Of all the depressing facets and minor annoyances which bug my life, the fact I'm not Scottish is perhaps the one which riles me the most. That might sound like a strange statement for those preoccupied with lazy, negative stereotypes, but there's something about the nation and its people which grip me every time I visit - something that's conspicuous in its absence even in my relatively convenient residence in North East England. What attracts me the most, though, is that along with its widely cited culture and heritage, Scotland also has a knack of spawning some of the most vital and transcendent music around, and even as a staunch advocate of my local scene I find it neigh on impossible not to become entranced by goings on north of the border.
