Each week we like to champion the music scene with ten songs in our playlist that all have a connection to the RaW (Reading and Wokingham) area and sometimes beyond. This week we have three new tracks for you from acts with connections to Reading and 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. Hawkwind – Hurry On Sundown –
Those masters of the psychedelic universe, Hawkwind, landed in Reading last week at the Hexagon. They performed a powerful assault on the senses with their set of exceptionally strong performances from throughout their career combined with their always impressive video and lighting effects. The band, led by visionary founder, Dave Brock (pictured), are still producing great new material as evidenced by their performance of the track we included in the playlist in recent weeks, There is Still Danger There. This week though we are featuring the classic that closed the set and shows that as well as psychedelic workouts the band have written some great songs too. This version of Hurry on Sundown is a previously unreleased recording that appears on the band’s recently released album, Psychedelic Selection – https://www.hawkwind.com
2. Queen of Between – Smoke –
Queen of Between formed late last year in Reading, but have not hung about, with a number of live appearances locally and now this, their debut single. If you like a bit of grunge inflected goth metal, this brooding tale of a tangled relationship is for you. Catch Queen of Between headlining at the Face Bar on July 11th with support from Thrown Like Owls, Adders and Minus Human. -https://www.instagram.com/queenofbetweenband/
3. shallowdaze – Purple –
shallowdaze is another Reading band, who formed even more recently. We featured their debut single earlier in the year, and Purple is the follow-up, inspired by a meeting of souls at the Purple Turtle! That’s where we saw them play recently, and are enjoying watching them grow in confidence as they play more gigs. – https://www.tiktok.com/@shallowdaze
4. Edward Naysmith – Resent the Man (That I’ve Become) –
Edward is an impressive new talent who we spotted a few years ago at his live shows in the area including at Wokingham Music Club and Wokingham Festival. We have been lucky enough to get a sneak preview of that album and we can confirm that it has been well worth the wait. The album, entitled Dreams Beneath the Broken Sky, released on 17th July, is a breathtaking piece of work and the brilliant first single from the album, featured here, is out now. It’s a wonderfully moving introspective song and performance with beautiful guitar playing, heartfelt vocals and atmospheric strings. Have a listen and if you like what you hear it’s well worth ordering that album. Watch out for future live shows too. We certainly will be – https://www.edwardnaysmith.co.uk
5. Scenius – Five Arm Crystal (Sixth Arm Mix) –
This English/French duo were a perfect support act for Midge Ure on his recent tour. We went along to the Reading Hexagon show and enjoyed their alternative electronic sound. It fit perfectly with the evening as their sound combined with Midge’s to give us two different generations of electronic music. Here’s their latest single with pulsating beats, a cool groove, dark synth lines and an infectious melody – https://scenius.bandcamp.com
6. Old Park Road – Peace & Quiet –
We’ve seen Graham Tabor perform many times at Wokingham Festival with talented covers band, Makeshifts, but he’s also been quietly working on a personal project for the last couple of years, and has now released an album, Peace & Quiet, under the name Old Park Road. He’s used the experience of half a century of listening to and playing music to produce a collection of tracks that are ideal for laid-back, late night listening, with the atmospheric vocals by Thai conjuring up images of a secluded jazz club in the wee small hours. Profits from the digital download go to Worldwide Cancer Research. https://oldparkroad.bandcamp.com/album/peace-quiet
7. Sparks – Do Things My Own Way –
It’s road-trip time! And what a road trip it was! A unique venue, Royal Hospital Chelsea, with a wonderful and special opening set in that setting from Chelsea Pensioner Singers, followed by an absolutely brilliant headlining set from those legends of quirky inventive pop and rock, Sparks. Brothers Ron and Russell Mael, who created and have led the band for nearly 60 years, were as fresh and entertaining as ever. They played those classic hits including Number One Song In Heaven, Beat the Clock and of course This Town Ain’t Big Enough For Both Of Us which, with Russell and Ron being backed by an immensely strong and powerful band, was stunning! The set also showed that the band have continued to produce great music throughout their long career as some of the strongest songs in their set came from their most recent albums, including this one from last year’s Mad album – https://allsparks.com
8. Blu Peter – The Pictures in Your Mind (Kadoc Mix) –
DJ Blu Peter who is well known from the 90’s nu NRG, trance and techno scenes was one of the DJs at the latest Day Rave at the Face Bar. He was resident DJ at major London nightclubs Heaven and Turnmills. Joining him on the decks was another legend, DJ Choci, and there was support from local DJ’s Ryan Grenz and Bob Trombosis. Big shout out to Bob and the Future Transmissions crew for putting on these events – https://www.instagram.com/blupeter
9. Jervaulx Singers – Ingen vinner frem –
Something a little different, and a chance to calm down if you’ve been doing “Big fish, little fish, cardboard box” to Blu Peter. The Yorkshire-based Jervaulx Singers joined the Reading Festival Chorus for a special concert at the Wesley Methodist Church last weekend. Ingen vinner frem is a Norwegian folk song, and gives some idea of the vocal treats from the event. https:// www.facebook.com/JervaulxSingers
10. Strange Turn – The Stranger (Icarus Peel Mix) –
We went along to the recent Mordecai Smyth album launch show at Reading Face Bar and it was excellent! We are looking forward to seeing him and his band at Wokingham Festival in August. Mordecai releases his music on the internationally renowned local label, Mega Dodo Records which is run by music man John Blaney. John has also released his own album, ‘Dodo Eggs’ under the name Strange Turn and we really like the melodic and sometimes quirky psychedelic feel. This track was mixed by Icarus Peel who also performed an impressive live set with his Acid Reign band at Mordecai’s Reading show – https://megadodo.bandcamp.com
You can listen to all the songs featured in our Spotify playlist at https://bit.ly/rawsoundstoday
