First, the usual preamble. It has been a great year for music coming out of Scotland (see evidence below) so even limiting ourselves to 50 albums is an impossibility (hence the musical pileup at the end of the chart).

And ordering them is just as difficult – as we always say, while some of Jockrock’s top tunes can be found towards the top end, please see the 50 as a general list of top recommendations to hear before another onslaught of quality music in 2019.

Oh, and backing up the general indecision caused by the sheer quality of albums in 2018, we were unable to decide on just one release for the #1 slot. So…

=1. Spare Snare – Sounds (Chute)

=1. Aidan Moffat & Moffat Hubbert – Here Lies The Body (Rock Action)

3. Lonely Tourist – Remuneration (Tourist Info)

4. Adam Stafford – Fire Behind The Curtain (Song, by Toad)

5. Paper Rifles – The State Of It All (Anti-Manifesto)

6. Army of Moths – Sorry To Disturb You (PM)

7. Colin’s Godson – In Silicon Heaven (Puzzled Aardvark)

8. We Were Promised Jetpacks – The More I Sleep The Less I Dream (Big Scary Monsters)

9. Mastersystem – Dance Music (Physical Education)

10. Pilotcan – Bats Fly Out From Under The Bridge (EVOL)

11. Hamish Hawk – From Zero To One (Assai)
12. The Spook School – Could It Be Different? (Alcopop!)
13. Port Sulphur – Paranoic Critical (Creeping Bent)
14. Strike The Colours – Flock (Deadlight)
15. Franz Ferdinand – Always Ascending (Domino)

16. Hector Collectors – Remember The Hector Collectors? (Puzzled Aardvark)
17. Malcolm Middleton – Bananas (Triassic Tusk)
18. Mull Historical Society – Wakelines (Xtra Mile)
19. The 10:04s – A Common Wealth (10:04s)
20. Beerjacket – Silver Cords (Scottish Fiction)

21. Andrew Howie – Micronations (Autoclave)
22. The Proclaimers – Angry Cyclist (Persevere)
23. Looper – Quiet And Small (Looperama)
24. Jamie Scott – Glasgow Garden Festival ’18 (Armellodie)
25. Finiflex – Sulliven (Finiflex)

26. Young Fathers – Cocoa Sugar (Ninja Tune)
27. Iglomat –Iglomat (KFM)
28. Wojtek The Bear – A Talent For Being Unreasonable (Scottish Fiction)
29. Randolph’s Leap – Worryingly Okay (Lost Map)
30. The National Jazz Trio Of Scotland – Standards Vol. IV (Karaoke Kalk)

31. Dropkick – Longwave (Sound Asleep)
32. Tracyanne & Danny – Tracyanne & Danny (Merge)
33. Skids – Burning Cities (Nobad)
34. Ian Donaldson – From Stars We Came (ID)
35. Broken Records – What We Might Know (J Sharp)

36. North Atlantic Oscillation – Grind Show (Vineland)
37. Errant Boy – – Memory Fractures (Errant Media)
38. Kathryn Joseph – From When I Wake The Want Is (Rock Action)
39. L-Space – Kipple Arcadia (Last Night From Glasgow)
40. The Filthy Tongues – – Back To Hell (Blokshok)

41. CasioMTB – Men… (Floppy)
42. Michael Timmons – Bone Coloured (Gargleblast)
43. Candythief – Imaginary Medals (Lexicon)
44. Apostille – Choose Life (Upset The Rhythm)
45. The Twistettes – A Strange Play (Traffic Cone)

46. Kapil Seshasayee – A Sacred Bore (Loner Noise)
47. Carla J Easton – Impossible Stuff (Olive Grove)
48. Capone and the Bullets – This Is Fusion (Maximum Stun)
49. Starry Skies – Starry Skies (Fox Star)
=50. Joe Kane / Radiophonic Tuckshop (Last Night From Glasgow)
=50.The Eastern Swell– Hand-Rolled Halo (Stereogram)
=50. Modern Studies – Welcome Strangers (Fire)

*Usual E&OE. We’re bound to have forgotten some album or other, so if your favourite is missing then best just assume that rather than it being (IMO) rubbish, it simply got overlooked, perhaps by just being so good everyone was dazzled by its brilliance or it had become so much a part of our lives that it was hiding in plain sight.