Each week, there are 10 great acts in our playlist, all with a connection to Reading or Wokingham. As always, we have a wide variety of musical styles, but we think they’re all worth a listen, and we think you will find something new to enjoy as well as maybe getting out to experience the thrill of live music. We have four new entries this week, all with a local connection of one sort or another.
1. Bugeye – This Ain’t a Love Song –
We had the pleasure of seeing Bugeye perform on the trailer stage at Fifest last year, and loved the energy of their set, which culminated in the unplanned but very rock’n’roll tossing of a guitar from the stage. Their latest single captures that energy, “a sharp, sarcastic anti-love anthem” with a spiky lyric gleefully telling a narcissistic potential suitor where to go. https://
www.facebook.com/bugeyemusic
2. Astralasia – The Seven Pointed Star –
Astralasia are a legendary trance act that emerged from the Berkshire area in the early ’90s and went on to perform and release albums around the world. They’re still going strong today! This track – which even received airplay on the BBC Radio 1 Breakfast Show – was originally released in 1995 on the album ‘The Seven Pointed Star’, via Magick Eye Records, the label founded by our playlist curator, Chris. Over the years, the album has become a cult classic, widely regarded as one of the finest trance records of its era. Now, Cherry Red Records have re-released it as a special 4CD box set, featuring sleeve notes by Delerium Records founder Richard Allen, including interviews with Chris and Astralasia’s frontman, Marc Swordfish – https://www.instagram.com/astralasia_
3. Jonny Lloyd-Jones – They All Come Back –
We featured Only The Poets a couple of months ago, and this week we have this recent single by Jonny Lloyd-Jones, who is based in Reading and, as well as being a multi-instrumental solo artist, session musician, music teacher and producer, also manages to fit in being guitar technician for OTP when they tour. This is a mellow meditation on life, and a showcase for Jonny’s many talents. https://www.instagram.com/jonnylloydjones/
4. Crooked Shapes – Attachment Theory –
As we said regarding Verdagears, it’s always a pleasure to see new talent develop; we saw Crooked Shapes perform in Peach Place in Wokingham four years ago. In the interim, they’ve developed as an alt-rock band, to the point where they are headlining their album release show at the Face Bar next week on 31st October, with playlist regulars One Last Day also on the bill. As winter draws on, the gig scene is hotting up, there’s at least two other gigs in Reading that night competing for your attention, Puma Theory at the Rising Sun Arts Centre for Future Transmissions, and Darren Redick’s Perfect Beasts at the Butler, so get out there and enjoy some live music! https://www.facebook.com/ crookedshapes
5. Verdagears – Antidote –
It’s always a pleasure to see new talent develop, and Verdagears are a case in point. Based in Reading, this young band have already put on a series of impressive performances over the last year or so, including at Wokingham Festival (several experienced musicians commented favourably on their set), and they’ve just released their self-penned latest single, Antidote, where some of their grunge influences such as Nirvana are apparent. The track was produced by local studio wizard John Mitchell, who is based in Reading, and is appearing at the Butler in Perfect Beasts on the 31st. – https://www.tiktok.com/ @verdagearsofficial
6. Cybernaut – Hydrophonix –
Escape from Samsara was a legendary London trance night back in the 1990’s and one band that played storming sets there was Cybernaut. Sadly, Mark Cybernaut, one of the writers of the band, passed away in 2017 so there has never been a full reunion. There have been a couple of great DJ sets though, led by Cybernaut manager, Bob, and this Sunday Oct 26th at Reading Facebar there will be the final Cybernaut DJ set, courtesy of Future Transmissions. The event will include other Samsara legends in a special day rave, so it’s a great opportunity to revisit those amazing times and still get home at a reasonable hour. ‘Hydrophonix’ is taken from the classic Cybernaut album, ‘Hydrophonics’ that was released on Magick Eye Records, the label that Chris, who set up this playlist feature, was running at the time – https://www.facebook.com/cybernautuk
7. A Dirty Soul – Antidote –
We’ve had a legion of Leoni/Leonies here before, but now we bring you an abundance of Antidotes! If you prefer your antidote to be more rock than grunge, then A Dirty Soul from Newbury can oblige. This is their latest single, which postulates that the world is poison, but love is the
antidote. They played twice in the last week in Reading, at the Broad Street Mall and at The Purple Turtle! https://www.instagram.com/adirtysoulmusic
8. Spriggan Mist – Ianatores Teresteres –
Bracknell-based Spriggan Mist have been growing the following for their pagan-folk-prog-rock stylings with a series of impressive festival appearances, with many more already lined up for the rest of this year and into 2026. They are continuing their progress with this track, the first from their new album, The Glare, which has had rave reviews in Prog magazine. In case your Latin is as rusty as ours, Ianatores Teresteres translates as Doorkeepers of the Earth, and the song references the related Roman god Janus, and the idea of choices, which door to choose and what the consequences of following a different path might be. The album launch is next month at 4-Play Prog Fest IV, November 2nd at the Face Bar, where you can see not only Spriggan Mist, but also Kindred Spirit Band, Mother Black Cap, EBB and Mountainscape! https://www.facebook.com/www.sprigganmist.co.uk
9. Sophie Lloyd – Battleground –
If you watched the sensational women’s Rugby Union World Cup Final, where England’s Red Roses triumphed over Canada at Twickenham, you will probably have seen Sophie Lloyd open proceedings with some blistering guitar shredding in front of the 82,000 crowd. Sophie grew up in Henley, and played lead guitar in Reading-based playlist-favourites Marisa and the Moths, before joining Machine Gun Kelly’s touring band in 2022. Battleground is from her debut EP, and is one of the tracks she played at Twickenham. https://www.sophieguitar.com/
10. Leoni Jane Kennedy – Sloe –
We make no apology for regularly featuring some artists, because they keep producing great tracks. Leoni Jane Kennedy is one of them, and this is her latest single, which it turns out is a plea to think twice before drinking and driving, but it’s done in a subtle way that doesn’t hit you over the head with the message. Leoni’s first album, New World Woman, consisted of acoustic guitar covers of Canadian prog rock trio Rush’s songs, and you can see her performing those next month just down the road in Aldershot at the West End Centre on November 1st. https://www.leonijanekennedy.com/
You can listen to all the songs featured in our Spotify playlist at https://bit.ly/rawsoundstoday
