Scatter - Surprising Sing Stupendous Love
(Cenotaph)
Keeping in line with what seems to be a more and more noticeable move by Pittsburgh's Cenotaph imprint towards a folkier aesthetic, Glasgow's Scatter may not make for as difficult listening as some of the label's other artists, but their souped-up take on folk melodies and jazz rhythms are far from pedestrian. Surprising Sing Stupendous Love, their debut release, might be Cenotaph's best release yet.
The group, whose membership totals nine on this release, have strong ties to both American and European folk music, as well as jazz, but their music is of a sound all its own. Lilting melodies are carried by the group's horns, and racaous rhythms keep time, all in a loose and joyous manner. Much of Surprising Sing Stupendous Love is imbued with a playful, festive atmosphere, with Scatter tapping into both the spirit of traditional Eastern European party music and more modern, beat-oriented grooves. And while a definitive classification of Scatter as a jazz outfit wouldn't be completely appropriate, their appropriation of folk melodies and sensibilities is sometimes eerily reminiscent of Albert Ayler, and they also include their own rollicking take on Sun Ra's "Adventure-Equation." Middle Eastern influence takes precedence in "Nationa Magic," while "Alterations of Pasture and Urban Conurban" finds its base in banjo and fiddle, echoing traditional Celtic and rural American music.
Scatter's mix of intelligently composed and arranged music and sheer energy is hard to ignore. The group manage to make smart, adventurous, accessible music that pleases the feet and the brain equally. Their live show, I can only imagine, must be a whirling dervish of a grand time, for simply listening to the disc makes it impossible for me (not one known to do much dancing) to keep various appendages still, even when listening on headphones at work. We can only hope that Scatter will sometime find their way to the North American continent sometime soon, for then the real party can start. As excellent as Surprising Sing Stupendous Love is, a recording can only do so much for music such as this.
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