Each week, there are 10 great acts in our playlist, all with a connection to Reading or Wokingham. As always, we have a wide variety of musical styles, but we think they’re all worth a listen, and we hope you find something new to enjoy as well as maybe getting out to experience the thrill of live music.

1. TV Smith – Who’s Got the Time? –

If you’re looking for an evening of quality music in Reading, you can do a lot worse than see what Club Velocity have on. Our most recent visit was to see punk legend TV Smith give a master class in solo performance, and a selection of his songs from his distinguished career, from the Adverts 1977 hits to tracks from his current album, with some deep cuts thrown in to reward a knowledgeable audience. This track is the opening one from his Handwriting album released last year. https://www.facebook.com/TVSmith77

2. The Amazons – Love is a Dog from Hell –

An interesting new direction for the biggest current indie band to come out of Reading! They started 15 years ago as Peers before adopting their current name a couple of years later. This energetic track with Southern influences was apparently inspired by Dolly Parton’s version of the Country standard, ‘Mule Skinner Blues’, and is an exuberant examination of the dangers of infatuation. – https://theamazons.co.uk/

3. Madi C – Holy –

This soulful track is from Madi C; she’s originally from Buckinghamshire, but has just been announced as part of the line-up for this year’s Wokingham Festival, and Festival supremo Dean Nelson was involved in production of the track. We look forward to seeing her on the marquee stage on Saturday 23rd August. https://linktr.ee/madicofficial

4. I See Orange – Mental Rot –

We featured Swindon-based I See Orange about a year ago, after we saw them just down the road at The Acoustic Couch in Bracknell, supporting another band in the current playlist, AlphaLine. This, their latest single, is another fine showcase for their mix of grunge, classic rock and pop influences. It opens with a whispered instruction to come here, and then launches into an infectious riff backed by powerful bass and drums, on top of which come the vocals with some great harmonies. https:// linkr.bio/ISEEORANGE

5. His Latest Flame – America Blue –

Professor Trish Reid, Head of the School of Arts and Communication Design at the University of Reading, is a former member of the 1980s Glasgow band His Latest Flame, which features in the documentary film Since Yesterday: The Untold Story of Scotland’s Girl Bands which is being shown at 1pm on March 6 at the Whiteknights campus as part of Women’s History Month, followed by a Q&A with Professor Reid . America Blue is fresh today as it was when they recorded it nearly 40 years ago, with four-part harmonies, and the lyrics are perhaps as pertinent now as they were back then. More about the events can be found at reading.ac.uk/events

6. The Straights – Blue Pocket –

The Straights visited The Face Bar last week from the Portsmouth area, and headlined a show they also promoted, and they’ve been busy on the road, supporting the likes of the Buzzcocks, Inspiral Carpets and The Bluetones. This track is their most recent single, released last year, and is a good example of their distinctive sound. https://www.facebook.com/thestraightsukofficial

7. Leoni Jane Kennedy – Different Kind of Woman –

Leoni Jane Kennedy was recently voted no. 4 in Prog Magazine’s Best New Artist category and is based in London, but she’s appeared on both stages at Wokingham Festival, as well as at the Facebar, and we also saw her just down the M3 at the 1865 in Southampton, and we look forward to seeing her live again before too long. This is her latest single, from her forthcoming album of self-penned compositions, and in it Leoni examines what sort of woman she wants to be. https://www.facebook.com/LJKmusic

8. secret rivals – The Last of My Letters –

Secret Rivals are a four-piece indie pop/punk band from Oxford, and we caught their set at Are You Listening last year, and they also played at the Rising Sun Arts Centre in November for Club Velocity. This is their latest single, and we love this bouncy track, where the music is at odds with the lyrics looking back at how things have turned out and wondering what happens next. They’re playing the Rising Sun Arts Centre on April 25th for Club Velocity. https://www.facebook.com/ secretrivals

9. AlphaLine – Release –

Talking of awards, as we were with Leoni Jane Kennedy, Berkshire-based AlphaLine recently won Best Indie Rock Act at the Radio Wigwam awards, and they played just down the road at Thames Side Brewery in Staines last week. This track is from their Electromagnetic album, released last year. https://www.facebook.com/AlphaLineBand

10. Leonie Jakobi – Don’t Mind Me (While I Give You Up) –

We featured a track by Leonie Jakobi after seeing her in a support slot on one of our road trips last August, and she’s just been confirmed for Wokingham Festival this August. We were delighted to hear this, her latest single, released just last month, a joyful celebration of relief felt at the end of a bad relationship, with the singer able to move on to better things. https://www.facebook.com/leoniejaprofil

You can listen to all the songs featured in our Spotify playlist at https://bit.ly/rawsoundstoday

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