It’s been another great year for music in the Reading and Wokingham area, both for artists based here and acts visiting local venues and events, as seen in the many and varied tracks we’ve shared with you in the playlist in the last year. Before we bring you the first regular playlist of 2026, we are going to look back at the last twelve months with our annual review, courtesy of a panel of folk involved in the local music scene. Here are 20 great tunes to enjoy!
The Top 20 of 2025 Playlist is on a different link to the usual weekly one. It is at https://dub.sh/ RaW2025Top20 .
1 The Dazed Minded – Oh Boy –
Our first playlist of 2025 had this track at the top, and it was also a clear No. 1 in our top 20 of the year, and deservedly so. We had the pleasure of seeing them play live twice during the year, at the Purple Turtle as part of Are You Listening? Festival, and at The Phoenix in High Wycombe (which sadly closed not long afterwards). https://www.instagram.com/thedazedminded/
2 Nicole Allan – Find Me –
Nicole Allan is someone who is very active on the local music scene, performing and hosting events. She’s a singer songwriter, singing Country and Americana, both classic numbers and her own compositions. This single, Find Me, hit the top of the UK Country charts when it was released, and sounds like it came straight out of Nashville, and was the top choice of two of our panel. https://
www.facebook.com/nicoleallan95
3 Hoopy Frood – The River –
Hoopy Frood are based in Reading, and formed as a live band in 2004 after an offer to open for Ozric Tentacles (who happened to headline at Wokingham Festival recently) followed the release of a studio project. This track is the first single from their recently-released fourth album, and we absolutely love the groove, though we don’t have the vocabulary to adequately describe the styles of music involved; psychedelic rock and reggae are both involved somewhere! https://www.facebook.com/ hoopyfroodmusic
4 Puma Theory – Foolish Boy –
Third year running in the Top 20 for Reading-based Puma Theory, who had another busy year in 2025, releasing a new album and playing live, and they’ve just released a live version of Hit & Run. They will be announcing plans for 2026 soon, we can’t wait! https:// www.facebook.com/ pumatheory
5 Tom Webber – Taurus –
Another returning artist to our Top 20, Tom Webber had a comparatively quiet year, but still put out this top quality single as well as giving some great live shows (we managed to catch him twice in Reading). He’s playing at the Face Bar on 29 January for Independent Venue Week. https:// lnk.to/tomwebber
6 Kepler Ten – Fracture –
Kepler Ten are on the Wokingham-based White Star record label, and released this track as part of their online-only project, RNG1 (Random Number Generator: Episode 1). https:// www.facebook.com/keplertenband
7 Rila’s Edge – Undone –
Rila’s Edge mark their third year in row in the top 20, despite a quieter year than 2024; they released this single which was up with their usual quality. https://www.facebook.com/rilasedge
8 Y – Why –
The enigmatically named Y opened the day on the St Laurence’s church stage at 2025’s Are You Listening? Festival, and we were impressed with their energy; we thought they could have been headlining. https://www.facebook.com/Ythebandlondon
9 Selina and the Howlin Dogs, Five Points Gang – Rock Bottom Blues –
Selina and the Howlin Dogs have been regular features of the weekly playlist, as well as long-time contributors to the local music scene. https://www.facebook.com/SelinaandtheHowlinDogs
10 Cold July – In My Head –
Cold July are a young band, but they had a busy 2025, averaging a show every week! We saw them at Wokingham Festival and at the Purple Turtle in Reading. https:// www.instagram.com/coldjulyband/
11 San Demas – You & I –
Melodic rock from Buckinghamshire-based San Demas, who played at the Purple Turtle and headlined at Sub89 during the year, followed by an appearance at the prestigious 2000 Trees Festival. https://www.facebook.com/SanDemasMusic
12 Leonie Jakobi – Don’t Mind Me (while I give you up) –
It’s impossible to see or hear Leonie Jakobi perform without getting a smile on your face, she’s a ray of sunshine, and she lit up the second stage when she played at Wokingham Festival.https://www.facebook.com/leoniejaprofil
13 Tasia – Never Give Up –
Tasia is based in London, but is originally from Wokingham and returned with her band to grace the second stage at Wokingham Festival courtesy of Radio Wigwam and Jamma. She was a ball of energy, and we were fortunate enough to see her again at the Purple Turtle later in the year. https:// www.instagram.com/officialtasia/
14 Tom Robinson Band – Power In The Darkness –
Most unusual given how the list is compiled, a re-entry from last year, and two places higher! A classic track from the 1970s, the words are as relevant today as they were when they were written, and the performance we saw at Wokingham Festival in August, with updated lyrics, was as impassioned as ever. You can see Tom himself at Wokingham Music Club at the end of this month, performing as an acoustic duo with Adam Philips. https://www.facebook.com/tomrobinsonmusic
15 Scott Lavene – Muscle Car –
Scott Lavene tells stories about real life, with humour and a sharp eye for detail. 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 count yourself lucky if you saw him at the Face Bar, courtesy of Future Transmissions; hopefully he’ll be back again this year. https://www.instagram.com/scottlavene/
16 doops – everything’s fine –
A regular presence on the local music scene, in various configurations (single and double drums, for example), doops have featured a few times in the playlist, and this is a track from their first album which they released at the end of November. https://www.instagram.com/doopsband
17 Songer – ALIVE –
This year saw Songer taking on the main stage at Reading Festival, and songs like ALIVE show why it was exactly the place for him to be. It’s energetic, ebullient, and inarguable, showcasing his immense talent and unstoppable energy–perfect for a sunny shakedown in Richfield Avenue in late August. https://www.instagram.com/5onger/
18 Deva St John – Oedipussy –
Another regular in the playlist and the Top 20, Deva St John have always had attitude, but Oedipussy is the track which shouts it from the rooftops, a flag planted firmly on the lawn with two fingers up to anyone who objects. In a year which has been rightly dominated by female artists tired of the sh*t they’ve had to put up with, Deva St John stands firmly among them– and with tracks like this, there’s nobody to argue. https://www.facebook.com/dayvasaintjohn
19 The Amazons – Night After Night –
It’s no surprise to see local heroes The Amazons in our Top 20, they released three great singles in the last year which featured in the playlist, from their album 21st Century Fiction, and they headlined at the Readipop Fiesta where they gave a shout-out to Sid from Future Transmissions for putting on one of their first ever gigs. https://www.facebook.com/theamazonsforever
20 The Outliers – The Hardest Goodbye –
Berkshire-based The Outliers had a very productive year, releasing 4 quality singles (we featured three of them in the playlist), despite the loss of the Acoustic Venue in Bracknell where we saw them play their debut gig, and they finished the year with a great set at the Purple Turtle. https://www.instagram.com/theoutliers_band/
Honourable mentions for Ianatores Teresteres by Spriggan Mist, Black is the Colour of My Love by The Go Go Cult, Vertical Video by Masquerader, Guess She’s Cool by Only The Poets, and Eden by West Street, which were all just outside the Top 20.
THE PANEL AND THEIR TOP TRACKS OF THE YEAR:
Chris Hillman (White Star Records / Magick Eye Records): The River by Hoopy Frood
Tara Deane (founder of Inside The Music Scene): Find Me by Nicole Allan
Dean Nelson (Generation Studio & Wokingham Festival): Find Me by Nicole Allan
John Blaney (Mega Dodo Records / Billywitch Records): Power in the Darkness by Tom Robinson Band
Roger Dudman (The Walrus and The Carpenter Show on Rock Radio UK): Rock Bottom Blues by Selina and the Howlin Dogs
Kayleigh Fryer (Kayleigh Fryer Photography): everything’s fine by doops
Jake Clothier (Reading Today & Wokingham Today): ALIVE by Songer
Andrew Merritt (Andrew Merritt Photography): Muscle Car by Scott Lavene
