Recently the Scottish music scene has exploded with a barrage of great sounding bands and artists that have shot to success at the top of the U.K charts. Looking at the quality of the bands behind the front-runners, I would say it’s a scene here to stay!

The Kick, certainly kick they can be found in the Glasgow area and they sound incredibly fresh, after listening to the four songs on their Myspace page I’m hooked, especially on a song called ‘Lights Out’.

"Do you love me or love to hate me?" sings Lora the sexy siren and front women of Darkwater. Well with a sound resident enough to fool you into forgetting this band are unsigned and yet to break the mainstream no matter what your usual tastes are you cannot hate this slice of hard rock.

A budding city for musical flair, Edinburgh has undoubtedly become home to many artists with a distinctly raw edge, and so it comes as no surprise that in amongst these sits the seasoned but sparkling Graeme Mearns Band.  Having been no strangers to the Scottish music scene for quite some time now, their debut album Some Kind of Bliss is a true reflection of how The GMB have come to sound over the past couple of years.

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Addictive! That’s what this track is, like Pringles mixed with crack! It’s a must listen and you'll want to hear it again and again. God Damn Breeder! is one of those catchy tracks that'll stay in your head and you won't be able to get rid of it, the reason for this is that it's a solid track with good rifts and sing-along lyrics.

This song lulls you in with a false sense of security, the intro moodily skulks along, and then without warning it hits you. The fast paced tale of night time debauchery races along and leaves you running to catch up.

It is always such a lovely thing, when you hear a band for the very first time and all you can think of is how you've never heard anything quite like it before. A breath of fresh air across the current music scene, Grand Atlantic have already managed to make quite an impression on those who have been lucky enough to have discovered even a taster of Australia's finest. Their latest release This Is Grand Atlantic is just one of those albums; traditional yet innovative, with that little dash of their own unique identity, really making it something quite special.

If I could some up this song in just two words, they would be ‘kick ass!' The band set about causing an explosion from the start with a breakneck speed that makes you want to jump around like a loon. Really good vibe, I can imagine the atmosphere at any of their gigs is electric from the start.

I think after listening to just a little bit of LR Rockets, it becomes crystal clear as to why they are named just so.  Fuelled with the energy of what could indeed be many riotous rockets, Personality is a nice concoction of beats and riffs that ever so subtly get you in the mood for dancing.

With a nomination for last year's Kerrang's prestigious Best Unsigned Band Award under their belt, Star Chamber are already living up to their name as an act of nothing less than star quality.  Their new release Something That She Said is a corker of a track that propels quite magically from start to finish.

This week's interviewee is lead singer/guitarist Neb from the brilliant Glasgow band Playtone. The band were forced to change their original name of 'Plankton' as it was also the name of the local fishmonger's band made up of several shops from the West of Scotland (they played sole music he he). Neb changed the name after an agreement was struck that meant that they were entitled to free fish suppers after every gig in the Port Glasgow area (salt n' sauce not included).

Rob Manton lead singer of Manchester band Hey Bulldog took the interview questions from the Yahoo! Answers freakshow this week. Rob was at pains to say that he did not want to come out looking bad from the interview and he also didn't want me to make stuff up about him in the intro text like I usually do. This was a bit hurtful as I put in a lot of research before writing about an interviewee. It was OK though as we made up later, Rob is a centaur you see so I gave his back end a good grooming, fed him a sugar cube and patted him on the head and told him he was a good half horse half man.

Hey ho, another week, another interview. Graeme Duff is this week's subject and he fronts the Glasgow rock band Marshan . Marshan have taken their music to the four corners of the world; Japan, USA and Germany to name but a few. Unfortunately the guys are unlikely to be playing in Macedonia any time soon, since the fall of communism sales of Barry Manilow's 1983 album 'Manilow Magic' have risen 200% in the country and its hunger for middle of the road easy listening music knows no bounds. It is thought that this summer's fashion must have for the kids of Macedonia is a white suit and black waist coat combo.

Straight into 2008 comes King Furnace with another shed load of quality tracks! These guys have hit the studio, and they've hit it hard delivering some fresh tacks that smash out of the speakers and right down your ear canal. King Furnace sound as though they've evolved and grown as a band and are now getting to the top of their game. Although I love the old tracks a lot, there is something a bit more energetic about the new tracks, which will be whipping crowds up into frenzies at their shows this summer.

There was something unusual the other day when entering the TSM Radio office, something not quite the norm. I looked around and saw that the men had combed their hair and looked like they had been near a wash basin, they smelt different, and there was a waft of Brut 33 in the air not the normal odour of stale beer and cigarettes. They were all wearing their best clothes too; it looks like they had made an effort. Then it hit me, sultry singer Bella Saona from The Fire and Reason was due in for an interview that day. I don't know they are like bees around the honey pot.

In 1991 people in my area dropped their glow sticks, ripped off their raving gear and dawned longer hair, scruffy jeans and chequered shirts, the reason? Nirvana! Kurt Cobain and the album Nevermind changed music and the way people were. Suddenly grunge was the best thing since sliced bread, and it was the way forward. Everyone had a shot at it but Nirvana were the bollocks! But like all good things it came to an end in 1994 with the death of Cobain. Although many bands tried the spirit was never really there, the ruggedness had gone and it seemed bands were just trying to copy but failing.

The guys from Monster Eats The Pilot took the TSM Radio interview this week. Richard, Robert and Matt are based in California. Richard was born in France and sometimes incorporates french lyrics into his songs. It was evident that Richard had some french in him as when I explained that the band would not be paid for the interview he set up a demonstration and barricaded the office with bales of hay and sheep and started mocking me about my love making techniques and my lack of taste in food.

This of course is not true and I love the french...they make good cheese.

Coming straight from the Dales of Yorkshire (well not quite the Dales), come a fresh new band 'hey! Panda'. This is a young band that describes their music as dance punk. One thing I got to say straight away, this band is mental! There's loads of craziness running through the veins of their songs and also a lot of talent. Their sound is quite literally mind stopping stuff, its confusing, its hard to understand until you get taken away inside it and spat out the other end. hey! Panda sort of reminds me of watching a David Bowie concert from the 1970's (on T.V I'm not that old!) lots of energy, arms legs and spit everywhere in a chaotic mess that's absolutely amazing.

With it's erratic choppy intro, 70's-esque vocals, cock rock style bridge and disco bassline, overlaid with something like a synthesizer put in a blender...you wouldn't think it would actually work. But it does. And then some. In fact, with each listen, I hear more snippets of various genres and it reminds me of many things I can't quite put my finger on, (other than it sounding like the music of choice of the glammest of drag queens on an MDMA binge) but that's just a flawless result of a successful combination of eclectic styles, sleaze and attitude.

Ireland has always had a lot to offer musically with massive bands and massive anthems (usually drinking anthems!). But in 2008 Irish music belongs to ‘The Beat Poets' no doubt! This is a band that formed in 2005 and in just 3 years has rocketed to success beyond belief. They're sound is totally refined, its perfect, if they were engine oil they'd be Castrol GTX!