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 three new entries this week, all with a local connection of one sort or another.
1. Healthy Junkies – Son and a Daughter –
Healthy Junkies have a real rock’n’roll backstory (you can find it in their bio on Spotify, among other places) and we saw them for the first time recently at the Face Bar and really liked their style. You might have noticed that we like spotting connections, however tenuous sometimes, and here’s another: their latest single, Son and a Daughter echoes the name of a band we had in the playlist recently, Sundaughter, but that’s not the reason for choosing it, it’s a great track, and we’ll be checking out more of their back catalogue too. https://www.facebook.com/healthyjunkiesband
2. Scott Lavene – Muscle Car –
Scott Lavene tells stories about real life, with humour and a sharp eye for detail. He’s often compared with Ian Dury, partly because they both were born in Essex, but also for their approach to life and their slightly off-beat way of looking at things, but Bruce Springsteen is another reference point, for the fascination with cars, among other things. Here, Scott starts by daydreaming after buying the number plate from a muscle car at a carboot sale, but ends up musing on music, mushrooms, Memphis, life, death and love. Check the video out, too, and you can see him live at the Face Bar on December 4th, courtesy of Future Transmissions. https://www.instagram.com/scottlavene/
3. Steve Hackett – Firth of Fifth (Live in London 2024) –
Time for an epic! This is the live version of the Genesis classic, performed by legendary former Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett. Recorded the night after he and his outstanding band played at The Hexagon in Reading last year, it’s taken from his live album ‘The Lamb Stands Up – Live at the Royal Albert Hall.’ We’ve chosen this track to celebrate Steve’s newly announced ‘Best of Genesis and Solo Gems’ tour, which includes a stop at Basingstoke’s Anvil on Friday, 9th October 2026. ‘Firth of Fifth’ features one of the most inventive and beautiful guitar solos ever recorded — and witnessing the master who created it live is an experience you truly shouldn’t miss – www.hackettsongs.com
4. 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
5. 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_
6. 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/
7. 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 this Friday, 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
8. 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
9. 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 the other week there was the final Cybernaut DJ set, courtesy of Future Transmissions. The event included other Samsara legends in a special day rave . ‘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
10. 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 recently in Reading, at the Broad Street Mall and at The Purple Turtle! https:// www.instagram.com/adirtysoulmusic
You can listen to all the songs featured in our Spotify playlist at https://bit.ly/rawsoundstoday
