Don't get us wrong, English music is great - Oasis, Hot Chip, the Arctic Monkeys. But given the volume of top-notch stuff streaming out of the rest of the British Isles, it's natural that the exploding music scenes of Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland get their well-deserved nod. So read on and keep your ear to the ground for the best of up-and-coming non-English exports - and let the invasion begin.

More than just bagpipes, Scotland has long been the backdrop to a slew of acts. They really struck a chord in the eighties with the rise of bands like the Eurythmics who channelled the decade in all of its glory, mullets and all. In recent years, they've revamped that same daring ingenuity in new forms. Whether it's dizzying, fly-by-the-collar rhthyms or soulful melodies, the Scots are sure to please. The Eurythmics, Travis, Franz Ferdinand, Primal Scream, the Proclaimers, Teenage Fanclub Arab Strap, Belle and Sebastian, The Beta Band, Idlewild, Mogwai, Snow Patrol	It's Not Unusual to hear some of Britain's best new music coming from Wales. Melodic culture in all its forms can be found in every nook and cranny, city and valley, of this mountainous, mythic country. The country's pumping new music scene spans sonic genres and will make you believe in love at first listen. Who would have thought such a small country could make such a huge noise? Charlotte Church; Lost Prophets; the Stereophonics; Super Furry Animals and the incomparable Tom Jones The Automatic, CrazyTalk, Cream Tangerine, The Heights, The Poppies, Robots Talk in Twos	The confident youth of Northern Ireland have channelled their passions into a diverse and emotive musical portfolio that conveys raw and gritty honesty at every turn. Out of the rhythm and blues of the 1960s and punk and house crazes of the 1980s, a wildly unexpected, rocking and moving troop of talent has emerged from these northern throats that will hook you in. David Holmes (one of the men behind the soundtracks of Ocean's Eleven); Neil Hannon and the Divine Comedy; the Undertones; Van Morrison Aurel, the Black Tokens, Paul Casey, Captain Kennedy, Cutaways