Wednesday, August 05, 2026

Welcome to Crispycat Recordings....

WELCOME TO CRISPYCAT RECORDINGS

We issue the solo and collaborative work of musician, abstract artist and podcaster 
DAVID REILLY aka CLOUDLAND BLUE QUARTET (CBQ)
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This section is the Cloudland Blue Diary
 
The diary comprises over twenty-one years of daily entries, commencing on Sunday, 5 March, 2005

The latest entry is from Tuesday, 4 August, 2026

(Please scroll down for the latest posts)
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SITE DIRECTORY

To go to another section of the site, click on an icon below

ABOUT    MUSIC    PODCASTS    ART    RECOMENDED LISTENING
                    
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CRISPYCAT RECORDINGS ON BANDCAMP

To go to the Bandcamp discographies of these Crispycat related artists, click on an icon.

                    

Crispycat Recordings released the first 25 Cloudland Blue Quartet albums (recorded between 1996 and 2012) to Bandcamp in 2013.

A further 8 LPs were released between 2013 and 2019.

Then, with the advent of lockdown, David spent much more time on new Cloudland Blue Quartet works, with the result that, since May 2020, new music has been released almost every month, with almost 100 further new releases having been issued in the last five years.

The current 9 strong pipeline (see below) will take matters to the end of 2026, beyond the 30th anniversary of Cloudland Blue Quartet's debut recordings, pushing the total CBQ releases available on Bandcamp to 140.

Meanwhile, retrospective releases by David's groups Creek, Crazy Wisdom and Capital Models have also been being issued by Crispycat Recordings and these are set to continue, with around 50 planned over the next 18 months or so...

In 2025, Crazy Wisdom and Capital Models also released new recordings, with seven new EPs from Crazy Wisdom and their remastered back catalogue, which you can find here; and, from Capital Models, two new studio LPs, a live LP and an update to their all encompassing "Repertoire" virtual box set, all of which, along with original recordings from 1980 and reunion tapes from 2011, can be found here...
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NEWS

NEXT NEW RELEASE


On Friday, 7 August, 2026: Across the Landscape (45th in The Soundscapes Series) (Recorded October 2025)

"A fragile object moves across the landscape, seeking a signal, untitled.

Dark for a long time, in the tone of a sentry, the first time after winter, it will swallow the plateau.

The night archer looks out at the world from inside the jaws of a wolf, condemned to non-existence, evaporated like air, taking the side roads."

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LATEST ALBUM FROM CBQ


On Friday, 3 July 2026, Cloudland Blue Quartet released "Music for Guitar and String Quartet in 18 Movements", the 44th in The Soundscapes Series, recorded in November 2025.

As always from Crispycat Recordings, this release is entirely Free to Stream or Name Your Price (including zero) to Download (with 86 minutes of bonuses!)

It sounds like someone playing a 21st Century guitar (with distortion and looping involved) over some cleaned up but still slightly distressed, found string quartet recordings from the early 20th Century...

But that's not what it is...

It is, though, 57 minutes of music, in six parts (Movements 1-6, 7-9, 10, 11-13, 14-16 and 17 & 18)
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UPCOMING LIVE PERFORMANCES

            

There are no live performances planned at present...

Performances will include solo appearances, as Cloudland Blue Quartet, presenting sets of either songs or soundscapes, and group performances, with the current line up of David's 1980 new wave band, Capital Models 

At present there are no plans for his electronic improvisational quartet, Creek, to play live and nothing in the calendar for Cloudland Blue Quartet, Capital Models or vocal/electronic trio, Crazy Wisdom...
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CURRENT CLOUDLAND BLUE QUARTET RELEASE SCHEDULE

    

Friday, 7 August, 2026: Across the Landscape (45th in The Soundscapes Series) (Recorded October 2025)
Friday, 4 September, 2026: Broken (19th in The Songs Series) (Recorded November 2025)
Friday, 2 October, 2026: Elevation (46th in The Soundscapes Series) (Recorded November 2025)
Friday, 6 November, 2026: Swan Songs (6th in the GLAM! Covers Series) (Recorded December 2025)

   

Friday, 5 December, 2026: Disquietmusik X (10th in The Disquietmusik Frippertronics Guitar Series) (to be recorded November 2026)
Thursday, 24 December 2026: Twentytwentysix: The Originals (a collection of tracks from releases issued throughout 2026) (to be compiled December 2026)
Thursday, 31 December 2026 : Twentytwentysix (a collection of rarities recorded during 2026, many receiving their first official release) (to be compiled December 2026)

(All artwork, releases and release dates subject to change)
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LATEST PODCAST

Since 2014, David has produced around 800 editions of the "Cloudland Blue Eclectic Selection", his weekly podcast on Mixcloud, reflecting his esoteric taste in music and encouraging listeners to broaden their musical horizons.

Click on the pic below to go to Mixcloud 


Unfortunately, with only the most recent 10 able to be made available, each new podcast replaces the one from 10 weeks before.  

To obtain an MP3 download link for any currently unavailable Cloudland Blue Quartet Eclectic Selection, simply e-mail your request to crispycat@hotmail.com.  

The latest edition was published on 3 August 2026.  Volume 31 features tracks from these recordings, including 3 unreleased CBQ related works...


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NEW CRAZY WISDOM

Following the reactivation of Crazy Wisdom in 2024 and the release of several EPs and the back catalogue last year, Crazy Wisdom are planning new music for 2026 and the start of this project is imminent


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CREEK REISSUES

The re-issuing on Bandcamp of Creek's long-deleted back catalogue is set to recommence in the Autumn of 2026

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DIARY UPDATES

Note that, in the diary, 150 days, across 6 periods in 4 of the 21 years are, currently, "picture only":-

2016: 15-17 October (3 Days)
2021: 8-21 May (14 Days)
2022: 18 April - 10 May & 6 July - 5 September (85 Days)
2023: 1 - 15 October & 18 October - 19 November (48 Days)

It is always the intention to update "picture only" days with the relevant text but doing so is, of course, subject to opportunity (and, indeed, memory!)

Tuesday, August 04, 2026

A road trip and prepping the new set up...

Playlist


Another very large playlist today - see below...

This, the last picture to feature my Mission speakers at my main work station. I'm moving to headphones only mode while working - a new amp purchase was made this morning and it arrives tomorrow.  Let's see how that goes...


Meanwhile, writing this up, securing tickets for Dar Williams in Glasgow in October, and prepping a playlist for the car re an impromptu road trip of sorts...


It's what Tuesdays are for...


Before that though, breakfast - using the Air Fryer...


Let's just say, it did not go to plan LOL...


Anyway, out and a drive, soundtracked by all my personal No 1 singles from 1970-1979, on Shuffleplay...

Our goal was Kinneil House at Bo'ness...

Parking as close as possible...


The house itself is shut to the public and the museum is closed one day a week - yep, Tuesday...


We utilised the Discovery Map to discover...


The cottages...


The orchard...







The house...









The remains of The Antonine Wall...


...and James Watt's tiny cottage, where he devised a steam engine which changed the future, irrevocably...







...followed by a woodland walk...










...to the Roman "Fortlet"...


...or, its remains, anyway...







Then, the walk back, via a different route...




...passing a pond...


A peaceful retreat for a family of swans and a couple of ducks...






Onwards...


The church was in the distance...




We were at the very frontier of the erstwhile Roman Empire...



...with sculpture in the distance...













The church burned down after its pews accidentally caught fire...


Onwards once more, past a stream...



...and a waterfall...



...and rocks...


...and we were back, behind the house...



...and out...


Just an hour but, an enjoyable hour...


A walk back to the car...



...and a short drive to the nearby Corbie Inn for a slap up lunch...



A burger and macaroni - both top notch...


We were entertained by being within earshot of a group of pensioners, one of whom was holding court re his recent Norwegian Cruise...

Maybe we'll do that...

Go on a Norwegian Cruise that is, not hold court about it in small pub in the central belt of Scotchland...

Home and, while Anne made a tasty home made soup for tea, I set about dismantling the small room set up...

Initial amendment - speakers gone...



Almost final set up...

I...


II...


Meanwhile the Missions and the Marantz CD player were set up in the CD room...


...while the SMSL CD Player moved to next to the laptop...



...with the AKG 702s now being serviced by the Marantz...


Final set up...

Laptop Room...


...with shelf added to...


CD Room...


This evening, post above mentioned tasty soup, and some TV (the 2nd season of "Granite Harbour" - 3 episodes in a one-er), to the backroom for some King Crimson...





...and, to close things off, some reggae...



All in all, a good day...

Highlight of the Day: Road trip and prepping the new set up...

Today's New Music: