‘Eighty Three’, a sumptuous slab of slow-motion gorgeousness smothered in sun-splashed synth sounds and warming electric piano motifs, was one of the undoubted highlights of Mudd’s critically acclaimed sophomore solo album, In The Garden of Mindfulness. Now the track has been given a makeover by Conrad McDonnell, a long-time friend of the family and Claremont 56 contributor.

McDonnell is famous for his wild and effects-laden dub mixes, both as a solo remixer and alongside long-time musical partner Dan Tyler as the Idjut Boys. Together, they provided deliciously wayward and mind-altering takes of tracks from the Claremont 56 catalogue as part of the label’s 10th anniversary triple-CD compilation back in 2017.

Now McDonnell has gone solo to deliver an album of dubbed-out revisions of In The Garden of Mindfulness, a set that will land next year. To get us all in the mood, he’s laid down a trio if reworks of ‘Eighty Three’ in his distinctive style.



McDonnell first offers up the ‘Le Cidre Dub’, a slowly pulsating rendition in which lightly echoing and tape delay-laden guitar, synthesiser and Rhodes riffs drift across a throbbing electronic groove and low-tempo dub disco drums. The veteran DJ/producer has effectively given the track a more cosmic and spaced-out spin whilst retaining much of Mudd’s intricate and densely layered instrumentation.

Those seeking even wilder and more out-there acoustics are catered for by McDonnell’s two alternative dub takes. He successfully strips back the track to its most skeletal form on the ‘Uppity Dub’, bringing the sparsest of beats in and out of the mix whilst focusing on ambient synthesiser sounds, bubbly electronic patterns, echoing electric piano notes and Mudd’s squelchy and addictive bassline. His favoured effects are all audible in the mix but never dominate the sound space.

This celebrated side of McDonnell’s audio output comes to the fore on the EP-ending ‘Uppity Again Dub’, in which waves of trippy and picturesque electronics lap against a locked-in, delay-laden dub disco groove and flashes of reverb-heavy bass. It’s effectively a heady, mind-altering ambient dub interpretation of a sun-splashed Balearic treat. Like the other revisions on the EP, it offers a mouth-watering appetiser for the album of dubs still to come. 

TRACK LISTING

A1. Eighty Three (Le Cidre Dub)
B1. Eighty Three (Uppity Dub)
B2. Eighty Three (Uppity Again Dub)

Since launching in 2020, Claremont 56’s Claremont Editions series of compilations has delivered a trio of must-check collections featuring a mixture of unheard gems from the label vaults and brand-new, previously unreleased tracks. Label founder Paul ‘Mudd’ Murphy continues with this blueprint on 2024’s instalment, the fourth in total.

There's naturally some genuinely headline grabbing highlights amongst the nine tracks on display, starting with opener ‘Crossing’ – a fresh cut from C56’s in-house super-group Hillside (AKA Paul Mudd Murphy, Alex Searle and Patrick Dawes), featuring lead vocals from long-time friend of the family Quinn Lamont Luke. The track is prime Hillside: all rolling hand percussion, warming keys, simmering synth-strings, sun-splashed solos and blue-eyed soul vocals from the effervescent Quinn.

It sets a high bar, quality wise, but predictably the rest of the collection hits similarly heady heights. Mudd contributes two other tracks of note: a first collaborative outing with long-time creative partner Ben Smith for five years, Smith & Mudd’s ‘Journey Seven’ – a languid, slow-motion affair that hints at what we can expect from their forthcoming album – and a typically rich, jazz-fusion influenced solo excursion, ‘Massimo’s Steps’. As vivid, emotive and detailed as you’d expect, the track explores similar sonic territory to Mudd’s recent album, In The Garden of Mindfulness.

It's usual for Claremont Editions collections to include tracks from new members of the Claremont family. Editions 4 is no different, with Danish producer Fureby – a close friend of fellow Danes Mike Salta and Peter Visti – joining forces with Guy Moscoco and Brian Faber on ‘Halcyon (Extended Mix)’, a gorgeously kaleidoscopic Balearic groover rich in fluttering flute solos, simmering disco strings and sun-bright electronics.

Elsewhere, a few familiar favourites contribute suitably stellar tracks. Mai Fujinoya dons the Yamp Kolta alias for the first time since appearing on the first editions compilation in 2020, serving up the languid Japanese language Balearic pop brilliance of ‘Saturate’, featuring beautiful lead vocals by Yuzz. Krautrock-influenced duo Neumayer Station – who made their C56 bow on last year’s Editions collection – lay down a typically stretched-out, dubbed-out groove with Spaghetti Western soundtrack flourishes (the lilting and atmospheric ‘Bassrutscher’), while Ferdi Schuster invites us to dive into the immersive depths of ‘Resonance’ – a lightly art rock and progressive rock-influenced soundscape best enjoyed while lying flat on your back.

Slow-motion house specialists Hear & Now continue to join the dots between tactile Balearica and pitched-down Italian ambient house on the stunningly gorgeous ‘Chimaera’, while there’s a surprise return for a Claremont 56 favourite: Mudd’s sought-after extended mix of Bel’s 2018 single ‘Ready To Die’, a sing-along modern Balearic classic. This time round, it has been re-edited by Blank & Jones, who teases out the sun-soaked instrumentation before finally dropping the original’s emotion-rich lead vocals.

It all adds up to another must-check instalment of the indispensable Claremont Editions series. As usual, the vinyl version has been pressed in limited qualities and comes housed in a deluxe gatefold sleeve, complete with another stunning cover painting by illustrator Mark Warrington.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Hillside Feat. Quinn Lamont Luke – Crossing
A2. Mudd – Massimo’s Steps
B1. Bel – Ready To Die (Mudd’s Extended Mix) (Blank & Jones Edit)
B2. Fureby, Moscoso & Faber – Halcyon
C1. Smith & Mudd – Journey Seven
C2. Neumayer Station – Bassrutscher
C3. Yamp Kolt Feat. Yuzz – Saturate
D1. Ferdi Schuster – Resonance
D2. Hear & Now – Chimaera

The former Can bassist – a musical maverick renowned for his freewheeling approach to composition, recording and promotion – released a string of inspired tracks on Paul Murphy’s label between 2009 and 2012, typically delivering hard-to-pigeonhole workouts, bona-fide epics and radical reinventions of some of his most beloved tracks.

The collection has been a labour of love – fitting given the sonic details and inventive musicality that marked out the late artist’s solo career – for Claremont 56 founder Paul Murphy AKA Mudd, who first reached out to Czukay after witnessing his now legendary live performance at the Roundhouse in 2009. As Murphy details in his introductory liner notes, it led to a productive working relationship between the pair that included collaborative recording sessions with Ben Smith in Czukay’s legendary Innerspace Studio – a former cinema in Cologne in which much of Can’s music was recorded.

The impact of that Roundhouse gig on Murphy is reflected in the fact that two of the tracks on the collection are based on that celebrated performance. There’s ‘Ode To Perfume’, a languid and solo-laden version of one of Czukay’s most celebrated solo records that ratchets up the original’s inherent dreaminess, and a jaunty take on quirky kraut-pop number ‘Photosong’ featuring a spoken introduction recorded at the concert in question.

Murphy’s ability to coax Czukay into delving into his archives is evident across the compilation. Opener ‘A Perfect World (Remix)’ is an eccentric, ever-building masterpiece originally recorded in 1984 – but later re-imagined for Claremont 56 – featuring vocalist Sheldon Ancel and former Can band-mates Jaki Leibezeit and Michael Karoli, while ‘Fragrance’ is a subtly re-wired slab of picturesque Balearic kraut-dub which was initially recorded as a coda for ‘Ode To Perfume’ but lay unreleased for decades.

Then there’s ‘Let’s Get Cool’, a bright and breezy, French horn-sporting 2009 take on 1979 avant-disco classic ‘Cool In The Pool’; ‘My Persian Love (Remix)’, a 2010 re-take of one of his earliest solos recordings; and the near 18-minute brilliance of ‘Music Is A Miracle’. Originally recorded for his fans in the 1980s – but only released three decades later – this widescreen epic not only features drums by Jaki Leibezeit and a fine spoken word vocal by Czukay, but also numerous nods to some of his most revered tracks.

It's fitting, too, that two of the most potent cuts feature Czukay’s much-missed wife and musical muse Ursa Major: the dense, trippy and fittingly out-there ambient soundscape ‘In Space’, and the mesmerising ‘Music To be Murdered By’. Partially inspired by hearing painfully out of tune violin practice through his studio windows, the track was originally recorded for an unreleased album but finally found a home on Claremont 56’s 10th anniversary box set ion 2017. A genuinely spaced-out and mind-mangling slab of organic dub in Czukay’s distinctive style, it delivers a fine curtain call to the iconic artist’s endlessly inventive career.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Ode To Perfume (London Live 2009)
A2. My Persian Love (remix)
A3. Photosong (Roundhouse Mix)
B1. A Perfect World (remix)
B2. Music To Be Murdered By
C1. Let's Get Cool
C2. Fragrance(remix 2009)
C3. In Space
D1. Music Is A Miracle

Jean-Philippe Altier’s first full-length excursion as Jpye, 2021’s Samba With You, was heralded a contemporary Balearic pop gem – a superbly summery, sun-kissed set full of atmospheric instrumentation, colourful synth sounds, strong songs and star turns from a wide variety of musical friends and guest performers.

Bleu Your Mind, his hotly anticipated follow-up, takes a similar sonic approach to its predecessor, with Altier being joined in the studio by friends old (vocalist e11e, keyboardist Michael T and fellow Twonk members Leonidas and Renato Tonini all reprise their roles from ‘Samba With You’) and new (Da Roc and Iamrobd) on a set that effortlessly mixes and matches elements of nu-disco, jazz-funk, laidback synth-pop, Italo-disco and Balearic beats.

Those who savoured ‘Samba With You’ will feel at home right away, as e11e sings softly and sweetly atop the gentle Latin infused shuffle, dusk-ready instrumentation and chiming vibraphone solos of ‘Freedom Ain’t Free’. French composer and keyboardist Da Roc makes his first appearance on the following track, the duelling electric pianos and synths of sun-splashed instrumental Balearic pop gem ‘You Freak Out’, before e11e returns on the throbbing and suspenseful ‘Shiver’– a re-imagined and genuinely glassy-eyed cover of Marie Laure Sachs’ sleazy 1978 Italian disco jam of the same name.

So it continues, with Altier and his collaborators painting scintillating sonic pictures in kaleidoscopic colours. Impeccable arrangements and pin-sharp instrumentation work in perfect harmony with seductive grooves that pack plenty of subtle swing. Even more impressively, ‘Bleu Your Mind’ is an album that genuinely rewards repeat listens, with each successive spin revealing more musical touches and cannily crafted melodic motifs.

As a result, highlights come thick and fast throughout, from the delay-laden jazz-funk-goes-electrofunk fizz of ‘Xcuse My French’ (with Da Roc), and the humid afternoon heat of ‘Va Là-Bas’ – a gorgeous and immersive, sunset-ready affair produced alongside Renato and featuring dazzling kets from Michael T) – to the slow-motion Gallic/Italian reggae-pop of ‘Tutto OK’ (a nod to the tropical-tinged reggae sounds created in France during the 1980s), and the slap-bass sporting, smoothed-out (but low-down) grooves of Renato hook-up ‘Take Off’.

As ‘Bleu Your Mind’ progresses, the musical details become more refined, the grooves drowsier and the mood more horizontal. This subtle shift can be heard in Leonidas co-production ‘Lazyjack’ – all chiming lead lines, languid bass guitar, snappy drum machine beats and glistening guitar motifs – the vocoder-sporting stoner funk of ‘Spinnaker’, and the yearning brilliance of ‘Fingers Crossed’.

The album’s most emotive and immersive moment by some distance, ‘Fingers Crossed’ sees Altier and collaborator Iamrobd (also a fellow Twonk member) tease out a slow-motion groove in combination with lilting Spanish guitar solos, ultra-dreamy chords, twinkling pianos and delay-laden drum machine hits. Bittersweet and brilliant, it’s a track guaranteed to send shivers down your spine. By the time it fades out, via a sustained piano chord, you’ll be sat or stood in wide-eyed, open-mouthed wonder.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Jpye & E11e - Freedom Ain't Free
A2. Jpye & Da Roc - You Freak Out
A3. Jpye & E11e - Shiver
B1. Jpye & Da Roc - Xcuse My French
B2. Jpye & Renato - Va La-Bas (feat Michael T)
B3. Jpye & Renato - Tutto OK
C1. Jpye & Leonidas - Lazyjack
C2. Jpye & Renato - Take Off
C3. Jpye & Da Roc - Spinnaker
D1. Jpye & Iamrobd - Fingers Crossed
D2. Jpye - Freedom Ain't Free (instrumental)
D3. Jpye & Da Roc - Spinnaker (instrumental)

Over the years, Claremont 56 has played host to some memorable collaborative projects, most notably Bison, an unlikely super-group whose members included Holgar Czukay, Ursula Kloss, Liquid Liquid’s Sal Principato, Ben Smith and label boss Paul ‘Mudd’ Murphy. Now Murphy is at the helm of another collaborative outfit, Hillside, whose seductive debut single contains two deliciously pie eyed instrumental workouts. Hillside is very much a family affair, with Murphy joining forces with two old friends: bassist/guitarist Alex Searle and percussionist Patrick Dawes. The trio has a collaborative history that stretches right back to Murphy’s time in Akwaaba in the mid nineties. For their debut outing, Hillside has also welcomed a very special guest musician: award-winning jazz violinist and long-time Bert Jasch collaborator Mike Piggott. As opening gambits go, “Hidden Port” is an emphatic statement of intent.

The audio equivalent of sailing slowly around a cluster of sun-baked islands in search of shelter from an approaching storm, the track sees Searle wrap bluesy, Peter Green style guitar passages around a shuffling, Latin-tinged groove rich in Dawes’ distinctive percussion patterns and Murphy’s languid electric piano and synthesizer lines. As the track progresses, Piggott steps up to make his mark, with his undulating electric violin lines complimenting Hillside’s impeccable instrumentation while adding extra emotional weight to proceedings. It’s a stunning beginning to the Hillside story. Piggott also makes a big impression on accompanying cut “The King’s Tun”, delivering fluid and energy-packed solos that weave in and out of a bright and breezy instrumental track rich in jangling acoustic guitars, subtly spacey electronics, fireside-warm bass and more sparse-but-intricate percussion courtesy of the effervescent Dawes. Searle’s eyes-closed, rock style guitar solos cap another memorable excursion from Claremont 56’s latest in-house band

TRACK LISTING

A. Hidden Port
B. The Kings Tun

Claremont 56’s latest release is very much a family affair. It sees Idjut Boy Conrad McDonnell - a regular remixer of Claremont 56 releases since the label’s inception - serve up two spaced-out, dub-wise revisions of a little known cut by Bison, the imprint’s very own “super-group”. The 12” has extra emotional resonance for Bison’s Paul ‘Mudd’ Murphy and Ben Smith, as it marks the band’s first release since the passing of fellow founder members Holger Czukay and Ursula Kloss.

Clutching his cherished space echo and tape delay units, McDonnell has delivered two tasty new dubs of “Salmon Spungcake”, a spacey, gently throbbing Bison cut that he co-wrote, produced and mixed for Claremont 56’s 10th Anniversary box-set in 2017. While the original version shied away from the dancefloor in favour of creating a hazy, horizontal mood, McDonnell’s “Zip It Shrimpy Mix” re-invents the cut as a hypnotic dub disco shaker rich in weighty bass, layered hand percussion, locked-in kick drums and spaced-out vocal snippets. In true dub fashion, flashes of the band’s original instrumentation - effects-laden guitars, hazy electronics and meandering, deep space chords - float in and out of the mix at irregular intervals. It’s the kind of remix you want to get lost in while wearily shuffling at 5am in a dark, sweaty basement.

The glassy-eyed, head-in-the-clouds fun continues on the “I Think I’ve Got Gout Mix”, an even more spaced-out affair that recalls some of the other inspired dancefloor dubs McDonnell has produced alongside Idjut Boys partner Dan Tyler. Stripped back, heavy, percussive and driven forward by sturdy kick-drums and the track’s rich, warm bassline, this is a deep space dub disco tailor-made for space cadets and intoxicated sunrise dancers.

TRACK LISTING

A. Salmon Spungcake (Zip It Shrimpy Mix By Conrad McDonnell)
B. Salmon Spungcake (I Think I've Got Gout Mix By Conrad McDonnell)

Jack Cutter is a songwriter and guitarist based in the San Francisco Bay Area in California. He started with a $5 banjo just after finishing high school. In University, during the late 60’s, he performed with bar bands in Buffalo, New York. After completing University and a year as an Aerospace Engineer, he decided that attack helicopters were not really what the world needed and so he headed off to California in pursuit of music and mystic times.

Fast forward to Fall 2014: Jack is playing his quintessential tune, ‘Gift of Our Fathers’ in the SF BART subway to an onslaught of morning commuters when he was spotted by 40 Thieves. Eureka! Love at first sight and in the next few months, two of Jack’s original acoustic pieces were given the 40 Thieves treatment.

Enter David Sanderson aka David Harks, a singer, songwriter, producer and label curator from East Sussex. “Having fallen in love with the cosmic boogie (of 40 Thieves classic ‘Backward Love’) I really felt I would love nothing more than to write a tune with them. Layne got back in touch with a track he was working on entitled Serpent Strut with Jack Cutter and we worked via email over a few months to brew up that misty soul.”

Deep, stony, psychedelic, drawing from the well of Hawkwind, Joni Mitchell, David Crosby, Baffo Banfi and Tolkien-tinged acoustic Led Zep, the proof of concept is now complete and in the capable and loving hands of Claremont 56.