captured the essence of what the songs were and still are trying to say which is that there is always hope to be had

Order at American Laundromat Records:

https://www.alr-music.com/collections/catalog/products/the-safes-a-tribute-to-juliana-hatfield-seven-inch

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Juliana Releases Pussycat Home Demos
Juliana Releases Pussycat Home Demos

Juliana, writing on her official site:

I would like to share the home demos I made for the songs on my 2017 Pussycat album. I am making them available for the completists and for the curious and for, well, anyone and everyone else. You can download them below and if you want you can pay for them; you can donate however much or little you desire (or not). Much of the money that comes in will go right back into more music-making (studio recording, etc.)

For more info and the download / donation links head to:

https://www.julianahatfield.com/for-sale/

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Xanadu - Juliana and Olivia versions mixed as a "duet" by Jake Fogelnest
Xanadu - Juliana and Olivia versions mixed as a "duet" by Jake Fogelnest

This is marvellous.

Endorsed by jh too:

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Quiet storm: why Juliana Hatfield’s Hey Babe roared as loud as the riot grrrls | Culture | The Guardian
Quiet storm: why Juliana Hatfield’s Hey Babe roared as loud as the riot grrrls | Culture | The Guardian

Laura Fisher, for The Guardian on the 25th anniversary of Hey Babe:

Hey Babe was among the most successful independent releases of the year; 25 years on, it remains a largely forgotten minor masterpiece. But the release of a newly remastered Hey Babe on the American Laundromat label this month will reintroduce listeners to a coming-of-age album for the solitary female misfit. At the time of Hey Babe’s release, the riot grrrl movement was normalising the expression of female rage, offering a crucial framework of empowerment for female listeners. But Hey Babe offers a landscape of emotion – self-disgust, second-guessing, depression, cautious optimism – that has no place in a reception model so narrowly hinged on “empowerment”.

These words are adapted from Laura's exceptional 2013 essay at The New Inquiry.

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Juliana Hatfield is “Hopelessly Devoted” to Olivia Newton-John | Tidal
Juliana Hatfield is “Hopelessly Devoted” to Olivia Newton-John | Tidal

For Womens History Month, Juliana has written an article for Tidal about Olivia Newton-John's impact and influence throughout her life:

Olivia was sweet and strong. Quietly confident from the very beginning, she did the work on each stage and in every appearance, without any hurried desperation for attention.

Some people don’t understand that Olivia is a soulful singer. They think she is a sugary confection, empty calories. That this is not serious. That her songs don’t acknowledge the dark side. But they do. There’s darkness all over the place. It’s just that she doesn’t aim for it and stew in it like some of us do. She gives it a nod and then turns away from it and toward the light.

 

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New Album Announced - Juliana Hatfield Sings Olivia Newton-John
New Album Announced - Juliana Hatfield Sings Olivia Newton-John

Juliana has announced her new album of Olivia Newton-John covers. Marvellous!

It will be released on April 13, 2018, via American Laundromat Records, titled "Juliana Hatfield Sings Olivia Newton-John".

Juliana:

I have never not loved Olivia Newton-John. Her music has brought me so much pure joy throughout my life. I loved her when I was a child and I love her still. Her voice and her positive energy and her melodies have stood the test of time and they give me as much pleasure now as they ever did. Listening to her is an escape into a beautiful place. She has inspired me so much personally and I just wanted to give something back; to share some of these tremendous songs, reinterpreted, with love, by me

American Laundromat Records:

One dollar from the sale of every album will be donated to the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Wellness & Research Centre (ONJ Centre), a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing patients with cancer access to leading medical treatment, breakthrough research, and the best in wellness and supportive care.

Artwork

Track List:

  1. I Honestly Love You
  2. Suspended In Time
  3. Have You Never Been Mellow
  4. A Little More Love
  5. Magic
  6. Physical
  7. Totally Hot
  8. Don't Stop Believin'
  9. Please Mr. Please
  10. Hopelessly Devoted To You
  11. Xanadu
  12. Dancin' 'Round And 'Round
  13. Make A Move On Me
  14. I Honestly Love You (Reprise)*

*Track 14 is not on the vinyl LP but included on the digital download card.

Bonus 7-Inch Track List

  1. Deeper Than The Night
  2. Heart Attack

Availability

The release date is scheduled for April 13, 2018.

Vinyl, CD, and Cassette versions are available via a multitude of ordering options at American Laundromat Records, with some options also available through Cargo Records UK.

Original Olivia Songs

Here are unofficial Apple Music and Spotify playlists of all but one of the original Olivia songs Juliana is covering. (I made this using songs licensed for streaming in the UK. Hopefully they'll work worldwide)

Apple Music
Spotify

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Hey Babe 25th Anniversary Vinyl Reissue
Hey Babe 25th Anniversary Vinyl Reissue

American Laundromat Records:

We cannot be more excited to reissue Juliana Hatfield's debut album "Hey Babe" on vinyl to celebrate its 25th Anniversary. We took great care to have our friend and long-time collaborator, Sean Glonek at SRG Studios newly master from the original 1/4" analog tapes. The artwork has been recreated from the original LP art but with a little twist thanks to the skill and creativity of award-winning designer, Aaron Tanner of Melodic Virtue. This exclusive limited-edition pressing, in a single-pocket gatefold jacket, was pressed by hand at Burlington Record Plant in Burlington, VT.

Pressing Information:
Mystery Wild Card Color Vinyl (50 pressed) Label Exclusive
Clear Vinyl (100 pressed) Label Exclusive
Translucent Green Vinyl (175 pressed) Label Exclusive
Virgin Black Vinyl (325 pressed)
Translucent "Amethyst" Purple Vinyl (350 pressed)

*Please know due to licensing restrictions, we are unable to include digital downloads.

Artwork

Availability

The release date is scheduled for March 23, 2018.

There are all sorts of ordering options based around the aforementioned colours at American Laundromat Records.

Also, Cargo Records (UK) are offering the translucent purple version.

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Rounder Records New Leader: 5 Questions With John Strohm - Birmingham, AL Patch
Rounder Records New Leader: 5 Questions With John Strohm - Birmingham, AL Patch

John P Strohm has a new job:

The music industry is changing almost daily with technological advancements, social media and the shifting population of music fans, and no one knows that better than John Strohm. Strohm, a former Birmingham resident and graduate of the Cumberland School of Law at Samford, recently was named president of Rounder Records in Nashville, after years as a musician himself and an entertainment lawyer. But Strohm made a name for himself musically as a member of bands such as the Lemonheads, Blake Babies and Antenna, and help launch the careers of some of today's most successful musicians - including Alabama Shakes, Sturgill Simpson and the Civil Wars.

 

Patch caught up with Strohm to discuss his new gig as a record executive, what brought him here, and where music is headed as an industry.

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Freda Love Smith's New Band - Sunshine Boys
Freda Love Smith's New Band - Sunshine Boys

Via bandcamp:

Sunshine Boys are a Chicago-based trio of veteran recording and touring artists from some of the most revered bands in indie rock. Featuring Freda Love Smith (Blake Babies, Antenna, Mysteries of Life), Jacqueline Schimmel (Justin Roberts, Big Hello), and Dag Juhlin (Poi Dog Pondering, The Slugs), Sunshine Boys offer a propulsive, melodic take on pop rock.

Listen to their debut single above and download / contribute at bandcamp.

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Juliana Hatfield Remembers Jeff Buckley
Juliana Hatfield Remembers Jeff Buckley

Juliana, writing about Jeff Buckley:

Jeff was gifted with a prodigious, supernatural, dazzling talent. He could do so much with his voice and his guitar and the way he wove them together was breathtaking. He was a fan of so much music, so many kinds of music, and he absorbed it all with a quasi-photographic musical memory, integrating all sorts of disparate elements effortlessly. It must have been overwhelming sometimes to have so many options, hard to narrow down what it was he wanted to present to the world. He wasn’t as limited as some of us are, but this this freedom, this ability, to do almost anything — it could have been crippling, in a way; if you have fewer options and fewer decisions it means your task is much simpler.

Read the whole article at Tidal.

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