The Sad Machinery of Spring

Of course, we will buy this and listen to it repeatedly with the hope of uncovering more those beautiful passages of improvisation upon past melodies that we find so dear in "The Rodeo Eroded" and "Book of Silk." Fortunately for us, we will at times, discover them. The vocal piece, "Daisy Bell" is a perfect accompaniment to their other sparse lyrical works. Unfortunately, like the scarceness of these vocal works, so too is the frequency in which this new ensemble of talented musicians seems to gel. Individualism and experimentation appear to have prevailed at the cost of the cohesive fuller sound that emanated from its previous tri-player group. The magic is not gone, it has just been redirected, and the shortening of their name reflects this. I will listen to this album and become familiar with it while I wait anxiously for the next Tin Hat installment. The question is, will it be worth it to wait for an album after that?