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 2- 75-51

=75 Objectified - (Thinkin About) Converting To Islam

Steeped in psyche ambiguity, this is intoxicating garage goth bile from Glasgow.

=75 Love Sick - Fever 

Julie and Shaun from the Glasgow duo met at an office Xmas party while they were working at a life insurance call centre. Fever is a dark hypnotic dream pop gem from their No Sleep EP.

74 Chvrches - Miracle

This is the only song from the Glasgow synth-popsters new album Love Is Dead that was not written and recorded in the States,  instead producing it in London with Steve Mac.

73 Rapture 4D - Levitation

A cunningly created fusion of what sounds like traditional Balkan with a huge grime vs dubstep underbelly from the Glasgow producer who started making music when at high school after friends introduced him to Fruity Loops software.

72 Big Miz - Gear Tension

An irresistibly diverse brain and feet rattler from the Glasgow producer aka Chris McFarlane who expertly fashions old-school techno with acid and house twists and neat drops.

71 Iglomat - Nylon Hook

The lead single from the Scots-American shape-shifters' fourth full length work, The Man Made Man is a captivating brew of post-rock inflected electronics. 

70 T Money T ft OG Frazzle - Switch

Add smooth grime groove to a dose of Busta Rhymes crazy and this R Rated Glasgow rap collaboration soars.

69 Tomorrow Syndicate - Altered State

Pulsating mix of  krautrock and spacetronica with earworm sonic hooks reminiscent of Stereolab at their best from the Glasgow DIY collective who recorded their Future Tense LP on an 8-track recorder in the living room.

68 Pilotcan - Grackles (Bring Back Sriracha)

A euphorically distorted scuzz pop gem that My Bloody Valentine would have been proud of from the Glasgow combo's first album in 14 years. Written in Austin, Texas but recorded at the Chem 19 studios, Blantyre.

=67 Colin Macleod - Kicks In

The Lewis crofter played this immaculately crafted sparkler James Cordon's Stateside chat show after being recommended by Snow Patrol's Gary Lightbody.

=67 SOPHIE - Faceshopping

When played live, the throbbing third single from her debut album is typically accompanied by a backdrop featuring sets of rapidly flashing images and shots of a CGI SOPHIE body contorted and manipulated into various gelatinous formations. 

66 Young Fathers - Picking You

A pulsating soul-rap finale to their award-winning third album, has cute organ and marching drum snares, even a bagpipe drone and the killer hook line: "You'll never find your way to heaven, but you can follow me."

65 The 10:04s - Harlequin

The unsigned Edinburgh band's lead single from A Common Wealth, sets the bar cloud-ward with a mournfully meandering boy-girl vocals anthem.

64 The Twilight Sad - I'm Not Here (Missing Face)

Touring extensively with The Cure, the Kilsyth post-rock shoegazers took time to release one of their catchiest tunes to date underpinned with chilling synths and with frontman James Graham repeatedly declaring “I don’t want to be around you anymore”.

63 Mason Hill - Hold On

With an average age of 25, this Glasgow five piece started when two school friends, vocalist  Scott Taylor and lead guitarist James Bird, hooked up to find initialsuccess, winning the Scottish section of the European battle of the bands Surface Festival competition. This is a newly released anthem, marrying a big Rage Against The Machine riff with a breast-punching chorus that Linkin Park would have killed for that should send mosh pits wild.

62 Bless This Machine - Malta

A beguilingly unconventional cosmic electro expedition with a Boards of Canada feel with fragments of trip hop and choral interludes from the Edinburgh producer trio.

61 Bleed From Within - Shiver

The Glasgow metalcore combo are one of the most underrated mosh pit dwelling rock bands around. While their ferocity, like others of their ilk,  may put the casual listener off, perseverence pays off as the explosive riffs, powerful groove-laden instrumentation and twisting dynamics particularly on this dark and most accessible anthem from their third LP win through.

=60 Snow Patrol - What If This Is All The Love You Ever Get

A tearjerkingly honest piano-led ballad from the band who were formed at the University Of Dundee. 

=60 Andrew Howie - Isolation Booth

Former prison music tutor from Stirling who used to released music under the moniker of Calamateur soars on this synth and guitar instrumental from Solo Guitar Loops 1 which its creator says, “pretty much does what it says on the tin – in a pretty/weird/ambient/dark kind of way”.

59 Callum Easter - Back Beat

Inventively sparse and jagged mutant blues by the Edinburgh songwriter taken from the debut album Here or Nowhere due for release early next year. 

58 Posable Action Figures - Oh Great

The two-piece Edinburgh electro-blues-pop-rock combo (their description) have been working on a debut album all year but still found time to release this cutting noise-pop single at the start of the year.

57 Free Love - How Do You Feel?

The latest manifestation of Scottish duo Suzanne Rodden and Lewis Cook previously known as Happy Meals declared intent on this bubbling slice of addictive synth pop with shades of Just Can't Get Enough-era Depeche Mode. 

56 We Were Promised Jetpacks - Repeating Patterns

A skyscraping twisting alt-rock weird-out from the ever-evolving Edinburgh combo whose first gig was at a school's battle of bands contest... which they won.

55 Nieves - Don’t Let Us Be Next

A brooding, building indie rock epic from the star-reaching four piece Glasgow band who come over like a Celtic Coldplay and whose debut album reveals the kind of unsafe lighter waving hook-laden anthems that fills arenas. 

54 Big Miz - The Great Beast

Standout track from the Glasgow producer's impressive album that crosses the club-living room divide with a monstrous acid vs techno synth hook.

53  The 10:04s - Everything Is Going To Be Alright

Features a searing buzz-saw guitar hook and the hilariously dispassionate catchline, "oh no, you're arms and legs have gone".

52 Lewis Capaldi - Grace

The Glasgow native’s debut EP, Bloom, garnered millions of streams but if anything this exuberant single takes him to new levels. The song peaked at number 48 on the UK Singles Chart in September.

51 Franky's Evil Party - Dolph Lundgren

Garage psychobilly meets the Pixies in this 4.41m of funereal sleaze from the Dumfries band featuring Josh Kirk’s deranged vocals (R Rated).

Top 100 Tunes from Scotland in 2018 Part 1 (100-76)​

Top 100 Tunes from Scotland in 2018 Part 3 (50-26)

Top 100 Tunes from Scotland in 2018 Part 4 (25-1)​

This is the Spotify playlist.

This is the YouTube playlist.