Here is a playlist of the essential 100 (or so) tunes to come out of Scotland.
This best of Scottish soundtrack for 2018 is an eclectic and subjective journey into hip hop, alternative, dance, house, electronica, indie, punk, post-grunge, post-rock, nu and old folk and often a combination of some or all.
It's a mix of the known, little known and the unknown, immediate pop anthems and challenging left-field projects.
The final list painstakingly compiled over the year was whittled down from a not very shortlist of 350.
Part 3- 50-26
50 Django Django - Marble Skies
The earworm title track from the third studio album by the Edinburgh art rockers. The album reached number 25 on the UK Albums Chart in January 2018.
49 Sweaty Palms - The Illusionist
The exciting Glasgow garage-y post punks say the title of this dark beauty was inspired by the Norman, the Illusionist which they describe as "Kelvingrove’s finest". It may be a wind up.
48 Kathryn Joseph - From When I Wake The Wants Is
The swooping title track from the second full-length release from the award-winning Scottish singer-songwriter creates, like the album, a wider sonic tapestry from the simple piano and vocal approach.
=47 Blanck Mass - Sh*t Luck
A mighty wall of guitars and drone electronics drives this experimental face-melting symphony incorporating black metal and part hardcore punk symphony from one of the thrilling electro-based artists around aka Edinburgh's Benjamin John Power, one of the founding members of F**k Buttons.
=47 Zoe Bestel - Blankets In Iceland
By complete contrast, this 20-year-old Galloway-based singer-songwriter with a ukelele-bent and a heart-melting voice creates a bittersweet but nevertheless spellbinding paen to a relationship that never happened from the album Transcience.
46 Chvrches - Get Out
The now 'mainstream' Glasgow synth pop combo appear to be too popular to get on certain 'best album' lists with their third outing Love is Dead but there is no getting away from the sheer addictiveness of their best tunes. This is most definitely one.
45 Hank Tree - Now Your Colours Sing
The Glasgow alt-folk combo led by ex State Broadcasters' Fergus MacDonald with a gorgeous outsider anthem from their first EP ably assisted by a Chile producer and record label and a video using footage from the little known 1985 Hungarian movie Naerata Ometi about a girl who struggles with first love and bullying in a Soviet orphanage.
44 Mother Night- The Shaman
A sparklingly off-kilter three-and-a-half minutes mixing synth pop, noise rock and psychedelia with hints of MGMT and Klaxons from a new three-piece from the Isle of Lewis who describe what they do as "pagan pop". It is a first taster of a new album A Lifetime Of Uninhibited Pleasure, nine tracks of what they describe as pagan pop, which will be released in the new year.
43 ABillz - Antics
Neatly constructed and smooth as silk grime from this fresh young Edinburgh drill rapper.
42 Farzane Zamen - Forbidden Voices
The producer and singer-songwriter is the ultimate underground musician, as a censored voice from Iran who has taken flight musically while in artistic residency at the UK at the Centre for Contemporary Arts (CCA‐Glasgow).
41 Meursault - Carry On Carrion
One of Scotland's most underrated artists, Edinburgh's Neil Pennycook followed up the corking 2017 album I Will Kill Again with a limited edition semi-official LP F*** Off Back To Art School & Other Stories, from which this is the gripping piano-led atmospheric highlight.
40 Zoe Graham - Industrial Strength
The Glasgow singer-songwriter develops quirky but charming folk-y stylings on this compelling gem. It needs a health warning that explains that once hear, you could end up singing,"For the love of god, where did I go wrong", at home and work.
39 The Motion Poets - A Girl Like This
The new Edinburgh indie-grunge quartet inject bits of blues, new wave and Britpop into one of their first compositions.
38 Gerry Cinnamon - She Is A Belter (GBX & Sparkos Remix)
The 33-year-old mini singing phenomenon and local hero from Castlemilk saw his shows at the Glasgow Barrowland and O2 Academy this sold out in minutes. The guitar-led original of this is given a ceiling punching singalong pop dance makeover with the help of DJ George Bowie that undeniably gets underneath your skin although with repeated listens admittedly might actually make your skin crawl. However, it is most definitely a belter.
37 Mogwai - We're Not Done
The closing track from their first proper feature film score for the movie Kin is out of step with most of their past output as a straight-ahead earworm 4m indie pop song although it features typically chiming guitars and a Joy Division-deep bass section Peter Hook would drool over.
36 Young Fathers - Border Girl
Where the award-winning Edinburgh combo combine their avant-garde approach with a dancefloor-friendly, bass-heavy, part chant part sung sensual gospel pop sensibility.
35 Laps - Who Me? (Any Ways Mix)
This tribal fusion of minimal electro, dub, house & trip-hop from the Glaswegian duo Alicia Matthews and Cassie Ezeji created a buzz in the US after it was Rihanna's personal selection for her New York Fashion Week show.
34 Nieves - Spirit
The Glasgow-based alt/indie folk band formed five years ago but have hit their stride on the ear-opening debut album Exist and Expire from which this is an anthemic highlight complete with choral oh-oh-oh sucker punch finale.
=33 Sega Bodega & Tash Tung - kisses 2 my phone
Glasgow-raised producer Salvador Naverrete's twists and deconstructs a Drake-like grime-y jam with some Burial-style atmosphere loops to dazzling effect. You may call it a banger.
=33 Luke La Volpe - Judging Books
A smokin' breast punching blues-infused epic from an exciting Bathgate young band.
32 Spare Snare - Photograph Me Properly
Dundee lo-fi legends and John Peel regulars reinvented themselves for a 13th album with the help of renown indie producer and Big Black front man Steve Albini who made sure they were looking and sounding excellent on this delightfully tongue-in-cheek gem. "No chins or lines".
31 SOPHIE - Immaterial
Bringing the experimental to electronic dance music, the Scots bred producer does not just riff on Madonna's Material Girl, she creates body lift surgery on it.
30 Slime City - Same Genes
In which the no-wave new Glasgow combo, that consist of three men called Michael, turn a song by The View into a discordant manic Devo-pop thrill monster. It's far more diverse and enthralling than the original.
29 Sly Roli ft Stxner Kid Easii - Cash
Young Glasgow producer and 20-year-old Larkhall hip hop newcomer aka YPSSKE create a sophisticated DIY (very) Rated R bump and grind monster on their Rolin' Stxne collaboration.
28 Toby Flynn - Vegas
Seventeen-year-old Toby Flynn from Nairn is a bit of a find. The producer, songwriter and singer has been making music since aged 13. This mimimalistic simple-is-good standout track from a promising debut outing Happy People on Late Night TV has an eloquently cutting wannabe sentiment.
27Tomskiii - #SingleMums
Hip hop is full of attitude. Elsewhere young rapper Tomskiii will be waving a bottle of Bucky while R Rating his way through the most R Rating of hoodie gang diss raps. So to produce a genuinely emotional love rhyme to your mum is hugely dangerous as it is easy to come over cringeworthy. But with a simple beat, a beautiful piano loop and emotionally honest rhymes, Tomskiii from Motherwell via Carnoustie in a song "dedicated to the women that make this world go round" shows he has more to give than just gangsta bravado.
26 Solid Blake - Contract
A brooding, twitchy techno-influenced concoction from the Glasgow-based and Copenhagen-raised producer that Cabaret Voltaire might have produced had they been born 28 years ago.
Top 100 Tunes from Scotland in 2018 Part 1 (100-76)
Top 100 Tunes from Scotland in 2018 Part 2 (75-51)
Top 100 Tunes from Scotland in 2018 Part 4 (25-1)
This is the Spotify playlist.
This is the YouTube playlist.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article