San Francisco's nearly un-catagorizable Tin Hat Trio deliver another set of improvisational accordion-fueled Eastern European spaghetti western epics on their third album, The Rodeo Eroded. Mixing a Tom Waits-esque broken carnival feel and quietly sweet melodies, the trio waltzes their way through 15 tracks, occasionally augmenting their standard guitar-accordion-violin lineup with tuba, harmonica, celeste, banjo, and any number of instruments. Waits himself did a guest appearance on 2000's Helium, and this album follows the blueprint of their previous release, featuring a starkly beautiful vocal from Willie Nelson rediscovering the standard &Willow Weep for Me& accompanied by harpist Zeena Parkins. Other tracks range from the warmly jovial (&Happy Hour&), across the sprawling (&Bill&), to the chilling (&Nickel Mountain&), and feature high-profile guests like Jonathan Fishman from Phish, Billy Martin from Medeski, Martin & Wood, and Deep Banana Blackout tuba player Bryan Smith. Like their prior excellent releases, the euphonious The Rodeo Eroded offers more of the same perplexing music for perplexed people; unsettling and comforting in the same tentative breath. by Zac Johnson