Edinburgh's indie scene rises again

Not since the distant days of Josef K and The Fire Engines has Edinburgh fostered such a healthy music scene. Glasgow always casts a long shadow eastward, not least with the recent commercial success of Glasvegas, but it seems Scotland's capital city is finally emerging with a dynamic, like-minded clutch of bands.

And some of the success can be attributed to local music fans taking matters into their own hands by promoting gigs, writing blogs and even putting out records. One such industrious fellow is Matthew Young, who has been running his lively Song, by Toad blog for a while and recently set up his own record label.

It's early days, but the few releases to date have been of remarkably high quality. First, Meursault gave us an album that was just a few weeks too late for many album-of-the-year polls with Pissing on Bonfires, Kissing with Tongues, which The Scotsman's Fiona Shepherd liked a lot. Then folkier outfits Eagleowl and Nightjar emerged with a pair of EPs that also received strong praise.

They say music scenes occur in cycles, and Edinburgh's indie community is long overdue its day in the sun (metaphorically speaking of course - this is Scotland).