Various: Make Tracks CD 2005: The Original Soundtrack to the Highlands and Islands

Another freebie promotion of Scottish acts, though with a different kind of parentage to last week's.

I'm always a little sceptical of the Music Week giveaways, because the hand of the Industry is more directly involved than with the Word covermount CDs, for example. And this is one is, by and large, pretty grim. It starts of with a couple of acts that I've heard of — Mylo and Mull Historical Society — and they're OK. But much of the rest is undistinguished second-division emulations of indie-rockers like, I don't know, Kasabian, Razorlight, and all that dreary stuff that I can't be bothered to give my attention to. There's also some disconcerting hard rock, like The Darkness without the sense of humour. Though the track at the end by Croft No.5 and Damaged Goodz is OK.

May I nit-pick some more? According to this profile, The Cinematics (rubbish name) are from Glasgow. If Glasgow is in the Highlands and Islands, Scottish geography must be more fluid than I thought.

This CD seems to have money and promotion behind it from Channel 4 and Highlands and Islands Enterprise.