Originari del New Mexico ma da sempre innamorati dei suoni e delle tradizioni est europee, A Hawk and A Hacksaw licenzierannnno a marzo 2018 “Forest Bathing”, nuovo (e lungamente atteso) capitolo di una discografia che si era fermata al 2012 con il bellissimo “Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors”, ispirato al capolavoro del cineasta armeno Paradjanov, peraltro da loro sonorizzato).

——————-

A Hawk and A Hacksaw 
(LM Duplications – Albuquerque USA)
eastern europe folk pop

Iniziato come progetto solista nel 2000 dal fisarmonicista e batterista Jeremy Barnes (ex membro della indie rock band Neutral Milk Hotel), AHAAH diventa un duo nel 2004, in seguito all’incontro di Barnes con la violinista Heather Trost. La coppia inizia la sua avventura che li porta a Budapest, in Ungheria, dove vivono per due anni e dove collaborano e suonano con alcuni dei musicisti folk più popolari del paese (Fanfare Ciocarlia). Le successive tournée li portano negli Stati Uniti e in Europa, sia per conto proprio o assieme a grandi nomi del panorama musicale come Portishead, Calexico e i compaesani del New Mexico Beirut, consacrandoli vera e propria band di culto.
Hanno all’attivo quattro lp e un ep sulla prestigiosa label inglese LEAF e due lp (incluso l’ultimo) uscito sulla propria personale etichetta LM DUPLICATION.

press:
“pezzi del folklore ungherese, romeno e ucraino si mescolano senza soluzione a quelli autografi con un impato talvolta veramente devastante… Quando agli strumenti si aggiungono cori o ha la meglio lo stiramento malinconico il risultato si avvicina alle struggenti operazioni fatte da Matt Elliott… quando invece interviene la voce timida e baluginante di Heather tutto si riconduce in un perimetro più prossimo all’indie…” Stefano Isidoro Bianchi, Blow Up, aprile 2013

“There is a constant stream of music – in the fact the whole history of music – flowing in the upper atmosphere,in what they used to call the ‘Aether’. Apparently The Hawks (HAAHS) have managed to mainline a very particular vein of that lofty realm, and now the music of fervid pagans, of revelers, of the intoxicated, the sensualists and the joyful brawlers flows through them effortlessly. They’re riding the snorting steed of Bacchus. Their instruments and their voices are ecstatic swords, swooping with blithe abandon through the soft flesh of the world, killing and then discarding the ordinary and the mundane with an unbridled commitment to joy and mesmeric, gleeful self-immolation. Have fun!” -Michael Gira (Swans)

“I’ve loved A Hawk and a Hacksaw ever since I first encountered them with the release of their first album. Over the years they’ve surprised and thrilled me repeatedly – both on record and at their incendiary live shows. I find their music so thrilling, I think, because their music offers many qualities I rarely hear in music either new or old. It embodies a deep ethnographic knowledge of Balkan, Turkish and Eastern European music which contrasts to the magpie-like tokenism of most musicians who claim influence from around the world, but is not afraid to transform those roots into something new; never content to be an homage or museum piece. In a musical climate awash with ironic detachment and self-conscious posing it is a treasure to find music that has the courage of its convictions – that caries such a richness of musical, literary, and broader cultural association. And, as it seems from from getting to know Jeremy and Heather over the years, that is so personal – that embodies so much of who they are. However, this all seems too wordy and worthy to do them justice; above all A Hawk and a Hacksaw make music to be enjoyed viscerally before cerebrally – music that is both beautiful and fun.” Dan Snaith, Caribou

“The passion they imbue into their performances seem to know no bounds” – Pitchfork
“Every time I hear them I get this warm feeling about their music” – Adrian Utley, Portishead
“What’s really interesting is the way (they) are now alchemising their global travels and influences into something personal” – The Wire

facebook: https://www.facebook.com/a-Hawk-and-a-Hacksaw-347708213947/
sito: http://www.ahawkandahacksaw.net/
etichetta: http://lmduplication.com/
video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xk8uwOmzaBo