Monday, July 06, 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, from Sunday 5 March 2005 to Saturday 20 June 2026 - recent trips to Bergen, Oslo and Manchester are being written up
(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

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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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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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 over 750 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 30 June 2026.  Volume 26 features tracks from these recordings, including 3 unreleased CBQ recordings...


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NEW COLLABORATIONS

David has commenced work on new collaborational projects with Edward SparkBlue Sun Chasing and Duke Gray of Oddsfiche.  No prospective release dates are yet known

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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 Summer 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)
2026: Some posts from recent trips to Bergen, Oslo and Manchester have been published initially as "picture only" but the diary will be updated as soon as possible throughout July 2026

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, June 20, 2026

Five sources of art and music...

Playlist


Up at 8 and breakfast again at 8:30...



Raining again...


Soundtracked by Eno...


Out...


Noting nearby artwork and heading for a day of a lot more...


Past the Grieghallen...



...to Kode, where an entry ticket gives access to five sites, all of which we intended to visit today, given the forecast..

Firstly, this -the pictures will do (most of) the talking....














My favourite portrait...


Anne's favourite portrait...


Anne (she said it, not me!)...


Me (I said it)...


Mr Munch...




To the second site, just next door...







This is mostly sculpture and textiles...












A found pallet, found to have been made from expensive hardwood and duly buffed up...


Ahem...


Brick alert...











...and out - all in all, this was my favourite collection I think...


To the third site...



A solo show by Vibeke Tandberg called "They Live"...



Much use of an "old man mask" along the way...










The lady in question...


Out and a short walk to the fourth site and the work of Fits Thaulow...



He liked to paint outside and was rather good...









out once more and tasty pizza slices for lunch from a nearby Narvesen...


Then, onto a light rail for a trip into the country, a few miles south of the city...


A 30 minute walk from the train stop...




...took us to the Grieg Museum...

Just in time for a guided tour...


The Griegs' house and home...


The Griegs...

Kind of...


The guide and the outhouse...


Sadly it's being renovated so, right now, we could not go inside...


To the composer's hut...



Anne took a look...


At present, during the renovation, only Grieg's piano remains inside...


Even in the overcast weather, the sights were superb...


To the Griegs' graves...



...and more views over the lake..


...and back to the cafe, having just missed the bus back to town...


A shorter walk this time, choosing to search for the public bus rather than the train...


Success...


To Apollon for drinks...



,,,before the walk home for another pasta tea...



...followed by a long, circular walk around the nearby lake and park...


Wait is that a glimpse of blue sky?


I saved a baby seagull from this heron...



More art...


...and definitely blue skies...





We arrived at our street from the top end...


More beers...


...and we ended the day with better views...









Highlight of the Day: Art...

Today's New Music: