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. Wrex – Consume –
Wrex are based in Brighton, but we were impressed when we saw them at Reading Rising at the Face Bar last November, so made sure we were at the Purple Turtle last week when they appeared there. This is their latest single which muses on the modern world, both the overconsumption of resources and the time we spend on social media looking for the next dopamine hit. Their next track, Paranoia, is out this Friday, 27th. If you get the chance to see them live, take it! https://www.facebook.com/ wearewrex
2. Midge Ure – Just Words –
It’s always good when legendary artists plan to visit the area and Midge Ure is certainly one of those. He’ll be at Reading Hexagon in May (26th) and when you look back at his career it’s incredible what a range of things he has done. He played in a glam boys band (Slik)in the 1970’s, nearly joined the Sex Pistols, formed a post punk band (Rich Kids), co-wrote one of the best New Romantic records (Fade to Gray by Visage), joined Ultravox who had huge hits including Vienna, co wrote and recorded one of the biggest songs of all time for Band Aid, played guitar with rockers Thin Lizzy and also had and still has a successful solo career. Wow! Midge has a new album out a few weeks before the Hexagon show called ‘A Man Of Two Worlds’ and he’s just released this single from the album and it’s a good one which shows that he can still produce excellent music. We love that guitar solo! Well worth getting along to the Hexagon to hear a mix of new material and classic hits, all linked with instrumentals to give a cinematic feel. Sounds intriguing!! – http://www.midgeure.co.uk/
3. A Better Life – Murmuration –
This is the lead track from the new Tranquil State EP from the A Better Life collective. We’ve featured Phil Daniels’ project before, which aims to produce music which promotes a feeling of calm and tranquility, and, as previously, these tracks absolutely deliver. If you need to chill out, put the EP on, lay back and relax. https:// www.facebook.com/abetterlifemusic
4. The Kokroachez – Vampire Town –
The Kokroachez are a dynamic young alternative rock band from Oxford. We saw them play last summer at The Oracle as part of their Riverbeats event curated by Readipop and were blown away by their energy. This was their most recent single, released at the end of last year, but they’ve not been idle since, with gigs in Oxford and Abingdon supporting the likes of Reading’s InAir, and shooting a video to go with their latest single, That Kind of Girl, which is out now. We’re also looking forward to seeing them at this year’s Wokingham Festival in August, where they’re opening the second stage on the Sunday. https://www.instagram.com/thekokroachez/
5. Vinyl Blair – Housework –
This Sunday, 29th March, Future Transmissions are hosting their second Day Rave with legendary DJ Billy Nasty headlining at Reading’s Face Bar. As a producer, Billy went under several aliases – including Vinyl Blair, whose ‘Horsework’ is included in this week’s playlist. Support on the day comes from Frome’s Nuts’n’Bolts DJs (Tommo Hawk, Jimige and Dale Martin). We used to love raving all night until the early hours but thought that the idea of a Sunday Day Rave was great so we went along to the first one that DJ Bob Hughes and the Future Transmissions crew put together last September. It was brilliant! Dancing on a Sunday afternoon to excellent music and home at a reasonable time. What’s not to like! – https://www.facebook.com/djbillynasty
6. SEREN – Maybe, I Don’t Know –
We featured Belle Dame a few weeks back, as one of the lucky winners of the Battle of the Bands that Only The Poets held at the Purple Turtle to find the support act for their gig at the O2 Academy Brixton. SEREN was the other chosen, since the two bands were equally popular in the voting. This is the lead track from SEREN’s latest EP, Where The Heart is, which is a collection of songs about her adolescence and how to deal with growing up in an ever-changing world, and this song captures the strangeness of returning home after living in a new place and seeing the people you left behind. https://www.instagram.com/serenmusic__/
7. Mordecai Smyth – Breaking the Backs –
Mordecai’s music is a sort of prog, psych, pop, garage hybrid which has flavours of the 60’s/70’s rock scene but still sounds current. When we saw him live at Crumbs in Woodley recently the set was predominantly Mordecai originals, which left us looking forward to the forthcoming release of his new album, ‘Gather the Scattered Mind’ on local label, Mega Dodo Records, from which the single we feature is taken Let’s hope too that there are more music nights at Crumbs as it’s a big ‘well done’ to the venue for trying something new – https://www.facebook.com/stickytapeandrust
8. One Last Day – Ash & Bone –
Alt metal rockers One Last Day continue to release great songs with their Eyes Like Glass // Thoughts Like Fuel EP, released at the end of last year, including five new tracks from which we’ve chosen this one, Ash & Bone. The band will be out and about later in the year, including a gig at the Face Bar in Reading on May 31st alongside Purple Grace and The Hellfire Club; see you there! https://onelastdayofficial.com/
9. Rose Rey – Dirty Martini –
We last saw Rose Rey, onetime frontwoman of Reading indie-rock darlings the Valeras, perform at the Readipop Fiesta last year. With her latest single, she reminisces about a night out at a cocktail bar, where she lets us in on her favourite drink, and also her preference in girlfriends. Rose suggests you go listen to it loudly until the neighbours complain; we’re not sure we can endorse that, but do please listen to it responsibly! Rose Rey has a mini tour in May, starting with Bristol on the 7th at the Exchange Basement. https://www.instagram.com/rose__rey/
10. Reckless & Blue – Stormy Night In Denver –
The music scene in Reading and nearby is very much alive right now, with plenty of home-grown talent making great sounds plus more established artists on tour visiting local venues. Of the latter, one recent visitor to the Purple Turtle was Reckless & Blue, all the way from Denver, Colorado, on a tour of the UK, courtesy of Radio Wigwam. This track from their latest album, Seven Deadly Gins, is a powerful and soulful slow blues ballad, with vocalist Shaunda Fry mourning the absence of her man as the weather echoes her emotional state. https://recklessandblue.net/
You can listen to all the songs featured in our Spotify playlist at https://bit.ly/rawsoundstoday
