The Rain is a handsome Animal Tin Hat

• 1 a cloud on a leaf 04:00
• 2 the rain is a handsome animal 04:21
• 3 sweet spring (arr. C. Kihlstedt and M. Orton) 04:21
• 4 if up's the word 04:47
• 5 open his head 02:47
• 6 unchanging 03:39
• 7 buffalo bill 03:31
• 8 enormous room 07:14
• 9 so shy shy shy 01:39
• 10 2 little whos 04:39
• 11 yes is a pleasant country 02:43
• 12 grapefruit 06:06
• 13 human rind 04:39
• 14 anyone lived in a pretty how town 04:27
• 15 diminutive 02:28
• 16 little i 03:45
• 17 now (more near ourselves than we) 03:20
• Total Runtime 01:08:26

Info for The Rain is a handsome Animal

San Francisco-based quartet Tin Hat sixth studio album is called „the rain is a handsome animal“. The 17-track song cycle is based on the visionary modernist poetry of American poet E.E. Cummings and, for the first time in the band’s history, centers largely around the remarkable singing of Tin Hat violinist Carla Kihlstedt. Each of the group’s members channeled their relationship with Cummings’ work to contribute their own unique pieces for the project, showcasing themselves as both imaginative composers as well as riveting performers. The resulting work is at once universally accessible and hard-to-define–drawing from both high and low art forms such as folk, classical, Americana, and countless other traditions–which, in essence, is exactly what makes the project emblematic of Tin Hat as well as Cummings’ work itself. The music of Tin Hat is born of the long-standing friendships and deep musical connections of members Carla Kihlstedt (violins, viola, voice), Mark Orton (acoustic guitar, dobro), Ben Goldberg (clarinets), and Rob Reich (accordion, piano). This sacred kinship is the reason handsome animal feels organically cohesive despite that each member took turns separately with the pen; each peice was collaboratively refined over the course of two years while the ensemble was on tour before being taken into the studio in May 2011. Although this isn’t Tin Hat’s first album featuring vocals (past vocalists have included Willie Nelson, Tom Waits, and Mike Patton in addition to Kihlstedt), it does mark the first time the group has focused a project almost entirely on Carla’s moving singing. Intimate, warm, and robust, her voice perfectly complements Cumming’s tough-minded words, all set to some of the most beautiful and ambitious compositions in the group’s history.

Cummings’ poetic language is a natural fit for Tin Hat’s aesthetic; some of his poems read like lyrics to folk songs, while others are spare and abstract, leaving ample room for musical interpretation. As such, some of the album’s pieces explore his poetic phrasing (such as Reich’s art-song so shy shy shy, which is written around a melodic transcription of Cummings’ own reading), or the way in which the lyrics display on the page (such as Goldberg’s stirring unchanging), while some are less direct meditations, such as the three instrumental works including Orton’s up beat, jazz-tinged title track. The album sways different ways, from Orton’s plaintive cry on buffalo bill and Reich’s catchy folk on if up’s the word, to the surreal setting made by Kihlstedt’s e-string violin on little i and Goldberg’s cinematic closer now (more near ourselves than we). But no matter where it turns, at its core the rain is a handsome animal resounds with the profoundly perfect union of these inspired minds, blurring the lines between composition and poem.

Ben Goldberg, clarinet, contralto clarinet
Carla Kihlstedt, violin, viola, voice
Mark Orton, guitar, dobro, piano
Rob Reich, accordion, piano

Tin Hat
Forging a new acoustic sound that defies categorization while striking universal chords, Tin Hat makes freewheeling chamber music for the 21st century.

Since its beginning in 1997, each of Tin Hat’s six recordings has been regarded by listeners and fellow musicians as a benchmark in the ongoing exploration of vibrant new pathways in acoustic music. Concurrently, their captivating live performances throughout the United States and Europe have surprised and delighted audiences with well-honed compositions and the joy of spontaneous musical discovery. Hailed for “interweaving Old World Europe with post-modern America, south-of-the-border sensuality with concert-hall propriety, and odd-metered syncopation with deeply soulful grooves” (The New York Press), the ensemble has created an original American ethnic music of its own device. As the New York Times notes, “it’s solid, appealing and fresh.”

Tin Hat was formed in San Francisco by Carla Kihlstedt (violin), Rob Burger (accordion/piano), and Mark Orton (guitar). Their vision was a composer’s collective committed to creating a personal, acoustic music that blurred the lines between composition and improvisation. When Rob Burger left the group in 2004, Mark and Carla invited clarinetist Ben Goldberg to join; the group has since been rounded out by Rob Reich on accordion and piano.

Booklet for The Rain is a handsome Animal