A HAWK AND A HACKSAW "Put on Sunday shoes, and dance 'round the room to accordion keys, with the needle that sings in your heart." When Jeff Mangum sung this line to a two-headed boy in 1998, he probably didn't realise that he was also singing to fans of his drummer's future band; beckoning them to waltz to dusty experimental Eastern European folk. As a rule, two-piece bands consisting of a male part and a female part are rarely wonderful. Mates of State? Annoying! White Stripes? [...]
The story of Beirut, is the story of A Hawk And A Hacksaw . The story of AHAAH is the story of Beirut. Jeremy Barnes (for he is one half of AHAAH) is from Albuquerque, NM. So is Zach Condon (Beirut). Jeremy left Albuquerque to travel to Europe, and lived in Leicester for a time. He returned to America and recorded an album, on which 19 year old Zach played trumpet. Zach later formed Beirut, and the rest is history. Two bands, one history. [...]
I was present at the above show in the Olympia on Thursday night thanks to Ben from The Leaf label . Unfortunately I only caught the last 30 seconds of A Hawk and a Hacksaw (what I heard sounded great) but at least they re-appeared later as a part of Beirut's set. So what I think of the music blogpshere's find of the year? In short, Beirut were excellent and showed up Calexico's tired and frankly boring set. It was a delight to see Zack Condon's young troubadours give it plenty with their array of ukeleles, trumpets, [...]
Get ready for some Beirut comparisions... the blog musicisnotdead has posted "God Bless the Ottoman Empire" by A Hawk And A Handsaw ... here . Download: "In The River" (mp3) Myspace page is here . The Leaf Label is here .
Help me, I been klezmerized! Heh, I was just checking out the new Hawk and A Hacksaw record, The Way The Wind Blows , that just came out. ::: A Hawk And A Hacksaw - God Bless The Ottoman Empire ::: And that klezzy vibe is to be expected from something like A Hawk and A Hacksaw, but I was *not* expecting it from this new David & The Citizens disc, Until The Sadness Is Gone . Malmö [...]
For a technological dinosaur, the book-publishing industry is having a stellar political season. The bloggers may type the night away, but it is good old-fashioned book-writers who are driving the political debate. And nobody more so than Barack Obama . The junior senator from Illinois has deftly used the publication of his new bookâ€"“The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Recla iming the American Dream†(Crown)â€"to stir up a frenzy about a possible presidential run. In recent weeks, he had already made the covers of two [...]
One thing that really interests me about the postmodern age is the equalizing of information. In the Victorian and Modernist eras, information was classified and labeled and privileged; Latin was better than English and civilized folks were better than natives. But now we have the Internet, which is the most equalizing of all tools. Information is laid out in a linearly, with barely any privilege at all - no one fact has a God-given right to be better than another fact. It's amazing. Of course while we have no discernable qualifiication of information, we [...]
Admittedly, I was drawn to Albuquerque's A Hack and a Hacksaw first by the band name, then by the name of this tune, "God Bless The Ottoman Empire." How could I not listen? "God Bless The Ottoman Empire" sounds just like what the title implies -- take a droning psychedelic background, a little saxophone, and some gypsies from Eastern Europe and you get a top jam. A Hawk and a Hacksaw - God Bless The Ottoman Empire.mp3 A Hawk and [...]
First Beirut , now A Hawk and a Hacksaw . Well, it really should be the other way round. AHAAH actually have two albums already - the eponymous debut from 2004 and last year's Darkness at Noon . Then earlier this year, the blogosphere went mad for Beruit, who does a very similar line in Eastern European folky music, full of meandering accordian, mournful trumpet and weeping violins. I say that without a very firm grasp on the full output of Jeremy Barnes, the man who calls himself A Hawk and a Hacksaw. The best I've really [...]
Oct 9, 2006, 3:46pm
swoon
A Hack and a Hacksaw's third album, The Way The Wind Blows is out tomorrow, and it's really worth checking out. Partially recorded in Romania with renowned folk group Fanfare Ciocarlia , the album is a gorgeous playdate with traditional accordian and violin influences combined with a certain "brass and stomp" sensibilities. The album is exactly what you need if you're looking for something a little out of the ordinary, to say the last. You'll hear Indian, Eastern European and more tradional folk influences [...]
I know that Balkan Gypsy music works like a charm on foreigners who come to see these here parts (my mother-land, Romania). There's a certain mystery to beautiful music made by people who have the spirit of their music carried by blood, and who play intricate melody without ever learning a note. Not all Gypsies are like that, but the ones that are good, are so good in the sense that they perform life, their life, and a minor key transgresses to a major one with no apparent reason, but with no flaw in harmony either. [...]
Friday's music began at half six for us. But like I said, festivals aren't just about running to see band after band. There was plenty hanging about, talking, eating, drinking and even shopping in Leicester to be done before heading to the main stage. Richard Hawley’s set feels way too short. It feels like he’s just begun when he’s telling us that he’s going to get pulled off soon. He isn’t immediately pulled off, and he and his band get the maximum time out of [...]
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