Squonky beats + toy instruments
Who He?
Musician, composer and instrument builder Crewdson (real name Hugh Jones) returns after a mere five-year hiatus with a second album, made with his own handmade, customised instruments.
Why Crewdson?
Prior to his debut album ‘Gravity’, released in 2011, he put out a 12-inch ‘Dust’ which was hailed as one to watch among his post-dubstep peers. Both records since have garnered tremendous support from the likes of Gilles Peterson and XLR8R. The album, ‘Toys’, has been crafted with his own aforementioned home-made instruments (from which it gets it’s title). While his debut LP was more informed by jazz, this record takes more of its cues from folk, with his electronic instruments like the Concertronica (a controller based around the design of the concertina) perfectly representing this melding of genres.
Tell Us More
In the intervening years between his debut and his most recent record, Crewdson has been keeping busy producing remixes for the likes of Ninja Tune and Lo Recordings, as well as playing one half of electronic soul duo Eckoclick. He’s also the right hand man (both on and off stage) to electronic producer Matthew Herbert, as well as running Herbert’s Accidental Records. Not content with that, he’s collaborated with London’s National Centre For Circus Arts on a bespoke performance, toured as tech support with Thom Yorke and as a part of The New Radiophonic Workshop, contributed sounds to rescoring the first British sci-fi movie ‘A Message From Mars’. Quiet life, then.
‘Toys’ is out on Slowfoot
