Reading Roars!

There’s a lot of tat in Reading, a point which is regularly, forcibly, made by some of the lovely people who leave comments on this esteemed publication; most notably on the Ten Things To Do In Reading post (you should see the comments that don’t get approved!). However, as a proud and loyal Redingensian I can hold my head above the parapet and say that there’s also a huge amount of class here. 

As has also been a regularly noted on Reading Roars, there is a vibrant artistic community. Most notably to me personally, there is a throbbing music scene full of a vast variety of different bands, all intertwined and mashed together but also very separate and isolated from each other. I’ve got to be honest, as with everything here, there is quite a bit of tat, but there is plenty, probably more than in most places I’ve been or lived in, of class. 

One of the classiest bands in the town are Sleep Room, who sound like Pink Floyd if Radiohead had released Kid A in 1971. They’ve been playing in Reading for a good few years, they are almost veterans of the circuit, but recently they have caught the eye of a few people and have been gaining a lot more exposure with the release of their new CD ‘Gone’. 

They play at the 3Bs - the bar under the town hall - on Friday night (15^th), and this correspondent can very much personally recommend them.

I would also recommend a little band called Johnny Arrow & The Cheap Day Returns, who play at the Oakford on Wednesday night (13^th), but that would just be abusing my position wouldn’t it? Probably.

I like to consider myself as pretty knowledgeable about music, pretty clued up, but the truth is – although I am generally more so than most of my friends – current music is always something that I take a while to catch up with. Now, I appreciate that makes me sound a tad old before my time (something I’m constantly trying to avoid doing, usually in vain), but I’m afraid it’s just the way it is.

And you know what? I don’t care. I’ll give you an example: last year I heard all sorts of good things about a band called The Low Anthem and how they’d released a great album called ‘Oh My God Charlie Darwin’. This instantly intrigued me as obviously it’s a fantastic name for an album but also because it was described as dark, dirty Americana with Neil Young undertones, which is the kind of music that I listen to most of the time these days. But I didn’t buy it. I couldn’t be bothered. I waited.

There seems to be some sort of snobbery surrounding new music which says that you can only enjoy a band or an album for the first two or three weeks following its release (often before it’s released), that somehow once this time limit has passed it is no longer valid, irrelevant and pointless. That if you were to be seen listening to it after this date that you would be out of touch and cast aside by the trendy set and sent to live in a dungeon marked “Radio Two Night Time Schedule”. 

I don’t see why a record cannot be enjoyed regardless of whether it has been out two minutes or twenty two years. Obviously there are exceptions – there is no doubt that Anarchy in the UK has less impact today than when it was released into a mainstream of sap in 1976 – but surely a valid mark of ‘great’ music is that it is relevant and exciting no matter what the context. 

So what, then, does this have to do with Reading? Well, I bought The Low Anthem’s album last week from Sound Machine in Harris Arcade. I often shop in there, as well as CDs on the cheap, you can pick up albums on vinyl for £3 in there that would normally be £12 in HMV on CD. Another great place to find some bargains is Music Man on Oxford Road. They have a fantastic collection of Beatles vinyl in there, I even picked up a White Album for £20 before Christmas.

These places are absolute churches for me – I can spend hours rummaging around looking at old Bruce Springsteen albums or Elvis Costello seven-inches. My girlfriend has a similar fetish. Sometimes we won’t emerge for an entire afternoon. 

These places need to be supported and cherished if they are not to disappear from Reading’s streets and arcades. The stuff in there may not all completely be up to date and current and painfully edgy, but surely the fact that it’s not is, well, EDGY in itself?

I am hungover today. I have a head as heavy as an anvil and a stomach like a bin that hasn’t been collected for three weeks, but frustratingly, I also have the urge to be productive and creative. These two states of mind tend to clash somewhat and it puts me in a bad mood for the rest of the day, until I get home and crack open the beers again and…well, you can see where I’m going with this. 

The ease in which I find myself falling into this vicious, viscous circle is compounded by the fact that once I’ve had the odd can at home I tend to get the urge to leave the house and share my drunken creative frustration with others. There is always something going on that is worth seeing at The Oakford Social Club, and so this tends to be where the like-minded head to in search of inspiration and hydration. 

It can be a funny mix of people at times, most notably between 5 and 7, when you have the be-suited middle aged types with their laptop bags and overcoats discussing the monthly sales figures, or comparing Jean from accounts with Margaret from marketing rubbing shoulders with the woolly jumpered, tattooed body piercing models that roam behind the bar and in the darkest crannies of the place.

But it’s friendly, and compared to a lot of places in town it’s very open minded. It serves a decent array of ales and beers, and there’s plenty of entertainment on offer, pretty much every day of the week.

They arguably have the best selection of live music nights in town, most notably the weekly BBC Introducing nights which happen on a Wednesday. Run by local promoters Mr Blind Pig and backed by BBC Radio Berkshire, they usually showcase an up and coming national act (recently they have hosted the likes of Chew Lips, Oddyssey and Baddies), and throw in some of the top local acts as support. Usually exceptionally well supported, you’d be lucky to find a more lively and interesting night midweek in the town centre.

Coming up over the next couple of weeks are I Blame Coco, Vienna Ditto and She Keeps Bees. Keep an eye on their website for more details and upcoming acts.

In fact it was there that I found myself last night and so it is to blame for today’s foul mood. So maybe don’t bother.

As a somewhat shy and retiring bloke who tends to want to shrink from confrontation and intimidation whenever it presents itself, a Friday and Saturday night out on the town in Reading can sometimes be as appealing as driving to work in this weather in a beamer fitted with slick tyres. All the chest beating testosterone and squealing oestrogen that oozes out of Friar Street boozers after 9pm can often make a timid man think twice about stepping outdoors. 

But let’s not let these people win us over! If you’re sick of the sight of your house and you fancy a night out without quite resorting to a pipe and slippers job, there’s plenty of options out there, and lots of exciting music to discover.  

For example, starting next Friday 15^th at The Red Lion pub on Southampton Street, Club: Us Not Them is a weekly live music night which  proved massively popular last year with a great varied crowd of people, young and old. Showcasing the best of the local music scene, there are three bands on each week who play for about half an hour each in a warm and unintimidating atmosphere. Entry is free and there are often good drinks offers behind the bar as well. 

So if you’re fed up of being looked at funny cos you’ve got a beard, or pushed around at the bar while trying to get served a warm pint of watered-down lager, check back next week when I’ll be back with more ideas to make all that nastiness a forgotten memory.

I keep thinking that, on the talent front, Reading should be more like bohemian Brighton.  Or Oxford. 

Brighton has formidable digital talent (must be something in the sea air) and is quite rightly regarded as a creative hotspot.  Reading has its fair share of geeks, yet does not share the same creative accolade as the seaside city. 

Oxford has produced an abundance of musical talent in recent years, but where is our Radiohead or Supergrass?  We seem more content with hosting word-class acts (itself not a bad thing) than producing them.

Rescue is on its way, it would appear.  Fabulous and Undiscovered is a recently launched glossy magazine aimed at getting undiscovered talent noticed.  More information, including a sample magazine, can be found on the FU website.

Now, back to my movie script…