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
Now, over twenty-one years of daily entries
from
Sunday 5 March 2005
to
Wednesday 25 March 2026
(Scroll down for the latest entries)
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SITE DIRECTORY
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ABOUT NEWS MUSIC PODCASTS ART RECOMENDED LISTENING
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LATEST NEWS
Rehearsals and a Temporary Quartet
On 19 March, David had an initial session with guitarist Martin McQueen, who will dep for John Barclay at Capital Models next gig in June due to JB's unavailability
It went well and quartet rehearsals are now being planned
Next Album
"Dissolution VI", the next in the CBQ series of albums of improvised piano and ambience, which has been running since 2021, will be recorded at the end of March and issued at the start of April (see below)
New Collaborations
Meanwhile, David has commenced work on new collaborational projects with both Edward Spark and Matthew Nowik (formerly Blue Sun Chasing). No prospective release dates are yet known
Latest Podcast
The latest edition of David's weekly podcast, "Cloudland Blue Eclectic Selection", was published on Mixcloud on 22 March. The last 10, of over 750 podcasts, are currently still available for listening (see below).
2026 Volume 12 features tracks from these recordings...
Other News
Crazy Wisdom are planning new music for 2026 and the start of this project is imminent
The re-issuing on Bandcamp of Creek's long-deleted back catalogue is set to recommence in the Spring of 2026
On Record Store Day (11 April), "GLAM! FOUR", the fourth collection of, mostly, 1970s covers from CBQ, will be released (see below)
The re-issuing on Bandcamp of Creek's long-deleted back catalogue is set to recommence in the Spring of 2026
On Record Store Day (11 April), "GLAM! FOUR", the fourth collection of, mostly, 1970s covers from CBQ, will be released (see below)
Currently, a further five soundscape and two song-based CBQ albums, recorded during 2025, are ready for release and scheduled to appear in 2026, between May and November (see below)
In June, the 30th anniversary of the first CBQ recordings will be celebrated with a new song-based compilation entitled "Drift (Slow Songs 1996-2026: 30 Years of Cloudland Blue Quartet)" (see below)
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CRISPYCAT RECORDINGS ON BANDCAMP
To go to the Bandcamp discographies of these Crispycat related artists, click on an icon.
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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 over 90 further new releases having been issued in the last five years.
The current 11 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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LATEST CLOUDLAND BLUE QUARTET RELEASE
As always from Crispycat Recordings, this release is entirely Free to Stream or Name Your Price (including zero) to Download (with bonuses)
""Materialisation" is a new collaboration between CBQ and Brussels based saxophonist and modular synthist, Joe Higham, following on from their work together on "Departure" released in August 2023
"Materialisation" comprises two 47 minute LPs - the first is CBQ's reworking of Joe's original piece, "Ghost Too", which closes out that set, while the second comprises an ambient mix of "Materialisation" closing off with CBQ's remix of "Ghost Too"
For downloaders (who will be able to listen to all versions of "Materialisation" gaplessly), there's an additional 74:19 of material, comprising an exclusive remix of the piece "Abstract Painting (1959)" from CBQ's "Disquietmusik VIII" (7:40), the first, subsequently rejected, 31:06 version of "Materialisation" and a further 35:33 mock up of the album, featuring saxophone elements by John Coltrane and Marcin Steczkowski, not present on the original LP"
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CLOUDLAND BLUE QUARTET RELEASE SCHEDULE
Friday, 3 April, 2026: Dissolution VI (6th in The Dissolution Piano Series) (to be recorded March 2026)
Saturday, 11 April, 2026 (Record Store Day): GLAM! FOUR (5th in the GLAM! Covers Series) (Recorded February 2023 - October 2024)
Friday, 1 May, 2026: Cobalt (42nd in The Soundscapes Series) (Recorded August 2025)
Friday, 5 June, 2026: Dark (43rd in The Soundscapes Series) (Recorded August 2025)
Wednesday, 10 June, 2026: Drift (Slow Songs 1996-2026 30 Years of Cloudland Blue Quartet) (19th in The Collections Series) (to be compiled May 2026)
Friday, 3 July, 2026: Across the Landscape (44th in The Soundscapes Series) (Recorded October 2025)
Friday, 7 August, 2026: Broken (19th in The Songs Series) (Recorded November 2025)
Friday, 4 September, 2026: Elevation (45th in The Soundscapes Series) (Recorded November 2025)
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Friday, 2 October, 2026: Music for Guitar and String Quartet in 18 Movements (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)
(All artwork, releases and release dates subject to change)
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UPCOMING LIVE PERFORMANCES
Next Appearance: Capital Models at The Hop Run at Stewart Brewing, Loanhead
Saturday 6 June 2026 2pm - 5pm
Performances 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 or Capital Models but a gig by vocal/electronic trio, Crazy Wisdom, is mooted in 2026...
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PODCASTS
Since 2014, David has produced almost 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.
Unfortunately, with only the most recent 10 able to be made available on the Mixcloud platform, 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.
Click on the pic to go to Mixcloud...
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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!)
