MUSIC: Spotify Sunday – North of the Border

Ian Rankin is quite rightly renowned as one of Britain’s leading novelists – but, as anyone who follows his Twitter feed will know, he deserves equal fame as one of our leading music obsessives. We are thrilled and honoured to publish his Spotify Sunday selection of the best Scottish albums of 2010. – Scott Jordan Harris

It’s that time again: emails from newspapers and magazines asking me to contribute to their Books of the Year round-ups.  Sadly, I’m seldom asked about my favourite albums of the past year, yet I spend a lot of time pondering this annual list.  And this year, the majority of music I’ve really liked has come from north of the border.  Okay, so I would also throw in the latest albums from I Am Kloot, Robert Plant, Sufjan Stevens, The National, and Danger Mouse / Sparklehorse… but how about the following contenders?  All would feature in my top 20; all have a certain Celtic rough-hewn charm.