Not our first goat rodeo

"With 2020's Not Our First Goat Rodeo, the quartet reunites for another stylistically far-reaching outing that matches the heights of their first ... Not Our First Goat Rodeo is a deeply engaging, often rapturous album that balances keen and studied musicality with an almost chaotic passion for group interplay".

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"It's almost a decade since [they recorded] the Grammy-winning The Goat Rodeo Sessions. Finally comes the long-awaited follow-up - and as a part-composed and part-improvised meeting of classical, bluegrass, folk and jazz traditions it's as breathtakingly virtuosic and as invigoratingly inventive as its predecessor. The opener 'Your Coffee is a Disaster' finds Ma playing an Indian scale similar to The Beatles' 'Within You Without You' before Thile and company transport the tune to an Appalachian back porch. 'Waltz Whitman' sounds like Max Bruch's sublime Violin Concerto No 1 meets 'The Tennessee Waltz' with a touch of Celtic folk tossed in for good measure ... Here's hoping there are many more goat rodeos to come".

"Named after an aviation term for the kind of chaos where 'a hundred things need to go right to avoid disaster', The Goat Rodeo Sessions was a surprise hit of 2011 ... The ensemble forged a delicious new folk-inspired, genre-bending sound that went on scoop two Grammys. 'Nor Our First Goat Rodeo' is the long-awaited follow-up ... Bluegrass is clearly a powerful influence alongside jazz, classical and Celtic music ... The band is effortlessly nimble, tripping through different keys and time signatures at breakneck speed and the zippier tracks ... are bewitchingly catchy. However, the group shines, too, during the more reflective tracks ... Combining impeccable rigour with a sense of unbridled exuberance, the Goat Rodeo musicians have once again struck gold".