Incorporating the recognised, the little known to the downright obscure, here are the most essential 100 tunes to come out of Scotland that became my soundtrack for the year.

It's an eclectic journey through alternative rock, dance, electronica, indie, choral, punk, post-grunge, nu-folk and the truly uncategorizable.  

Part 3 - 50-26

50  Mairearad Green - The Island.  Wistful, romantic & uplifting cut from Highlands multi-instrumentalist.

49  C Duncan - Nothing More.  Glasgow bedroom musician continues to reach for & claim the stars.

48  Machines in Heaven - Let's Hang Out At Pluto.  Acid-tinged downbeat electro epic from inspired Glasgow prog-synth combo.

47  Frightened Rabbit - Death Dream.  "He died in his sleep last night. You died in his sleep last night."  Selkirk's finest indie-folkster gets maudlin and marvellous.

46  Supermoon - Ode To Gremlin. "The last thing the world needs now, is another song about the f..ing sea."   Edinburgh's alternative-folk king Neil Pennycook's sublime parting shot before reclaiming Meursault.

45  Tongue Trap - Taco Tuesday.  Innuendo indie epic from riot girrly-grungey Glasgow-Edinburgh combo.

44  Rit▲als - Black River.   Can't help singing Arcade Fire 's Black Mirror to this brooding offering from the Edinburgh art-indie combo. 

43  Minor Victories - Scattered Ashes (Song for Richard).  A super tune from a super-band featuring members of Scotland's finest Mogwai and Twilight Sad alongside folk from indie combo Editors and shoegazers Slowdive.

42  Megalomatic - Stan Darsh.   A bone crushing riffola epic from exciting three-year-old Glasgow prog-metal combo.

41  Mogwai - U-235. First the ultimate Scots post-rockers  try singing... now it's sparkling downbeat-electro. And they still come up trumps.

40  Life Model - Lilt (Summer Night Air Remix). Celestial and dreamy electro treasure from the Glasgow dream pop combo. 

39 C Duncan - Last To Leave. Mercury Prize-nominated Glasgow composer/musician produces a gossamer lullaby.  

38 Vukovi - La Di Da. Poppy hooky riffy lalalalala kick in the groin from the pride of Ayrshire rock.

37 The Animal Mothers - Garbage Can.  Bark at the moon time with the underrated Falkirk psyche-garage duo who have a knack for a classic riff.

36 HiFi Sean ft Alan Vega.  Chilling final opus from the late AlanVega from the seminal electro punk duo Suicide care of former Soup Dragons front man Sean Dickson.

=35 Epsilon One - Rocka(*)ucker #1.   Thrillingly experimental Leith combo Epsilon One wi an infectious shoegaze-electro jam.

=35 Vukovi - Animal.  Pride of Ayrshire rock let rip and make their mark before a March, 2017 debut LP.

34 Blanck Mass - The Great Confuso Pt 1.  Edinburgh's Ben Power from F*** Buttons with a throbbingly schizo electro aria.  

33 Batteries - Pankhurst.  Franz Ferdinand are possibly eating their hearts as Sci-Fi Steven from Bis turns up the spiky art pop quotient.

32 Neon Waltz - Dreamers.  Sounds like a sha-la-la-la-la-la-laaavely lost Oasis anthem from the John O'Groats alternative six-piece.

31 Sand - Commitment To The Bit.  Edinburgh psychedelic-prog outfit with a weirded out symphonic gem. 

30 The Van T's - Fun Garçon.  A bit of yeah yeah yeah and a hooked up warped surf rock take the Glasgow indie pop combo led by twins Hannah and Chloe Van Thompson skyward. 

29 Electric Gardens - Country Pales.   A heady, hypnotic mash of Kraut-rock, psyche and stoner from the five-year-old four-piece Glasgow outfit.

28 Kaspar Hauser - Dole Inside.  "I saw the Virgin Mary, her poor face has been replaced by Kim Kardashian’s face". The Glasgow post-punk band create a noisy gothy Siouxsie-esque paen which features Judi Dench a lot and a smattering of Theresa May.

27 The Animal Mothers - I Want A Witch.  Dark swamp rock epics are being cooked up in Falkirk.  

26 Sand - Seldom Used Furniture.  What sounds like a lost Peter Gabriel classic from the Edinburgh psyche-prog combo.

Part 1: From Primal Scream to The Bellybuttons.

Part 2: From The Jesus and Mary Chain to Ultras​.

Part 4: From Frightened Rabbit to Stanley Odd​.