Under the radar: T in the Park

LESS than 24 hours before this year's T in the Park was due to begin, the festival's website still failed to include the excellent line-up for the BBC Introducing stage.

Fans hunting for the next big thing are advised to visit the web address at the bottom of this page for a full list of who's playing.

Then let us ponder why artists such as Emma's Imagination, who has two top ten singles under her belt, genius eccentrics Found and the multi-platinum selling Jon Fratelli are playing the T Break Tent and haven't a slot on one of the bigger stages.

And given that, in the past year, audiences at almost every Scottish festival have enjoyed the quirky charm of singer/songwriter Rachel Sermanni, or had the opportunity to bop to the brass-enhanced acoustic masterpieces of Woodenbox, why are their appearances not even listed on the dedicated T Break website?

Fortunately, the 16 unsigned acts who were selected from 1,000 applications to share the T Break stage with the above benefit from a bit more promotion. This year, loud guitar bands and hip-hop get a particularly good look in. United Fruit prove punk is not dead, while Inverness trio PAWS are worth watching, their edgy riffs reminiscent of The Pixies, albeit without the obesity.

Fellow highlanders Bronto Skylift are playing the Introducing Stage. Their set promises to conjure up a cocktail of strange drumming, erratic string work and a volume level which belies the fact the band only has two members. Also favouring unusual time signatures and jaggy guitars, back on the T Break Stage, are Lady North, with their own brand of "math rock."

Meanwhile on the hip-hop front, the long overdue recognition of Scottish rappers finally appears to have happened, with three very distinct takes on the genre featured over the weekend.

On the T Break Stage, The Lafontaines cater for the poppier end of the genre's spectrum and are sure to attract a crowd, while Edinburgh's Church Of When The Shit Hits The Fan boast an engagingly weird style which has the potential to make for a great show. For those who like some dirty electronic noises accompanying their rap, meanwhile, listen out for Marrik Layden Deft With Scattabrainz performing their single I Show My Teeth.

Glasgow's Reverie, apparently rechristened Reverieme for T Break, is due to take her country-tinged songs to the stage at 1.30pm on Sunday. Both Radar and The Pop Cop blog have strongly tipped this promising songwriter, and her music sounds like the perfect way to start the day.

Still on the gentler side of things (and still on the T Break Stage) are Cancel The Astronauts, whose indie sound is enhanced by some nice synth action and could well be worth checking out. And promising a more bombastic approach, over on the Introducing Stage, will be Glasgow trio GoGoBot.For the music connoisseur, discovering exciting new talent is what makes a festival, and the T Break and Introducing stages provide the best platform for this. But while surprises can be great, it would be good if the organisers could provide more comprehensive information in advance.

• For details of the acts performing on the BBC Introducing Stage, visit www.bbc.co.uk/music/festivals/tinthepark/2011/introducing/. For the full festival line-up, visit www.tinthepark.com

• Olaf Furniss, with Derrick Mackinnon, writes the Scotsman's monthly new-music column, Under the Radar