scatter

The Mountain Announces

Were it not for the pervading aroma of Irn Bru-accents throughout, you'd be pretty convinced that Glasgow's Scatter were from the swampy Southern States - infusing their improvisational take on jazz with the kind of voodoo-trombone, reedy viola and humid production that makes New Orleans such a musical gem. Scratchy and almost embarrassed to be there, 'The Mountain Announces' opens through the border-line Animal Collective of 'O Death', before moving on to the epic 'She Moves Through The Fair' and it's caterwauling take on histrionic torch-songs. As if to prove that there is light amongst the reedy-aural pits, the title track adds a Lallans hoe-down for a spindly fusion of Oliver Neilson-vocals and bourbon pepped rhythms - delighting in it's nimbleness and bawdy clatter. Elsewhere, 'Dowie Dens', Kid Pharaohs' and 'Last Phonecall' present a similarly twisted fusion of jazz, psyche and country - all the while remaining rooted in a firm bedrock of listenability. Avant without the bollocks.