Cervantine

As album openers go, ‘No Rest for the Wicked’ is an epic one. It takes that Central European village-band call-and-response format – quiet, loping riffs answered by frenzied ensemble bursts – and builds an eight-minute symphony out of it. At one point there’s some muted, crystalline playing from Jeremy Barnes in which his accordion somehow manages to sound like a music box on some dusty 1930s recording. What’s new for A Hawk and a Hacksaw here is that, when the horns jump back in, there’s a big, romantic mariachi flavour to them. The album was recorded in New Mexico, where the core duo of Barnes and violinist Heather Trost have a studio, and tracks such as ‘Espanola Kolo’ and ‘Cervantine’ add bravura Hispanic flourishes to the parping Gypsy brass. At the same time, the duo’s interest in Greek and Turkish music continues to grow. ‘Mana Thelo Enan Andra’ is the standout here, a rebetika song that pivots upon the contributions of British brother and sister team of Chris and Stephanie Hladowski (on bouzouki and vocals respectively). It’s one of the most beautiful melodies in the rebetika canon, so it’d be well-nigh impossible to get wrong, but it’s nevertheless a testament to the strength and confidence of the band that it sounds much more authentic than plenty of contemporary Greek trad acts.

The energy levels aren’t quite as high as on the band’s joyous Délivrance album of 2009 (reviewed in #60), which featured Kalman Balogh among a host of other Hungarian guest musicians. It lacks its predecessor’s oomph and economy. Nevertheless, this is varied and ambitious music. ‘Lajtha Lassu’ which sounds like a lost Romanian relative of the Welsh lullaby ‘Suo Gan’ (made famous by the Empire of the Sun movie), slides around with a peculiar tipsy grace.