A Hawk and A Hacksaw Issue #30

The Way the Wind Blows (The Leaf Label)

By Matt Siblo
Published: December 1st, 2006 | 12:00am

If anyone could construct a convincing Balkan/Klezmer revival, it might as well come from former Neutral Milk Hotel alum Jeremy Barnes. The Way the Wind Blows is Barnes’ third record in three years under the Hawk and a Hacksaw moniker, all with carefully constructed antiquities drawing the listener in with its delicate charm and international tendencies.  

With violinist Heather Trost, Barnes has found his muse in varying locales throughout, this time discovering it within gypsy brass band Fanfare Ciocarlia, who helped record the album in a tiny Moldovan village in Romania. (And you thought recording in Alabama was rough.) The result is as dizzying as you’d expect. Creating Eastern European wedding music digestible for bite-size Western attention spans is no easy task and, by all accounts, should probably not sound as good as it does here. But A Hawk and a Hacksaw make the transition seamlessly, fusing pop sensibilities within unique and traditional styles.  

As if that weren’t enough to sell you, 19-year-old wunderkind Zach Condon of Beirut lends his trumpet talents throughout The Way the Wind Blows, resulting in a relationship that saw A Hawk and a Hacksaw performing as Beirut’s backing band for its fall ’06 tour. Similar to Beirut’s Gulag Orkestar, A Hawk and a Hacksaw’s strength lies in constructing complete cohesive arrangements that transcend the strength of just a few standout tracks. But for those looking to get their feet wet, check out “God Bless the Ottoman Empire,” a cheerful Turkish romp, while “Gadje Sirba” plays off its bouncy horns like Gogol Bordello stripped of its punk tendencies.