Crockmister - Refugee

Hear The Track Here

It has to be said that I do have a welcome mat out for Crockmister whenever there is something new on offer. Mainly because Craig Sofaly (aka The Mister man) is the kind of musician and songwriter who is thoroughly professional in everything that he does, whatever the genre. One of my video highlights of late has been the video he made testing out his new guitar sequencer on a new track called A Long Dry Season (June 2008). A video that consists of him pressing foot pedals, playing a (sweet) guitar and singing. Oh yeah, you might yawn, there are a million other artists doing exactly the same thing, what makes this guy so different? The video is here, check it out and see why it's different and I'll get on with the review...

Most of us like to think that our music is a labour of love; and it mostly is. There's love and love, though. The kind of love that gets my respect is spending inordinant amounts of time getting it to sound 'just right'. Now considering this track has been a whole three years in the making - it's a collab, but more on that in a minute - the amount of love spent on it is almost obscene. There again, I have been known to spend a year or so on my own stuff so... Crockmister is the singer only on ths track, Howsie (who you may remember from past reviews) is the maestro in charge for this particular exodus set to music. So, song Crocky (and possibly Howsie), and music Howsie alone. Got that? Mmmmmm

There again, one listen to the opening movement to the song will show that - as good as Crockmister is - someone else is at the controls - and someone just as knowledgeable too, Try as I might I could find nothing whatsoever wrong with this track and plenty to absolutely love, from the blend of very different styles to the absolutely stunning - and I mean S-T-U-N-N-I-N-G arrangement. The kind of track to savour at least once a day. Again I am totally mystified, having been in the real world music business, why no one has picked up on Crockmister because I know he's out there working his butt off. He is, IMHO, one of the very best - and vocally unique - artists around and tracks like Refugee only serve to enhance his reputation. Big, big kudos mind for Howsie too. This is a gargantuan peice of work by anyones lights, and considering I always associated him with dance and jazz, a real revelation. Absolute blinder of a track, but don't take my word for it. I am on my knees begging you to taste just how good this unsigned music really is, have pity on a poor reviewer whydoncha?

MUST HAVE. M-U-S-T H-A-V-E