HEM - No Word From Tom Review

Hem shows that even when playing b-sides and covers, they are at their best....full text As with any serious hobby (or obsession), us music aficionados are completists. When I really like a band, I want to hear everything: the b-sides, the demos, the unreleased stuff, a few essential live recordings, even… and with that in mind, a prolific and, at least to these ears, consistent musician like Ryan Adams is a godsend. Not only did he release three albums of new material last year, but the fantastic pre-Heartbreaker Destroyer sessions surfaced as well....full text Usually, the follow-up album for a band with an acclaimed sophomore release would be, well, another album. Hem, however, has released No Word From Tom, a collection of covers, live tracks, and revisited songs from their first two albums— Rabbit Songs (2003) and Eveningland. (2004) Although the Brooklyn-based band cannot be described as prolific just yet, their collaboration with the Slovak Radio Orchestra album indicates an intricate process that must have resulted in more than a few outtakes....full text