Description:	CD on Leaf
	Format:	CD
	Genre(s):	Folk/Folk Rock
	Label:	Leaf
	Price:	£10.29
	Availability:	Dispatched within 2-5 days (on average).

5
...according to our Phil on 14 May 2009.

I'm utterly obsessed by this new A Hawk And A Hacksaw album. I've quite liked bits by 'em before but nothing has really grabbed by them as much as Delivrance, their brand new album on Leaf. I think it probably helped seeing them live the other week.... it was like being at a jewish wedding on crack. The music was so fast and furious I've no idea how they play it without fucking up. They're clearly supremely talented musicians and I reckon this is them at the peak of their game. Musically you've got 10 tracks of Eastern European folk which bounce along like a runaway train of gypsies on their way to a massive convention full of freebies. Mind you who doesn't like freebies? Here Barnes and co have created an extremely authentic sound which doesn't outstay it's welcome. The songs are short and the album is short and I was left wanting more. It's been recorded in Devon, Albuquerque and Budapest and you can really hear the Eastern european influence of Devon in there...... There's 1 or 2 tracks with vocals which I don't remember from previous releases (though if there were some then excuse me... I can't remember anything anymore) and the tracks with vocals work really well... So if you're into this whole gypsy folk thing then check this out as it's really stunning from start to end. Brilliant!!

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Sound clips for Delivrance by A Hawk And A Hacksaw: on CD at Norman Records UK. CD, Leaf, BAY64CD, £10.29.

What their label says...

*  Delivrance is A Hawk And A Hacksaw’s fourth album and first full length since 2006’s cult classic The Way The Wind Blows (reviews listed below).

*  The band have developed a strong following for their celebratory live shows, reflected in the tour they have booked for May, with a summer of festival appearances to follow.

*  This is by far the most vivid, intense and confident work by AHAAH to date Délivrance was recorded in Budapest, Devon and Albuquerque in the second half of 2008 around the core of The Hun Hangár Ensemble, who originally teamed up with Jeremy Barnes and Heather Trost for the limited edition CD/DVD in 2007.

*  The recordings feature some incredible musicians, such as Kálmán Balogh, one of the very best cimbalom players in the world, and brings together music from Eastern Europe, Israel and Turkey, as well as North America.

*  The band appeared on BBC2’s The Culture Show in 2007. AHAAH played All Tomorrow’s Parties at the behest of Explosions in the Sky and Portishead. and also became the first-ever tour support for the latter in 2008. AHAAH played SXSW this March and have support slots with Andrew Bird and Wilco in North America in April.

*  They have collaborated with Beirut, Fanfare Ciocarlia and The Master Musicians Of Joujouka, and played with Of Montreal, Calexico, Kocani Orkester and others in recent years.

*A Hawk And A Hacksaw - The Way The Wind Blows press reaction:
- "Ambitious, ethnically rich. suffused with Eastern flavours, his kaleidoscopic approach - from mariachi brass to klezmer to European traditionals - is vivid and startlingly diverse. There’s something experimental and faintly trippy too. ’God Bless The Ottoman Empire’ could be George Harrison’s ’Within You Without You’ snaking through an ancient Turkish bazaar" (4/5 - Uncut)
- "First-class folk" (The Guardian)
- "A captivating ragbag mixture of styles that blends Barnes’s meandering, vaudevillian songlines with plangent melodies of violinist Heather Trost" (The Daily Telegraph)

*  Tracklist: CD/LP: 1/A1. Foni Tu Argile (trad arr Barnes) 2/A2. Kertész (Barnes) 3/A3. The Man Who Sold His Beard (Barnes) 4/A4. Hummingbirds (Barnes) 5/A5. Raggle Taggle (Trost/Barnes/trad) 6/B1. I Am Not A Gambling Man (Barnes) 7/B2. Turkiye (Barnes/Trost/trad) 8/B3. Zibiciu (Barnes) 9/B4. Vasalisa Carries A Flaming Skull Through The Forest (Trost)10/B5. Lassú (trad arr Barnes)