Sunday, August 30, 2026

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 Saturday, 29 August, 2026

(Please scroll down for the latest posts)
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SITE DIRECTORY

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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 100 or so further new releases having been issued in the last five years.

The current 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, 4 September, 2026, Cloudland Blue Quartet will release the song-based LP "Broken" (16th in The Songs Series) (Recorded November 2025)

As always from Crispycat Recordings, this release will be entirely Free to Stream or Name Your Price (including zero) to Download (with over an hour of bonuses!)

The record, the first of original songs since "Everything Ends" in June 2024, comprises 15 new songs arranged for synthesisers, rhythm beds and treatments, with input from guest contributors from Spain, Romania, Poland, Greece, Lithuania and the UK.  The lyrics range from six new pieces based on the short stories of Garrison Keillor, to older ideas, re-worked, plus a guest lyric from Capital Models cohort and Mr Impossible Songs, John Barclay

For downloaders, there is a further LP comprising extended versions of each of the 15 new songs, another 63 minutes of music

The Cloudland Blue Quartet Song Series
Callingstill (1997)
Doveloveshawk (1999)
Ampersand (2001)
Anotherhappyday (2003)
Deeperdown (2005)
Ersatzreal (2007)
Soundingfall (2009)
Splinterheart (2010)
Starlightnight (2012)
Disquietsongs (2020)
Sparklemusik (2021)
Fallingsky (2021)
Auden (2023)
The Dark Room (2024)
Everything Ends (2024)
Broken (2026)
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LATEST ALBUM FROM CBQ


On Friday, 7 August 2026, Cloudland Blue Quartet released "Across the Landscape", the 45th in The Soundscapes Series, recorded in October 2025.

As always from Crispycat Recordings, this release is entirely Free to Stream or Name Your Price (including zero) to Download (with 156 minutes of bonuses!)

It comprises, all in all, four different versions of the same album, using treated guitars, treated field recordings, and found short wave radio broadcasts. The LP itself comprises the fourth and final version of the work but, if you download, you receive the 1st and 2nd drafts of the album, "Waterworth" and "Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead", along with what was, until July 2026, the proposed LP

"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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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, 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)

JUST ANNOUNCED

In addition to the above planned releases, there are 10 further envisaged musical projects for 2027...

Dissolution VII
A Composer Based Album
A New Ambient LP
A New Song Based LP
A New “Variations” LP
Glam V
Live Suite V
Disquietmusik XI
Twentytwentyseven: The Originals
Twentytwentyseven

(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 


With only the most recent 10 able to be made available, each new podcast is only available for listening for 10 weeks from the publishing date.  

The latest edition was published on 23 August 2026 and will be available until 1 November 2026.  

Volume 34 features tracks from these recordings, including 2 upcoming CBQ 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


Meanwhile, on 14 August 2026, a new 6 track, 27 minute EP, "I Am Your World/Angel of Mercy", featuring the Logan/Reilly/Dootson/Brodie line up from around 1996 was released to Bandcamp...

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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 (of over 8,000), 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!)

Saturday, August 29, 2026

Mere mortals...

Playlist


Awake and up at 3:33 am. Back to bed but found it hard to get back to sleep...

Just under 3 hours later, up for good...

The day started as usual - "working"...



...which included writing this and editing yesterday's band session...


Out to the team by 8am...

Breakfast...


Asked Co-Pilot to create a younger, thinner and with more hair version of my pic from the bus last night...

Ooops...


...and then "remove the specs"...

Oh dear...


This afternoon, Anne was off to the football - Hearts beating newly promoted St Johnstone 2-1 - in Montrose, Queens lost yet again - also 2-1...

Spent some time listening to Jimi Hemdrix in the back room...

Of course, I fell fast asleep...

Awoke at 4:45 with no idea where I was, what day it was etc etc...

Got myself back to "normal" and changed and out and down the hill for the bus for a 6pm meet with the Exec Producer...

Onwards...


Other people on the bus were extremely annoying...

I was trying to listen to Floating Points, who we were to witness this evening...

First the guy behind me was talking too loudly...

I moved upstairs...

Someone else got on and sat across from me and proceeded to listen to his phone without headphones...

WTAF...

I moved right up the back...

Children got on and sat in front of me, mucking about...

FFS...

Buy this time I was at Haymarket and switched to the tram - just missing the one Anne was on, heading from Murrayfield to our meet at Leith Walk...

Once again, fellow passenger proved to be extremely annoying - these "Lemsip boys" seemed to be talking to each other at the tops of their voices...


Finally made it through the traffic and met up with Annie and in to Kahani on Elm Row, for some top Indian fayre...


Unpictured pakora, which looked like this (from the website) except there were four...


...around one and a quarter for Anne, two and three quarters for me, then, two Karahi Chicken with a pilau rice and a plain naan...


Superb...

And, we still don't know why, but the bill was reduced by 50% re the cost of our food...

Result!

A constitutional pre heading to the theatre...

Our old home in Montgomery Street...




Then, "Mere Mortals"...


The view upon our arrival...


Stock photos of the, frankly spectacular performance...




...and my own pics of the ovation at the end...








...and the orchestra pit...


A wonderful show indeed, although we had zero idea about what on earth was going on, with no programme and not having done any research beforehand...

(It was a ballet inspired by the myths of Pandora and Prometheus, intertwined with the advent of AI)...

The dancing was amazing - for much of the performance there were 40 dancers onstage in complete synchronisation...

Impressive...

You can get an idea of it from the short videos on YouTube here...

And so, out around 10 and a tram, a bus and a drive home...


...where the highlights of today's Hearts match were enjoyed...

Highlight of the Day: Mere Mortals...

Today's New Music: