Day 27, Tin Hat Trio - The Rodeo Eroded

Stars: 3.5
Favorite Track: Bill, Night of the Skeptic
Show: 25$

I look up to my good friend Peter for a lot of things: his incessant energy to do things (as long as it is before 11:30pm), his taste for good beer, his skill and passion for art, his tolerance for spicy foods, his hash browns and tomatillo salsa, his skateboard skills, his handy-man and trade skills, his documentary on NGO's in Sierra Leon, and his knowledge of world music. Tin Hat Trio The Rodeo Eroded and Tinariwen Aman Iman were both his suggestions, and both of which have taught me something about music. Tinariwen showed me what music can sound like when done with confidence, and Tin Hat Trio has taught me the power of being well cross-cultured. Before I go any further, I need to humble my dear friend first and say that he also suggested Cat Power You are Free which I remorselessly bashed earlier in the week.

But I do truly thank him for suggesting this album not only because it is great, but also because it was exactly what I needed at this stage in the game. I have gotten almost a third of the way through this silly little mission and, just how all routines cycle through different stages of agreeability, I have begun to dread putting those two plastic cups over my ears and absorb god-knows-what while I trudge through the dungeons of New York City. It sometimes feels like a battle deciphering lyric-heavy, self or socio-analytical albums against the grind of metal train tracks, then sitting down to write judgments on each album after two to four listens—like setting myself upon a soap-box that I don’t think can hold my weight.

That was yesterday, though. Today, I was given a break and a chance to smile listening to primarily instrumental The Rodeo Eroded. The Tin Hat Trio has a core of three musicians: There is a duke of keys, a king of strings, and queen of bow. Each brings their own separate talents and influences. The “king” plays an accoustic six string, a steel guitar, a dobro, and more, and the “duke” handles his accordion and piano quite well. They occasionally invite other musicians to subtly flavor their stew, including Willie Nelson, Billy Martin of MMW, and Jon Fishman of Phish. The Rodeo Eroded covers jazz, avant-garde jazz, eastern European jazz, eastern European folk, bluegrass, blues, country and American folk.


So…

The Rodeo Eroded is dressed in 1920’s blue-collar garb, and it hangs out in a jazz club filled with smoke and sullen people in the basement of New York City building. It talks to itself, sometimes snarls at the slow bar tender, but then smiles and makes it all better. Once it gets its cup of luke-warm vodka, it sets itself on stage under dim lights, plays, and never looks at the audience.

The Rodeo Eroded wishes it was in Paris or on a bus to see its grandmother. It fidgets around uneasily between songs, then drinks, coughs, and picks up again. It wishes it had never come to New York and refuses to remember the good reason which convinced it to. It loves a girl, and she loves it, and they meet twice a month in Connecticut, which is the best they can do. She thinks it’s smart, but it doesn’t know why because it’s drunk most of the time they are together. Still, they have a good time staying in and watching movies together and kissing. She drifts in and out of its head while it plays.

The Rodeo Eroded can have fun, but not nearly as much as it used to. It is, in fact, tired from all the fun it had “back in the day,” but these are positive memories, mostly. It remembers its family fondly, though circumstance has moved them apart. Once it’s set it over, it thinks about calling them, but orders another drink instead and laughs to itself.

Follow this link to listen: http://www.puremusic.com/listen13.html