Press Play is our Monday recap of the new and FREE tracks received last week to inform the next trip to your local indie record store.
The Fretless – Jenny Bear (Live)
Brandon Grafius – Things Get Right
Madam West – Strongest Son
Noble Son – Problem Daughter
Fawns of Love – Zine Days
Lowpines – Parasite
Oberon Rose – No Stranger
Echo Bloom – Song For Steven
The Incredible Vickers Brothers – Mirrors
Red Black Red – The Scientist
Chris Rivers – Run Dem Thangs
Exale – To The Stars
TVD SINGLE OF THE WEEK:
Ellie Occleston – Splinters
End of an era at Bert McCormick’s Ballyclare music shop: After more than four decades selling records from around the world, on Saturday Bert McCormick brings the shutters down on his eponymous Ballyclare store for the final time. Now 78, music man Mr McCormick started in the business when he was just 16 years old. He was a jazz keyboard player before going to work for a record label and then touring with showbands around Northern Ireland, playing with the likes of Chubby Checker and The Kinks. But it was in 1976 that he spotted an empty unit in Ballyclare’s Main Street, and fulfilled his lifelong ambition of 
Nostalgia, novelty drive vinyl’s comeback: Rochester resident Curt Queensland was nine when he bought his first vinyl record. It was a 45 record of Seals & Croft’s 1972 hit “Summer Breeze,” and it marked the beginning of a lifetime love affair with vinyl. Today, with a record collection at 3,000 to 4,000 albums, nearly every inch of shelf space in Queensland’s Northwest Rochester apartment is covered with vinyl records. Many bring back memories. One of the first LPs he bought was Billy Squire’s triple Platinum album “Don’t Say No.” “That had Stroke It on it. ‘Stroke Man, Stroke Man,” Queensland said…Though vinyl sales dipped to extinction levels in 2006, Queensland just kept on buying and selling records. When vinyl began its comeback, no one was less surprised than Queensland, because, in his mind, 
Vinyl once more: Moloy Ghosh, a Delhi based music restorer, says that the basic sound quality of vinyl is unmatchable. “The depth of sound of a vinyl record can beat the likes of a cassette or a CD player any day.” Add to that the longevity of a record, one has the perfect combination. The only thing that comes close to records in terms of longevity is a cassette. While a cassette with proper handling can last nearly 40 years, a vinyl record on an average lasts about 60 years, if not more. Experts believe that the vinyl has roared back to popularity as more and more people want to possess a piece of music that they can feel and touch. Having your own records also gives a feeling of ownership. Teenagers are the most impulsive among the age groups. With little or moderate experience, teenagers are more susceptible to falling for a particular trend. For vinyl, 
The Charlatans are putting on their own ten-day festival: The Charlatans have announced they’re putting on a festival in their hometown, Northwich. The ten-day event will include four headline shows of their own, on Monday 14th, Wednesday 16th, Thursday 17th and Friday 18th May, at Northwich Memorial Court. They’ll also be hosting an exhibition of rare Charlatans memorabilia, a week of live bands at The Salty Dog pub, plenty of aftershow parties, 
NEW RELEASE PICKS: The Skull Defekts, S/T (Thrill Jockey) I’ll admit that I first got into The Skull Defekts due to the connection with Daniel Higgs, who’d been the singer and poetic fount for Baltimore’s Lungfish, a band I long loved, and who’d joined the Swedish band well after their formation. But in soaking up their pre-Higgs discography, the appeal widened, with The Skull Defekts’ work serving up another fine example of Swede u-ground rock (with connections to Anti Cimix, Cortex, Union Carbide Productions, and Kid Commando), and it continues here with Higgs’ departure and Mariam Wallentin stepping in. In a reflective explanatory piece written by member Joachim Nordwall, he observes that this is probably their most composed album, and I don’t disagree. But it’s still a superb finale. A-
Renata Zeiguer, Old Ghost (Northern Spy/Double Denim) Although this is vocalist, pianist, and violinist Zeiguer’s first full-length, she doesn’t lack experience; there was her self-released “Horizons” EP from back in 2013, and she’s spent time in the interim performing as Cantina and contributing to numerous projects, including Ava Luna, Twin Sister, Cassandra Jenkins, and Christopher Burke of Beach Fossils. But it goes back farther than that; influenced as a child by classical music and a little later by the Great American Songbook, there is a florid quality to much of her material that when combined with her vocal strengths, solidifies the mention of Kate Bush. But her love of The Beatles and tropicalia also shines through (adding welcome touches of strangeness0, and I dig the indie rock toughness throughout. A-
REISSUE PICKS: Allen Ginsberg, Howl and Other Poems (Craft) This set includes a bunch of pertinent material: there’s a booklet with writing by Beat expert Ann Charters and poet Anne Waldman, a repro of the invite to the poetry reading of ’56 held at City Lights bookstore, a photo of the man at his typewriter, and a reprint of the City Lights Pocket Poets edition of the work that impacted so many lives and challenged so many norms. It’s all certainly appropriate regarding the poetry’s import and looks cool as hell, but the main attraction is a translucent red vinyl repress of the Fantasy Records LP from ’59. Hearing “Howl” read by its creator still delivers a major charge, stripping away time’s extraneous bullshit and getting to its protest core. Before braying it’s no longer relevant, just take a look around. A+
Langley Schools Music Project, Innocence & Despair (Bar/None) When this collection of ’70s Canadian elementary schoolers doing pop-rock tunes under the aegis of a cool music teacher emerged in back in 2001, it was a bit of a sensation, and deservedly so, as it delivered an extended dose of youthful goodness that seems impossible to resist; over the years I’ve witnessed it unrankle more than a few curmudgeons, and if you need a taste of human decency to offset the drag-me-downs of existence, it’s a surefire remedy. Putting the kibosh on any twee tendencies and resonating emotionally in a way that music created for children almost always doesn’t, to swipe from Tosches, it’s really the school assembly that transcendeth all knowing. And “The Long and Winding Road” gets me every time. A
Delicious Pizza carries on the Delicious Vinyl music tradition: Dough. Cheese. Sauce. All three words can double as slang for money and influence in the pop and hip-hop universe. But brothers Mike and Rick Ross have since 2015 taken a more literal approach with their music-inspired restaurant Delicious Pizza. With roots in Los Angeles hip-hop label 
Friels Cider launches Record Store day competition, Friels First Press Vintage Cider is running an on-pack competition to support its sponsorship of Record Store Day UK (21 April). A limited edition can design on 330ml cans will promote the competition, which offers consumers the chance to 
