A HAWK AND A HACKSAW, Wildbirds and Peacedrums, Chequerboard (1 Viewer)

[nEiLo]

Sun 11th May.
Crawdaddy
A HAWK AND A HACKSAW
+ Wildbirds and Peacedrums
+ Chequerboard
Doors 8.00pm
Tix €15 incl bk fee
www.ticketmaster.ie

 

[actwithoutwords]

Really looking forward to this. Lovely poster too.

 

[mel gibson]

seen them supportin portishead in scotland a few weeks ago,some good tunes
well worth the 15 sheets to just go and ogle the fiddle player!
hmmm

 

[photon]

Bump, with the official blurb, in case anyone missed it:

LAZYBIRD
Sunday, May 11th at 8pm
CrawDaddy, Old Harcourt Street Station, Dublin 2
________________________________________________

This Sunday, in association with POD Concerts, we're very happy to be presenting something of a showcase for The Leaf Label, with the return to Dublin of A HAWK AND A HACKSAW and the debut Irish performance by WILDBIRDS & PEACEDRUMS, together with The Lazybird Label's CHEQUERBOARD.

Now, we could go on to make some awful avian puns about LazyBIRD presenting A HAWK and a Hacksaw, WildBIRDS & Peacedrums and ChequerBIRD at CROWdaddy, but that would be lame. Not that that's stopped us before, but in a rare show of restraint, we'll CHICKEN out and just give you some blurb about the three acts...

A HAWK AND A HACKSAW
Recent years have seen an explosion in the number of North American and Western European bands directly inspired by the folk musics of Eastern Europe, but A Hawk and a Hacksaw were among the first of the current crop. Originally formed in Albuquerque, New Mexico by Jeremy Barnes, the drummer of '90s indie/psych-band Neutral Milk Hotel, AHAAH's first couple of releases were effectively solo projects. However, the band soon expanded into the core duo of Barnes and violinist Heather Trost, augmented occasionally by similarly-minded musicians from around the globe, and have released a total of four albums to date on Leaf.

Together, the two have drawn primary inspiration from the rich traditions of Eastern Europe. Although their biggest single influence would probably be the folk music of the Romanian Roma, the other native musics of the Balkans and the klezmer of the Ashkenazi Jewish diaspora have also had a huge impact on their sound. But it's not all Old World: factor in their roots in the Southwest of the US, and a bit of mariachi and tejano show up as well. The result is a kaleidoscopic fusion of celebratory party music from around the world, making A Hawk and a Hacksaw one of the best wedding bands on the planet...

Fans of similar groups like Beirut and Gogol Bordello, and the more traditional Taraf de Haidouks and The Hun Hangar Ensemble (the latter of whom even collaborated with AHAAH on their last album), should be well-impressed with what Jeremy & Heather will be bringing to CrawDaddy this Sunday (or, if you're in Cork, to Cyprus Avenue this Saturday).

http://www.ahawkandahacksaw.co.uk
http://www.myspace.com/ahawkandahacksaw


WILDBIRDS & PEACEDRUMS
The latest act signed to Leaf are the Swedish duo of Mariam Wallentin (vocals) and Andreas Werlin (drums), AKA Wildbirds & Peacedrums. Formed in Gothenburg in the mid-'00s, the two have forged an extraordinary alloy of spiritual pop, primal blues and ecstatic soul music, akin to PJ Harvey, Prinzhorn Dance School, Jana Hunter and Mary Margaret O'Hara.

Seesawing between pagan rhythms and sparse, bewitching ballads, their self-produced debut album Heartcore is a declaration of intent: immediate and exhilarating rivers of jazz, blues and art pop.

After a year of incendiary live shows in Scandinavia, the duo are scheduled to play at this spring's Great Escape and Venn festivals in the UK, with many more European, North American and Asian performances planned for later in the year.

Heartcore and its first single "Doubt/Hope" were both released last month, and have gotten pretty nice reviews so far:

"These songs... are so gorgeous and rambling that they make us want to smash our laptops and live in the forest." (Paper Thin Walls)
"Unusually original... Wallentin has a multi-coloured voice that instantly grabs your attention... always with excellent balance, supreme range and a tremendous intensity." 8/10 (Sonic, Sweden)
"It's the combination of Werliin's dedicated drumming and Wallentin's wonderful voice that makes Wildbirds & Peacedrums such a unique constellation." (Kulturen, Sweden)
"The Gothenburg duo is even better live... it's super tight, but still free." 4/5 (Göteborgs Posten, Sweden)

http://www.wildbirdsandpeacedrums.com
http://myspace.com/wildbirdsandpeacedrums

And websites for The Leaf Label itself:

http://www.theleaflabel.com (currently under reconstruction)
http://www.myspace.com/theleaflabel

CHEQUERBOARD
Continuing his seemingly never-ending tour in support of his latest album, Penny Black, is John Lambert. Armed only with a guitar and the occasional electronicky thingamabob, he creates rich, subtle atmospheric soundscapes intercut with textured samples and found sounds.

Penny Black is Chequerboard's highly-acclaimed third release, his second on our own Lazybird label. The first was 2005's Dictaphone Showreels EP, which impressed John Kelly and Donal Dineen enough to give it a few spins on their radio shows, and it's been recently rereleased for those who didn't get it the first time around.

His debut Gothica, on the Reverb label, introduced people not only to Chequerboard's music, but also his artwork -- he's responsible for designing and creating the look of all his releases, and has had several exhibitions showcasing his obvious talents as a graphic designer (check out our website to see more of his handiwork). In fact, he's got a few coming up later this year, as well as more live musical dates, including yet another Electric Picnic appearance in August.

http://www.myspace.com/chequerboardmusic
http://www.myspace.com/lazybirdlabel

We're really glad that all three acts are currently touring in such a way as to give us and POD Concerts a chance to put on this great gig. Doors at CrawDaddy open at 8pm, and it's 15 euro (including booking fee) in. There'll be some tickets on the door, or you can get them from Ticketmaster online (http://www.ticketmaster.ie) or from any shop that carries such things.

Hope to see you there,

~lazybird~
http://www.lazybird.org/
http://www.myspace.com/lazybirdclubnight
[email protected]

~POD Concerts~
http://www.pod.ie

LAZYBIRD RADIO
Every Sunday evening from 6pm 'til 7:30pm, our weekly webcast Radio-Inactivity can be seen, heard, smelt, touched and occasionally even tasted on http://www.powerfm.org . Your host this week is the inimitable and indomitable Mossy. Tune in, turn up, drone on.