This is Nance Wilson singing John Ireland’s setting of the famous John Masefield poem. I’ve reharmonized it for the piano accompaniment. Nance did it in one take on a flying visit from NZ to my studio in Kent. Music of the hemispheres.
Continue readingNew album by Veronique Bouchet and Sid Thomas
A CD comprising chansons in a variety of styles and moods. We were privileged to be mentored by ‘The Divas’ – the great Tina May and the superb Anita Wardell. Eventually tracks will be available for download. See the Bouchet-Thomas web page for the latest news.
Continue readingCitation style
Every journal seems to have its own format for citing references, mostly a variant of one or other of the Big 5. They are all, to a greater or lesser extent, a pain to conform to and every publication has one or more conventions that seem to me to be unnecessarily fussy and inappropriate for…
Continue readingNew album by Maggie Nicols and Sid
A collection of originals, comprising a little free impro (of which Maggie is, of course, the Queen), settings of poetry by George Wither and Rainer Maria Rilke, and songs about darkness, fear, greed, epiphanies, time, life and the complete history of agriculture and civilization. More about What are We here.
Continue readingGreen heritage
I recently attended an interesting Workshop at Canterbury Christ Church University, organised by Peter Vujakovic. One of the participants, Sheila Sweetinburgh, has included a brief report of this event on her blog (you have to scroll down a bit until you see a picture of me teaching the group how to draw the chlorophyll…
Continue readingGrass blindness
My paper for the ‘Plant Blindness’ special issue of the new journal Plants, People, Planet is now available online. Here are the Societal Impact Statement and the Summary. Societal Impact Statement Lolium temulentum (darnel) is an almost‐forgotten species that combines the characteristics of a weed, a pasture grass, a cereal, a medicinal herb, a hallucinogen, a…
Continue readingLinks to albums and tracks
Here’s the current state of play concerning music by Sid Thomas on streaming platforms (Spotify and iTunes are listed, but tracks can be accessed on all the major sites – Amazon, Google play, Deezer, Tidal…) Albums and tracks available on Spotify Songs from The Fossil Box: https://open.spotify.com/album/6K4YzIK4jqFTnuJD0DjPrl Giuoco Piano: https://open.spotify.com/album/6b2SPkrE5YS0CExm7YZrxB Reeding Aloud: https://open.spotify.com/album/3UbUKG541jPJQXdWS1shhY Tracks from…
Continue readingA new paper, on trees, roots, soil, evolution and more
Here’s the publication arising from my presentation at the Exeter Conference. Thomas H. 2019. The evolutionary origins and subsequent histories of soils and trees. Arboricultural Journal DOI: 10.1080/03071375.2019.1562794 Abstract: The evolutionary relationships between forests, grasslands and humans have exerted profound terraforming influences, not just on and through readily visible landscapes but also (and perhaps especially) below ground. This…
Continue readingA new album from Wilson and Thomas
Nance has posted tracks on her Soundcloud page. The two originals are available through Distrokid. Nance is now based in Melbourne, but you haven’t heard the last of Wilson & Thomas!
Continue readingNew upload – Giuoco Piano
Continuing my campaign of emptying my musical filing cabinet, here’s an album of contests (one fall, one submission or a knockout) with the piano. Also includes some contributions from clarinet and wind synth.
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