The Eggiophone, the Concertronica, the Oddbox and the Penny Pincher are just a few of the wacky custom made instruments that you'll find in the toy box of Crewdson (aka Hugh Jones).
None of these creations are especially high tech. Jones is fond of using discarded objects that he can recycle in his home studio. He's like Brian Eno working on a shoestring; plundering car boot sales for ideas.
From his varied CV you can see that Jones is a man who wears many musical hats and is not short of ideas. These take shape on his second solo album for Slowfoot which comes five years on from his debut for the same label.
The electronic and acoustic sounds that form the basis of the 12 track album simmer, float and wobble in unpredictable directions but are nevertheless contained with precise structures. It's an indulgent ride but playful with it.
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What we hear is a fusion of woozy jazz, hazy electronica and deadpan, tonally challenged vocals. It has been described as post-dubstep.
The tracks Eyes In The Back Of Your Head and Funny Games are influenced by old folk songs albeit far removed from any traditional sources.
The restless samples, clicks, harmonics are lively up to a point although the cleverness gets a little tiresome after a while. Like a child up past his bedtime, it all gets a bit frazzled by the end.
Crewdson's website
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