Nº 10: Cosmo Pyke
The singer-songwriter drops in to share his secret recs, including his go-to hi-fi shop, the book that inspired his first record, and a boozer in Holborn wallpapered with beermats.
We’re back with singer-songwriter Cosmo Pyke. Read on to find out what he’s into, and if you’re new here, hit subscribe for secret recommendations every Monday and Wednesday.
Cosmo Pyke is a 23-year-old singer-songwriter and guitarist. He started making music in 2016 and released his debut album Just Cosmo under Fraser T Smith’s label 70hz.
☞ JUST WILLIAM: The Just William audiobook – written by Richmal Crompton and read by Martin Jarvis – inspired my first record ‘Just Cosmo’. I sampled Kenneth Williams reading an extract from one of the books on my song ‘Great Dane’. I’d recommend having a read/listen. audible.co.uk
☞ AUDIO GOLD: Audio Gold in Muswell Hill is a cornucopia of retro hi-fi, musical hardware and records. Definitely worth a visit for any audiophile. audiogold.co.uk
☞ CHURCHILL’S ICEMAN: The book Churchill’s Iceman: The True Story of Geoffrey Pyke - Genius, Fugitive, Spy by Henry Hemming is about my great grandfather Geoffrey Pyke, ‘the inventor, adventurer and polymath’. It inspired the name of my record label Pykrete under which I released my latest EP ‘A Piper for Janet’. waterstones.com
☞ NINA SIMONE: I love Nina Simone, she’s an icon. Her songs ‘Trouble In Mind’ and ‘Why (The King of Love is Dead)’ are about the assassination of Dr Martin Luther King and are close to perfect.
☞ THE EDGAR WALLACE: I discovered this great pub on Essex Street recently. It’s wallpapered in beermats from the 60s and 70s and frequented by an older crowd. A proper time capsule. the-edgar-wallace.com
♪ LISTENING TO: Bob Dylan - Street Legal. Another life long obsession of mine has been Bob Dylan’s music. The album ‘Street Legal’ is a new found favourite. And the song ‘New Pony’ and ‘Changing of the Guards’ are two of my favourites on that record.
☠︎ HATES: Hate is not the way.
Follow Cosmo here. Buy his limited edition merch here. Cosmo is currently working on a new album; listen to his previous records here.
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