HAPPY New Year and welcome to another 12 months of great music from bands in and around the Reading and Wokingham areas.

Each week, the RaW Sounds Today playlist features 10 great tracks that you can listen, for free, thanks to our Spotify playlist.

Every song featured has a connection with the area, be it a touring artiste like Toyah, or an up-and-coming talent like Sam Handy.

The RaW Sounds playlist is a terrific way to explore a wide range of brilliant artists, discover some new music and keep dancing – why not make tuning in every week your new year’s resolution?

To hear this week’s set, simply head to https://bit.ly/rawsoundstoday and get ready to rock.

There’s also a Facebook page and group chat that bands and music fans can tap into. You can search for RaW Sounds Today and it will come up.

Toyah – Levitate

An excellent and uplifting track from an iconic performer to head up our first playlist of 2022.

It’s Toyah, who first came to fame with some classic 80s hits such as It’s a Mystery, Thunder In The Mountains and Brave New World. She’s coming to Wokingham Music Club (WMC) at Wokingham’s Whitty Theatre on Friday, January 21, as part of her Up Close and Personal tour.

Levitate is taken from Toyah’s latest album Posh Pop, which shows that she is still creating great music – https://toyahwillcox.com/

Sam Handy – Done

Sam is a singer-songwriter from Reading who has released a number of singles with a soulful alternative pop feel and Done, his latest, was released in December.

It’s got a cool groove with a melody that sticks in your head, delivered by Sam’s silky smooth vocals and great instrumentation and production.

The Spanish guitar licks in there are wonderful.

Hopefully we’ll get to see him play some live shows during the year – https://www.samhandy.com/

Wille and the Bandits – Solid Ground

What a great live band this is, as shown by their headlining performance at Wokingham Festival.

This is from their new album, When the World Stood Still which gets a full January release – https://www.willeandthebandits.com/

Rachel Redman (ft. Damian C Carruthers) – Obvious

Rachel is a local singer-songwriter who has appeared in our playlist previously and she has just released a new single with talented musician, Damian Carruthers – https://www.facebook.com/rachelredmanmusic

Beans on Toast – Humans

Beans has just released his new album Survival of the Friendliest and Human’ is a single from it. He’s on an extensive UK tour at the moment which included a recent visit to Reading’s Facebar – https://beansontoastmusic.com/

Ocean Ruins – Teen Drama

Here’s a melodic alt-rock band from Reading who have released a string of singles including this one. If you missed it then, it’s well worth a listen, with its uplifting sing-along chorus – https://www.facebook.com/OceanRuins

Crooked Shapes – Appetite

This three-piece rock band with members from Reading and Wokingham have just released their debut self-titled album Crooked Shapes. This track is their latest single and is one of nine you can enjoy – https://www.crookedshapes.com/

Last Picture Show – The Joy and the Wonder

Reading-based band, Last Picture Show, are interested in combining visual imagery with their music and that shows with the award-winning video they created for this single – http://www.last-picture-show.com/

Valeras – Let Me Go

Reading-based indie-rock duo Valeras are here with a single from their Tell Me Now EP. Following their Sub 89 show they appeared at Wokingham’s Beyond the Download ‘in store’ event in November – – https://www.facebook.com/valerasband

Mordecai Smyth – Sinister Cyclist

Mordecai’s 2011 album, Sticky Tape and Rust on Wokingham-based Mega Dodo Records, ‘has been re-issued as a special 10th anniversary two-CD release. It’s psych pop with clever lyrics – https://www.facebook.com/stickytapeandrust/

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