- Audio CD (24 Sep 2001)
- Number of Discs: 1
- Label: Setanta
- ASIN: B00005O16L
- Other Editions: MP3 Download
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 100,374 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
It's written into the logic of creativity that something like urban clatter can create calm. That's Hem. On Rabbit Songs, the Brooklyn quartet makes acoustic latticework of guitars, mandolins, piano, an array of orchestral instruments and the floating voice of Sally Ellyson, which is equally suited to whisper-quiet tunes like the brief opener "Lord, Blow Out the Moon Please", as it is to "Stupid Mouth Shut" and the band's boisterous rendition of "The Cuckoo". Hem's mellowness follows a post-punk New Age bend in the neo-folk road (especially on the sentimental "Burying Song"), but mostly the lyrics recall early Cowboy Junkies, the Hank Dogs and the Be Good Tanyas. "All That I'm Good For" combines pedal steel with a full complement of strings to create an almost Lambchop level of rustic richness, while Ellyson's voice goes from absolute glassy-lake calm to heights Sarah McLachlan would recognise. --Andrew Bartlett
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
22 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Country music is officially sad. But usually people mean that as an opposite to cool, and not in the sense of being hauntingly melancholy like this production (the best word for it) is.
I first heard this at a poetry recital, as interval music! It seemed to fit the laid-back occasion and doesn't get tiresome or sentimental on repeated listening. It's extravagant to say it, but the singer Sally Ellyson is my favourite vocalist of all time, simply because she sounds like an angel. The instrumentation is rich and powerfully emotive, but still seems to only provide a backdrop for her startling voice. The lyrics are also incredibly evocative, of a down-beat Americana that seems to be only witnessed through mainstream acts like Neil Young and the like in Britain. This deserves a wider audience, but you delusionally want to keep it as your own little masterpiece of a secret - this is raw emotion, tenderness and peacefulness personified in one voice.
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Not many people have heard of Hem (I found out when a friend played me "Betting on Trains" from a sampler with Uncut magazine) but this is a fantastic record. The songs have a timeless quality - beautiful tunes, thoughtful lyrics, carefully thought-out arrangements, great singing by Sally Ellyson. Every track is good and you can play it again and again and keep hearing new things. If you like stuff at the country/folk end of Americana, but like to hear a bit of originality as well, I can almost guarantee you will love this. Oh, and I was lucky enough to see them on their first short UK tour, and they're great live too.
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I discovered Hem's Rabbit Songs album when I heard 'Half an acre' on Robert Elms' radio show. Sally Ellyson's voice had me captivated in an instant and the poetry of the song and the exquisitely harmonious arrangement stopped me dead in my tracks. I went straight out and bought the album, little realising it would prove to be such a work of complex yet pared-down beauty, full of lilting emotion and humanity. It's captured my heart for sure! Do buy this - it'll be a favourite, I promise.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Gorgeous - a really special album
I've owned this album for several years and still play it regularly. It is, as another reviewer has said, hauntingly beautiful. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Andromeda
I can't keep my mouth shut any longer
This is an absolutely gorgeous album and still Hem's finest in my opinion. Sally Ellyson's vocals are shown off to their brilliant best, from the breathless whisper of 'Sailor' to... Read more
Published on 17 Mar 2007 by Teazle
Beautiful !
This album is sublime! It is one of those timeless albums which is beautifully evocative with unique lyrics and richly textured melodies.
Published on 1 Dec 2005 by "emily3458"
A Firm Fan
Athough the obvious similarities between this debut album and six pence non the richer aside there =great beuty to be found herein. Read more
Published on 7 Feb 2005 by MANGO
Just keeps getting better
I've now played this in the car, on my main hi-fi, late at night just before going to sleep - it suits all mooods. When it ends you're dissappointed. Read more
Published on 12 Dec 2003 by MM
simple, beautiful
I came across this lot through a gorgeous sample track on a magazine cd and, since buying the album, have been spreading the word like a preacher. Read more
Published on 1 Sep 2003
A masterpiece
Hauntingly beautiful mix of pastoral songs, folk-pop and country. Piano, guitar, mandolin, fiddle and gentle singing. A masterpiece.
Published on 16 Jun 2003 by antom
Gorgeous!
'Rabbitsongs' is one of those albums that will satisfy a refined and eclectic musical palette. The band hails from NYC and has produced a stunning debut with the care of a... Read more
Published on 22 May 2003 by Mr. M. Rodgers
Sweet, sweet music!
This album is a must-have, the band come together to produce a fantastic 16 track cd. Sally's voice is enchanting and would warm even a stone-heart! Read more
Published on 15 Oct 2002 by roslyn craig
That Bob Harris is costing me a fortune ..!!!
I can't say a great deal. I heard a track on this album a couple of weeks ago and wrote it down to buy in the future... Read more
Published on 27 Mar 2002 by colin.morgan@galagroup.co.uk
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