There could hardly have been a greater contrast than that between the high spirited Hungarian folk motifs of A Hawk And A Hacksaw and the dark overtones of Portishead. Playing their second date in London, a couple of weeks after the Hammersmith Apollo, Portishead took over the Brixton Academy in South London, ahead of the release of their long awaited third album at the end of the month. Continue Reading »

Following the overwhelming success of their UK Spring tour with the Hungarian virtuoso group, The Hun Hangár Ensemble, A Hawk And A Hacksaw return to the UK for a two night residency at The Luminaire in Kilburn, north London.

These very special shows will take place on Tuesday 4 and Wednesday 5 September 2007. AHAAH’s Jeremy Barnes and Heather Trost will be joined by the undoubted star of the tour, Cimbalom maestro Unger Balázs, for two nights of celebration of the music of Eastern Europe, both original and traditional songs. Men Djamler and Directing Hand will open the evening on the Tuesday and Wednesday respectively, with Benjamin Wetherill playing both nights to complete the line up.

In addition to this, AHAAH have been invited to play All Tomorrow’s Parties’ Nightmare Before Christmas event, curated by Portishead, which runs from 7-9 December this year.

The Leaf Label will also be releasing a digital-only EP version of God Bless The Ottoman Empire, taken from AHAAH’s third album, The Way The Wind Blows, on 24 September. The main track will be backed with a bonus tracks,  Vereb/The Sparrow, which is a Hungarian traditional track combined with a Barnes original and was recorded live at the Glatt und Verkehrt Festival in Krems, Austria in July this year. The group will also be recording sessions for Rob Da Bank’s BBC Radio 1 show and Stuart Maconie’s FreakZone on BBC 6 Music.

A Hawk And A Hacksaw | The Leaf Label

A HAWK AND A HACKSAW & THE HUN HANGÁR ENSEMBLE
A Hawk And A Hacksaw & The Hun Hangár Ensemble
DOCK47CDVD
The Leaf Label 2007
08 Tracks. 29mins20secs

Originally the solo project of former Neutral Milk Hotel drummer Jeremy Barnes, A Hack And A Hacksaw is a totally unique project, which has taken Barnes in a variety of locations across the world. Beside his previous regular spot as drummer with Neutral Milk Hotel, Barnes has also served with Bablicon, Bright Eyes and Broadcast. He started working on his next project, A Hawk And A Hacksaw, toward the beginning of the century, and released his first album in 2003.

Feeding on a vast set of influences, ranging from Eastern European traditional music to avant-garde and beyond, the first self-titled A Hawk And A Hacksaw album, recorded in the quiet town of Saumur, on the border of the Loire, in France, totally disregarded traditional musical boundaries to create an exhilarating soundtrack out of field recordings over which pianos, accordions and various other instruments flourished into beautiful melodies. Continue Reading »