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. We’ve got a three new entries this week, connected with three late season Festivals in the area. 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. Ibibio Sound Machine – Concept of Love –
Last weekend had perfect weather for Down At The Abbey, which returned to the Reading Abbey ruins after a couple of years off, to round off the festival season, and once again provided a great selection of music. Ibibio Sound Machine, from London, got the crowd dancing along to their fusion of styles, including afrobeat and drum-and-bass, with their aim to promote love, unity and resistance through music. https://www.facebook.com/IbibioSoundMachine
2. White Label – Don’t Say Goodbye –
Before Down at the Abbey, of course we had Reading Pride, and the Colours and Fires stage, named in memory of Sophie Sheehan, had a host of local musicians performing. We caught White Label’s set, which included this, their latest single which also features on their just-released EP Imaginary Jokes. Talking of festivals, Toby and Joe met at Reading Festival and decided they should form a band. This track deals with a relationship that perhaps has gone stale, but maybe there’s still some hope. They play at the Wheat Sheaf in Slough on October 3rd. https://www.instagram.com/ whitelabeltheband/
3. Verdagears – Ballad of a Return –
To complete a trio of end-of-season festivals, the Purple Turtle hosted the Radio Wigwam X Festival, celebrating 10 years of the internet and DAB radio station promoting grassroots music. One of the young bands they’ve helped nurture (as have we, in our own way) is Verdagears, who have impressed from their very first performances and who get better with each gig, and this latest single shows off their developing grunge-influenced sound. https://www.instagram.com/ verdagears/
4. Arthur Brown – Nature –
Arthur certainly showed that he is a force of nature as he stunned the Wokingham Festival crowd with an incredible set! It certainly was a spectacle with costume changes after every song and what songs they were! They covered the whole of his impressive career including classics like ‘Time Captives’ and of course, from the god of hell fire, there had to be he huge hit ‘Fire’ as Arthur donned his flaming helmet. Backed by incredible musicians, this really was a performance to savour. What a lovely man he is too! He took the time to speak to fans afterwards and the huge smiles on the faces of those who met him was heartwarming to see. Ok, we know we’ve included this song before but it’s from his new album of the same name and he performed a brilliant version of it at the festival and it’s a great track – so here it is again – https://www.thegodofhellfire.com
5. Emerson – Daisy Chain –
We do like this band. Every song they release has an infectious uplifting feel with melody and a perfect indie pop rock sound. This new single is no exception. It grabs you straight way with its jangly guitar intro. Wonderful! They are playing in Guildford at The Boileroom on 9th October. That’s not too far away so is worth a visit – https://linktr.ee/emerson.band99?
6. The Amazons – One Hot July –
The Amazons are a Reading band who have made it big, but who, like Only The Poets who we’ve also featured, have not forgotten their roots. They headlined the Readipop Fiesta last year, and just the other week had a free show at the Purple Turtle to mark the release of the deluxe version of the 21st Century Fiction album. One Hot July is one of the additional tracks – enjoy! https://
www.theamazons.co.uk/
7. Dikajee, Avandra, Vikram Shanka – Home of the Wind –
There’s not many musicians that have played on both stages of Wokingham Festival two years running but Dikajee has. Last year she performed with her own band on the second stage before joining legendary musician John Hackett on the main stage for one of the most beautiful festival performances ever on the King Crimson classic, ‘I Talk to the Wind’. This year Dikajee was with the band Eclipse Machine on the second stage as they performed a powerful set that certainly went down well with the crowd. She then surprised everyone as The Paradox Twin hit the main stage and unveiled an impressive new line up. Dikajee was on keyboards and vocals! Wow! It was a stunning set! Here’s her new single – a beautifully haunting piece of cinematic piano based progressive rock taken from her forthcoming new album, ‘The Frame’. This extremely talented artist will be touring very soon – solo, with her band and with The Paradox Twin – https://dikajee.bandcamp.com
8. Antony Szmierek – The Heron –
The festival season is just about over now. Last weekend saw Down at the Abbey, organised by Heavy Pop, in the unique setting of the ruins of 900-year-old Reading Abbey. Antony Szmierek was one of the performers on the Friday night; he came on stage on crutches, having damaged his ankle, but, while mostly seated, gave a great performance. This track was inspired by a heron he saw nesting along the banks of the Mersey, and comes from his current Decoding Birdsong album. https://www.facebook.com/antonyszmierek
9. TRASHCAT – DRIVER –
A slightly different feel to the latest single from Charlie Stokes, aka Trashcat, this is a lovely slice of electronica, softer than some of her recent output which had a metalcore edge to it. https://www.instagram.com/trashcatmusic_/
10. Neil Wighton – Lonely Waters –
Neil is the guitarist with Spriggan Mist, but this is the latest single from his solo album The Muse. It starts as an emotional ballad, but then develops with an interplay between guitar and synths, with some fine shredding from Neil. https://neilwighton.bandcamp.com/
You can listen to all the songs featured in our Spotify playlist at https://bit.ly/rawsoundstoday
