Treacherous Orchestra

Grind

(Reveal)

Scotland's music industry might be said to have superseded, in output at least, the heavy manufacturing that once drove the economy and, with its second album, the forge of activity that is Treacherous Orchestra has captured the energy, sweat and (where appropriate) clangour of a factory at maximum production levels. It could also work as the soundtrack to an intense night on the dancefloor. In a way not so dissimilar from trumpeter Colin Steele using Scottish phrases instead of bebop- and gospel-flavoured melodies to create credible localised jazz, Treacherous makes a very Scottish trance music with fevered banjo and accordion motifs, highly charged bagpipe licks, and driving and sometimes charmingly wayward fiddle lines. The sound is very industrial, as well as industrious, yet there's much joyfulness and emotional release as well as reflective links and gentler acoustic passages for contrast. The result is a strong, focused statement that's almost a metaphor for Scottish self-sufficiency, in musical terms certainly, and as a listening experience, it's quite a journey.

Rob Adams