As someone who does his utmost to support the Scottish music scene and co-runs their own label, I was disappointed to read Mark Boyle's letter in response to Alan Morrison's Scottish albums of 2013 feature (Frightful festive 50 Scottish albums, Letters, January 5).
By questioning the existence of a number of the bands selected, then grumbling over the fact that his preferred choice failed to be placed higher up, the reader comes across as completely out of touch with what is going on in his own backyard.
Music blogs aside, music from north of the Border tends to get ignored by other end-of-year polls, so to have a list like this which shines a spotlight on smaller Scottish-based artists is a massive boost. There is a lot going on in Scotland that we should treasure and nurture - given that Mr Boyle seems to have given up on music years ago, to simply dismiss Mr Morrison's choices out of hand seems somewhat contradictory.
For a country that produces so many innovative and exciting artists, I commend all of Alan Morrison's hard work and would hope that the Sunday Herald continues to allow him to support some of Scotland's lesser-known acts. Rather than pondering whether these bands actually exist, perhaps Mr Boyle should take a chance on listening to some of them. He might just discover something that he finds "mind-blowingly brilliant".
Lloyd Meredith
Olive Grove Records
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