The Hot 100 2015: 60–51
Stef Smith, Robert Carlyle and Jasper James among Scotland's hottest cultural contributors in 2015
60 Man of Moon
With their psychedelic groove-infused blues, Edinburgh two-piece Man of Moon are welcome new-ish kids on the block. They may have been around for a while, but their 2015 debut single ‘The Road / This World’ cemented them as a much-needed exciting new east coast band. (KS)
59 Edinburgh International Science Festival
With The Ideas Factory, EISF produced its most impressive and diverse programme to date with innovative events across a wealth of genres, for everyone from kids to foodies and science aficionados, as well as serious debates on key issues including climate change and fracking. (RMc)
58 Kirsty Logan
The Glasgow-based writer won the Polari First Book Prize for The Rental Heart & Other Fairytales and released two more books: the bewitching The Gracekeepers, and A Portable Shelter, featuring 13 stories. Read our read our interview with Logan about The Gracekeepers. (BD)
57 Freight Books
A big year for Glasgow’s Freight Books as it acquired Cargo Publishing and brought out everything from Janice Galloway’s new short stories to a biography of Hungarian football legend Ferenc Puskás, and The Art of Internet Dating to Pub Dogs of Manchester. (BD)
56 Lucy Ribchester
The Edinburgh-based author and journalist started the year with her debut novel, The Hourglass Factory, which took in the suffragettes, Jack the Ripper, the Titanic and a missing trapeze artist. It led her on to tread the book festival path appearing at Aye Write!, the Edinburgh International Book Festival and Bloody Scotland. (BD)
55 Django Django
Art rockers Django Django expanded their range and widened their palette with second record, Born Under Saturn. They added surf rock, Caribbean beats and cosmic electro-pop for a complex, eccentric and eclectic album that took their sound global. (HN)
54 Stef Smith
Smith’s Traverse Fringe production was a tough, emotional triumph: Swallow revealed a playwright skilled at capturing both nuanced character development and raw dramatic power. She may still be maturing, but her writing is driven by youthful energy and a piercing intelligence. Read our interview with Smith about Swallow. (GKV)
53 Sharon Rooney
This year’s final series of E4’s My Mad Fat Diary meant the end of the show which made Rooney a star, but she is moving on to plenty other things including a role in Reece Shearsmith’s Stag and more Mountain Goats, the Highlands-based sitcom about mountain rescue volunteers. (BD)
52 Robert Carlyle
A big year for Bobby as he opened the Edinburgh Film Festival with his directorial debut, The Legend of Barney Thomson. He also stepped from behind his own camera to take on the lead role with Emma Thompson playing his mum. If the rumours are to be believed, next up for him is Trainspotting 2. Read our interview with Carlyle. (BD)
51 Jasper James
The son of Subculture’s Harri, Jasper James is set to be Scotland’s next big DJ success. This year he was profiled in The Guardian, released the ‘ZTRK1’ EP on Matt Tolfrey’s Leftroom, installed as resident at London’s Phonox and toured with Annie Mac. (DP)