**** (4 Stars)

ALL musicians aspire to stretch themselves, but few seem so gripped by the urge as Lau: west-Highland fiddler Aidan O'Rourke, expat English accordionist Martin Green and Orcadian singer/guitarist Kris Drever. Before they convened as a triumvirate last year, each was busy forging a reputation for outstanding technical prowess allied to a restless sense of adventure. Together they are nigh-on explosive.

"Sublimely anarchic folk music" is Lau's epithet of choice, and, for once, you can believe the hype. Lau sound like men on a mission to redefine how a trio can sound, armed with a largely original repertoire and a fearless appetite for improvising, which took some sets deep into jazz territory. I had the sense - as in the best sessions - of their goading one another on to individually undreamed-of heights, only anchored here in intricate, sophisticated arrangements.

Each player extracted the maximum tonal and textural compass from his instrument - from Drever's silvery, lyrical tune-picking all the way to Green's fat, muscular bass chords. Their self-penned material wove a kaleidoscopic array of influences, with flashes of East-European, Scandinavian, swing, honky-tonk and even Tex-Mex styles. Drever also contributed a handful of songs, including the Cab Calloway hit Old Man of the Mountain. Their leaps-and-bounds progress since their debut performance at last year's Edinburgh Fringe renders their prospects positively mouthwatering.

http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/features.cfm?id=917012006