Tin Hat

"Dead Season"/"The Comet"

It’s never been so hard to classify a group’s sound as it is with Tin Hat (formerly Tin Hat Trio before the departure of accordionist Rob Burger). Chamber folk? Cabaret jazz? They never settle in one place long enough to be aptly tagged. Their last album, Book Of Silk released in 2004 was a genre defying masterpiece, but few took notice. The band’s ability to combine unconventional instrumentation with foreign rhythms created what can only be referred to as a magical blend of instrumental gypsy music. The group’s latest, The Sad Machinery Of Spring explores more of the same experimental flavors, but somehow manages to narrow its scope at the same time. The jangly guitar and bouncing harmonics of “Dead Season” bring to mind some exotic Spanish dance until the trumpet goes into a jazz style solo. The guitar solo, married with treated piano, is extremely impressive as well. “The Comet” is poetry paced like a wedding march, but its overtones suggest that of a funeral. It sounds like the soundtrack to some sad, forgotten piece of Russian literature. Forget your dad’s jazz or the folk music you hear in coffee shops, I’d be willing to declare Tin Hat pioneers of their genre..…if only I could figure out what their genre is.



Download >>Dead Season

Download >>The Comet

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