As autumn quickly throws it’s dark cloak over the country and dawn is followed in haste fashion by dusk, 2010 will be seen as a year where home-grown bass music has enticed the masses with it’s crossover appeal and resurged back into the popular domain. (Ironically a decade after UKG was prominent in the UK charts albeit in a less controversial manner) The dreaded D word (Dubstep) is a genre which has been labelled as “filthy” amongst a whole wave of silly stipulations (See YouTube for further information) Yet, amongst a supposed murky underworld of dubplates and digital E.P’s, the likes of Pariah , Julio Bashmore, James Blake are exhibiting an experimental side to dispute the genre’s classification. Techno inspired timbres, Deep driving sub-bass and Clipped soul samples are qualities which illegally trespass subgenre borders into wider electronic terrain.



Enter Goldsmiths alumni Hugh Jones, better known as Crewdson. The south-east London based musician has caused a buzz this year via his track ‘Mime’ which was picked up by definitive US publication The Fader before official release. He also played at the leftfield Ether Festival on the Southbank earlier this year alongside a roster which included American singer and poet Gil Scott Heron as well The Herbaliser. The latest addition to Slowfoot, has played the role of dormant volcano thus far but is anticipated to erupt on a regular basis next year with a live show, which experiments with live sound recordings and samples via a handmade woodblock sampler amongst other objects.



Released on the progressive Slowfoot Records, the Dust EP serves as a precursor to a debut LP which is set for release in Spring 2011 and showcases his unusual yet inventive approach toward assembling beats in an ad hoc manner. The electronic producer lets the Glitch sound take centre stage on this four track compilation with a support cast featuring a range of reverberation and sparse snippets. On opener ‘Dust Crawlers’, the arpeggio synth quickly ignites proceedings and releases an atmospheric warp-like analogue flute onto the track, with the brief drone thrown in halfway to bring respite from the delicate bell chimes. Whilst, the infamously leaked track ‘Mime’ is given a rework by recently signed Ninja Tune’s duo “Grasscut” and begins as a jazzy affair retaining use of Jones’ vocal “If you chop away, you’ll find it” A probable refrain from Crewdson to delve deeper within the soul and unearth a bond with his music.



‘Pet’ flirts with a thumping kickdrum to produce a glitchy Hip Hop beat in the same vein as Flying Lotus. The track layered backward before reaches it’s denouement with a gaudy saxophone played by the talented Mr Jones himself. The gloomy atmosphere on this particular melody brings Crewdson briefly into comparable territory on the EP. “Bass Clef’s” take on ‘Goodbye Old Friend’ is a Housey affair with a sneering snare and kick loop. The hasty and infectious brass pattern is complimented throughout by delicate echoey synth keys to keep your head bopping like the Churchill Dog.



The Dust EP is a fleeting yet emergent collection of broken beat, jazz, hip hop and further afield. Yet, it is the laborious nature of his production that goes into creating a minimalist hum will lure the neutral listener into the ‘post’ genre aesthetic. It may initially sound like a musical equivalent of a junkshop (he uses retro joysticks and midi motorcycle handlebars whilst performing). However , once you bypass this perceived kerfuffle from the exterior, your ears slowly warm to what Crewdson has sought to achieve.