Thos Henley – Mosaic Bone Norse Flute
Do you pronounce that Thoss? Toss? Thomas? I think it might be Thomas actually, because as far as I am aware Thos is just a written short form; not that I’d know. Bleh. Anyway, if you’re still digging the slightly twee folk-pop then we have another fine four track helping for you here.
Mosaic Bone Norse Flute (what?) is a Tape Club Records EP whose pastoral gentleness is captured perfectly by the leafy front cover of the record. It’s not all wood fairies and so on, however, because despite a lot of the slightly hippy cutesiness there are healthy pop sensibilities to his songwriting that belie what looks like a rather deliberately hapless demeanour.
Imagine if Noah & the Whale were less jaunty and empty, and you might be here or hereabouts. In some ways he’s captured some of the slightly sinister nature of old folk stories, too. The music is lovely and delicate, but there is not unusually a slightly darker undertone to it, never more obviously than with the deep vocal backing and uneasy violin that make Summer on the Thames such a good song.
So don’t be fooled by its harmless front, there’s a little more to this than you might think from first impressions. I was slightly underwhelmed to begin with, but the more I’ve listened to it the more I find myself coming round. Definitely recommended.
Thos Henley – Summer on the Thames
Buy from his MySpace page.
Taking on board your point about giving it a chance, then utterly and unfairly disregarding it by judging this on one listen to one song; isn’t it just going to get people going “Oh no, here comes another limp wristed librarian in a sweater plinking about on a ukulele.”?
Then the second bit of the song all gets a bit Jethro Tull, really doesn’ it?
Is there significantly more to the rest of the stuff you’ve heard?
I really wasn’t sure about this until about 4min30 when the ghostly ahh’s came in, I’m sold from thereon in.
I don’t share your thoughts on Noah, who seems to get a constant battering on here, but Thos is fantastic – can’t fault you there.
Like dav says.
Any pronunciation tips, Tim? The chap in the video on his MySpace page actually pronounces it Thoss, but I was pretty certain that was wrong.
I don’t understand why it doesn’t just start at the 3 minute mark. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a big fan of golden-ratio codas, but the first 3 minutes were pretty uninspired, (well, vocally and lyrically it was nice, but the Uke is such a slap-dash instrument I can’t help but be put off when I hear one) whereas the latter half was pretty awesome…
No, it’s a funny one isn’t it. An ordinary song, a weird bit, and then a good song. Strange, but I like that.
I always thought it was pronounced “Toss” like saying Thomas very quickly with no intonation. That was just me making it up though.
Well I call that unusual indeed. Dylan’s right on about the whole affair “going Jethro Tull” on our asses, or perhaps a bit Peter Gabriel-era Genesis (also on our asses). I enjoy the little trills of viola or cello or whatever that thing is. A real surprise to the ear, but I could’ve used more cowbell.
The production is very interesting. The instruments & handclaps sound like they’re DIY recordings, then the vocals come in sounding very polished. Then it all starts to crack a bit, almost clipping/breaking apart on the higher register. & I do like this increasingly common enuciated accent creeping into regional music (“faux-taux-grarphs”).
It sits, oddly, very nicely with Kría Brekkan’s recent Wildering 7″, which is compellingly off kilter & phantom-like. But that might be the music-box & far-off old tyme radio/dialogue clips in the middle. It might just be the ‘underwater’ shifting sensation I get from it.
I like it. I like it a lot. It’s the right side of clumsy, for me. &, yes, there’re some immediate reference points, but in all a satisfying encounter.
Yes, it’s interesting isn’t it. Thing is, for the price of an EP I don’t think you can really go wrong, can you. How many times am I going to end up telling people how much I love the 4-8 track format for releases!
I completely agree with your point about the 4-8 track format. Brevity is the soul of wit, and cheapness is the soul of commerce. Many of my favorite records are EPs. I especially love the vinyl EPs or 12″ singles from the 80s that have a couple of studio tracks and perhaps a remix for the A-side and then a couple of live ones for the B-side.
My granny has that exact same music box…
Haha! I’ve just had dinner with some mates and we had the whole “more cowbell” conversation!
I’ve just come back and put this on again and decided, no, I don’t like it. It’s hopelessly irrelevent and taking itself too seriously and crashingly dull.
Didn’t Spinal Tap take the piss out of this sort of stuff 25 years ago?
It’s pronouned ‘Thoss’ – straight from the man’s mouth himself.
&, as I sorta expected (but didn’t say owt cos I didn’t want to sound like a cock in case I was wrong) this is TWO songs: the last track, which begins with the radio, is a hidden track called ‘Dogs Doves Tigers and Pelicans’ . Again, from the artist’s mouth
Ah right, I thought as much when I first saw how long the thing was, and the way it broke up. Ah well, I may try and sort that out over the weekend.