Jumble Hole Clough: I'm Waiting for My Mam

Leave it to avant-garde musician Colin Robinson to mislead the listeners with I'm Waiting for My Mam , the new album by his one-man project Jumble Hole Clough. Why not start with I Just About Remember The Revolution a glam-rocker of T-Rex variety to take a sharp left with the skewed I am Still Listening just as people were bobbing along contentedly. Things only get weirder after that one-two punch, as he mixes up krautrock with psychedelica, noisy rumblings that sound like mushy demos made by Mark E. Smith, on his own again after he fired all the pickup players once again, that made up the latest incarnation of The Fall.

Each track comes with an explanation, well sort of. Twenty Colden Grates is a nod to a project with his mate, the late, lamented Mick West. Tension & Release is an Ian Dury-esque nervous electronic ditty could be about not being able to navigate a flight of stairs. Death is the Poor Man's Doctor and Prelude to a Down-Payment on a Gas Cooke would have fitted on one of his "music for imaginary puppet shows" albums, had they been offered as instrumentals. Boredom is captured adequately in Every Bloody Day.

Jumble Hole Clough: The Man Holding The Horse's Hoof

Avant-garde musician Colin Robinson is reaching a new high on the lyrics front on The Man Holding The Horse's Hoof, the new album by his one-man project Jumble Hole Clough. He namechecks Steve Reich in Please Don't Stand On The Infinity Well, is haunted by a triggerhappy rodent (A Winged Squirrel with a Bazooka) and sneaks in a reference to an infamous ski jumper in a song about a coat of arms (Eddie the Eagle has Two Heads).

Overall Robinson is a twisted funky mood, especially in the two tracks about a subject dear to his heart: vehicles from yesterdays (The One-Eyed Matador and In a Bedford at an Eisteddfod). He huffs and puffs with adamant glee, throwing in shards of Adrian Belew-esqye guitar and using pretty much every percussive instrument he gets his hands on, plus a few choice field recordings and spoken interjections by Jim Ramsden and Nigel Lawson. Calling it eccentric doesn't come close for this one, his 51st album in all. Make no mistake, there is a method in his musical madness, but analyzing it to death would spoil the fun he is obviously having.

Jumble Hole Clough: 25 Odd Songs

Avant-garde musician Colin Robinson has made the 50th album of his one-man project Jumble Hole Clough a greatest hits one, 25 Odd Songs. He picked the more or less accessible ones - cherry picking the instrumental, ambient, looping and generative pieces might happen at some point in the distant future.

Off-kilter rockers like 40 Thieves (from L'agent leve son baton blanc), the gnarly King Crimsonesque Twilight of The Mods (from Bela Lugosi's Dad) and the skewed rhythms and laconic worldplay of John Wayne is Big Wobbulator (from Bats Tidied Up Heliport) made the cut. The unitiated should set aside 90 minutes and let the album play as a whole. After that, there are two possibilities: being hooked and wanting more, or running for the hills, where Robinson will find you eventually and convince you to have another go to wander around into his musical maze.

Jumble Hole Clough: L'agent leve son baton blanc

Avant-garde musician Colin Robinson could no longer contain his inner garage rocker. 40 Thieves, the opening track on L'agent leve son baton blanc the new album by his one-man project Jumble Hole Clough, is a retelling of the classic Arabic folk tale Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, with mentions of a teckel, quite a bit of genuflecting, and, wait for it, short bursts of Louie Louie. Those short blasts to yank people out of their comfort zone keep reappearing throughout the album. Sleep Apnœa settles into a groove, with Robinson's vocals sounding like he recorded him one of those masks that are used to control breathing, only to be rudely awakened by a howling saxophone.

His knack for spinning off-kilter tales has been extensively documented, so for him getting another artist to come up with a story is pretty rare. Steve Lacey Marsden's voice for The playground by the abandoned mill is almost buried in a mishmash of field recordings and guitar licks that will have music instructors crying for the mother.

Jumble Hole Clough: From a Broom Cupboard in Marseille - music for imaginary puppet shows volume 4

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Between 2016 and 2017 Colin Robinson released three albums by his one-man project Jumble Hole Clough with "music for imaginary puppet shows": This Salty Armada, Moth On A Staircase Window. Elmet By Moonlight. Maybe it was the release of his long-form compositions on Up the Wooden Hills to Heckmondwike to try his hand again on short instrumentals.

Volume 4 in the series is called From a Broom Cupboard in Marseille, and it features songs about man-made flooding (The Inundation of Dunwich), the Roman god of war as the speaker for a condition (Mars, the Harbinger of Diabetes) and brollies that won't work (Our umbrellas are made of flannel).

Colin Robinson: discusssing the "Cold Bath Street Improvisation" on Left of Leeds

Avant-garde musician Colin Robinson (Jumble Hole Clough) was once again a guest on the Left of Leeds radio show on East Leeds FM. He was interviewed by John Toolan, discussing music and teaching music for the Cold Bath Street Improvisation project at the University of Lancashire. Also appearing are teacher Simon Partridge and guitarist Kyle Hughes. The whole thing can be streamed via the Chapelfm.co.uk website.

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HCTF review of Up the Wooden Hills to Heckmondwike

Jumble Hole Clough: Up the Wooden Hills to Heckmondwike

Over the years, English avant-garde musician Colin Robinson kept it short and weird with the tracks for his one-man project Jumble Hole Clough, so does it still work when he set a bunch of tracks that go on and on for more than ten minutes each? He should not have worried. The four pieces on Up the Wooden Hills to Heckmondwike never run out of steam, as they slither through the ether like friendly monsters. It gave him an opportunity to use a few of the more arcane instruments in his collection, including a 6-string fretless bass, a saxonet and an autoharp, the latter put through a ring modulator.

Robinson's love for the nature around Hebden Bridge comes to the fore in the title track, with the promise of a get together with Calliope, the muse who presides over eloquence and epic poetry. At times he acts like a storyteller, who can spin a tale that kids will love although it will scare them a bit as well, as any fairytale that it is worth its salt should do. Imagine a bunch of dwarves grooving along to The Garden of Earthly Secrets, a mashup of King Crimson and the Talking Heads barricading the door for Keith Emerson, trying to get in with his keyboards. The eerie Standing Around in the Sitting Room will appeal to anyone who got up from the couch to take care of some chores and then forgetting what it was exactly that needed to be done. It is a bit awkward, until he offers some sort of relief with a loud Zappa-esque change of pace telling the protagonist to stop worrying about boredom, the rain and other minor pet peeves.

Jumble Hole Clough: Potpourri or Popery?

English avant-garde musician Colin Robinson takes a look at - among other things - religion, Greek mythology, superstition, food and old school means of communication on Potpourri or Popery?, the new album by his Jumble Hole Clough project. His love for acts like King Crimson, Captain Beefheart, free jazz and Krautrock in general is mixed with beeps and purrs..

He plays quite a lot of guitar on this one, but the percolating keyboards get their place in the spotlights as well, sometimes within the same track. Occasionally Mordred is a mashup of a pirate's drinking ditty and an off-kilter prog rock song - it also mentions John Travolta's vest. He gets funky with Scylla Black Mass and Semaphore Signal a manual for the art of stop-and-start chopped notes.

Colin Robinson: interview in The International Times

English avant-garde musician Colin Robinson (Jumble Hole Clough) had a nice chat with Dominic Rivron for an interview in the International Times. About his modus operandi and the importance of using the right words (and cover art):

I’m interested in word-play such as anagrams. Quite a lot of the Jumble Hole Clough titles may contain anagrams… My dad used to win lots of crossword competitions; perhaps I picked it up from him.

I also like to use chance in my compositions. I used to use a variety of aleatoric techniques to construct songs; dice and so on. I use the Brian Eno ‘Oblique Strategies’ card pack of aphorisms when I’m recording; and we also use them live with Abrasive Pheasants to structure our improvisations. I am now trying out generative procedures with my synthesisers, making pieces that gradually evolve in a random yet structured way. I’m not interested in just chaos – I want to create something that evolves. And something that is listenable to as a piece of music rather than as a technical exercise.

Jumble Hole Clough: They've Built an Ark in Arkham

photo: Andrew Daley

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HCTF

English avant-garde musician Colin Robinson rummaged through the instrumentals he had amassed since 2019 to see if there was anything worthwhile that could be used on a new album by his Jumble Hole Clough project. He should not have worried. The tracks for They've Built an Ark in Arkham were augmented by vocals - some of them by Jim Ramsden, Rick Holstead and Nadia Robinson. With his signature knack for off-kilter rhytms, short bursts of any instrument he might have lying around and field recordings made in Lyon, Bilbao and Manchester, he created a miasma of eccentric, tumbling tidbits that can be quite baffling at times.

As is his wont, he can write about anything that comes to mind: being frustrated about evasive inanimate objects (Brushes, combs and cutlery), a big saltwater fish turning up in an expected location (Great White Shark in Peasholme Park), an underground line that was never finished (We rode on the Picc-Vic Line), the day John F. Kennedy was shot in Dallas and also a sad day for fans of C.S. Lewis and Aldous Huxley who both died on that day (November 22nd 1963), and enjoying a sporting relaxing holiday (Surfing the Sargasso Sea).

Colin Robinson: interview on Left of Leeds (East Leeds Radio)

English avant-garde musician Colin Robinson was interviewed by John Toolan on East Leeds Radio, discussing radio jingles, Oblique Strategies, Brian Eno, Frank Zappa and dreams. And of course some of his music by his Jumble Hole Clough project is played as well.

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HCTF review of Auntie, why does your house smell funny?

Jumble Hole Clough: Auntie, why does your house smell funny?

English avant-garde musician Colin Robinson is into investigating generative patterns on the new album Auntie, why does your house smell funny? by his Jumble Hole Clough project. That might seem as a restricting method to come up with something worthwhile and interesting, but being some sort of musical Houdini enables him to steer the process to uncharted waters. Percussion is key on this release, grounding the swirling textures and keeping it tight as he veers into his signature literate lyrical universe wherein anything goes.

Robinson once again proofs that you can write a tune about pretty much anything, be it Leon Trotsky, the perspective of an eyewitness at the crack of dawn at the site of a battle in the English Civil War (6 am, Marston Moor), a bit of claustrophobia (Another dream about being trapped in a crowded, enclosed space), show respect for an early synthesizer (The Wonderous and Most Efficacious Electronium of Happy Valley) or a biblical character's wardrobe (Why did Noah have so many fur coats?).

Jumble Hole Clough: "A Christmas Card from Karlheinz" video

Colin Robinson has made a video for A Christmas Card from Karlheinz, a track from the new album Auntie, why does your house smell funny? by his Jumble Hole Clough project. The instrumental is based on generative patterns.

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HCTF review of The Sunken Chapel (and other dreams)

Jumble Hole Clough: "Hotel Death of Sausage Soul" video

Colin Robinson, Jim Ramsden and Nigel Lawson have made a video for Hotel Death of Sausage Soul, the fifth in a series of short films to tie in with the release of Robinson's triptych of avant-garde albums by his one-man project Jumble Hole Clough.

The track can be found on Don't Say Nowt (and other dreams): "Robinson is always up for throwing a spanner in the works, just as the listener is getting comfortable. Rhythmic shifts galore, field recordings, anything to keep himself amused and the outside world slightly baffled".

Jumble Hole Clough: "I am bequeathed a sealed wooden box" video

Colin Robinson, Jim Ramsden and Nigel Lawson have made a video for I am bequeathed a sealed wooden box, the fourth in a series of short films to tie in with the release of Robinson's triptych of avant-garde albums by his one-man project Jumble Hole Clough.

The track can be found on Don't Say Nowt (and other dreams): "Robinson is always up for throwing a spanner in the works, just as the listener is getting comfortable. Rhythmic shifts galore, field recordings, anything to keep himself amused and the outside world slightly baffled".

Jumble Hole Clough: “Friday 13th Part 10" video

Colin Robinson, Jim Ramsden and Nigel Lawson have made a video for Friday 13th Part 10, the third in a series of short films to tie in with the release of Robinson's triptych of avant-garde albums by his one-man project Jumble Hole Clough.

The track can be found on You’re Our Prisoner Now (and other dreams): "Relying on aleatoric methods - that's random in plain English - he had to use the bits and pieces that came as a result out after perusing something generative, serial, Euclidean, tape loops to get him started. Robinson then had to rack his brains to make it into a tune of sorts".

Jumble Hole Clough: "A Bren Gun and a Submarine" video

Colin Robinson, Jim Ramsden and Nigel Lawson have made a video for But the Carthaginians marched on, the second in a series of short films to tie in with the release of Robinson's triptych of avant-garde albums by his one-man project Jumble Hole Clough.

The track can be found on Don't Say Nowt (and other dreams): "Robinson is always up for throwing a spanner in the works, just as the listener is getting comfortable. Rhythmic shifts galore, field recordings, anything to keep himself amused and the outside world slightly baffled".

Jumble Hole Clough: "But the Carthaginians marched on" video

Colin Robinson, Jim Ramsden and Nigel Lawson have made a video for But the Carthaginians marched on, the first in a series of short films to tie in with the release of Robinson's triptych of avant-garde albums by his one-man project Jumble Hole Clough.

The track can be found on You’re Our Prisoner Now (and other dreams): "Relying on aleatoric methods - that's random in plain English - he had to use the bits and pieces that came as a result out after perusing something generative, serial, Euclidean, tape loops to get him started. Robinson then had to rack his brains to make it into a tune of sorts".

Jumble Hole Clough: short film "Prisoner of The Jackdaws"

Colin Robinson filmed "a plethora of jackdaws, one magpie and one squirrel" in the forests near Hebden Bridge for his short film Prisoner of The Jackdaws and used tracks from his You're Our Prisoner Now (and other dreams) album one-man project Jumble Hole Clough for the soundtrack. Antie Beeb never uses generative music for wild life documentaries, but watching this should changed the minds of the people in charge.

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HCTF review of You're Our Prisoner Now (and other dreams)

Jumble Hole Clough: The Sunken Chapel (and other dreams)

English avant-garde musician Colin Robinson wraps up his "dreams" trilogy with the release of The Sunken Chapel (and other dreams) by his one-man project Jumble Hole Clough. He goes deep into ambient territory on this one, preferring textures over rhythms to create soundscapes with a quiet intensity, setting the listener adrift in an alternate reality wherein anything might happen, like using keyboards to emulate a children's choir for I found a couple living in my cellar.

Fans of Eno and Robert Fripp will have no trouble accommodating to this set of instrumentals and a bit of spoken word. No sign of the harshness that was put to good use on You're Our Prisoner Now (and other dreams) or the all out weirdness of Don't Say Nowt (and other dreams). This third installment is a soothing conclusion of an ambitious project. He is all over the place, just like dreams are by design, but by careful selection he made a triptych that is amongst his finest work as a sculptor of sounds and moods.