A Hawk and a Hacksaw – Delivrance (The Leaf Label)
4/5
By: Thomas Hannan
Why is it that if I were to black up and start rapping about life in the ‘hood, guns and bitches, I would be vilified as an horrific racist? Well, because it’d be a pretty horrible racist thing to do. But why, then, are A Hawk And A Hacksaw – a group from Alberquerque, New Mexico who play Eastern European music despite having no Eastern European heritage whatsoever – lauded for their approximation of another culture they claim no actual part in, rather than ridiculed for even daring to give it a go?
If they were any less than brilliant at what they do, it would be easy to rip apart A Hawk and A Hacksaw as frauds, pretenders, imposters. But the music they make is so studied, so clearly the work of a group who have immersed themselves in the sounds and culture of Eastern Europe out of a genuine, deep love and fascination for it and nothing else, that worries about who made the music become irrelevant – the only relevant thing is the music they make. Which is astounding.
As such, one can take these culture vultures seriously in a way that one can’t to the same extent with, say, Vampire Weekend. The musicianship on Delivrance might well be some of the most astounding in your collection, the rhythms alien to the ears of one raised only on rock music in the most eye-opening manner, the vocal melodies bizarrely delivering lyrics detailing themes deliberately vague (and all the more intriguing for it)... it’s a confusing ride, and perhaps a less inventive one that the masterpiece that is The Way The Wind Blows (this LP knows the rules of Eastern European music and sticks to them – the aforementioned predecessor of a record mucked around with them a bit, thrillingly), but in virtue of its infectious, exotic and baffling nature, it’s one of the finest records of the year all the same.
Because A Hawk and a Hacksaw love the music they play so much, and succeed solely in virtue of their admiration of their own art (how often can you say that?), it would seem downright rude not to love it with them.
Artists in this article: A Hawk & A Hacksaw
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