Originally released on Rong music in 2007, Quiet Village's epic 14 min mix of Mudd's 'Spielplatz' is joined by the instrumental version previously unreleased on vinyl.

STAFF COMMENTS

Millie says: The combination Mudd x Claremont 56 x Quiet Village equals this beauty 'Spielplatz' remixes. It's got that subtle dub on a Balearic base, and the instrumental version has never graced vinyl so here's a real treat. Pure relaxation.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Spielplatz (Quiet Village Instrumental Mix)
B1. Spielplatz (Quiet Village Deep Space Dub)

‘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)

When Paul Murphy released his critically acclaimed debut solo album, Claremont 56, in 2006, many thought it would be the first of many. In a way, it was, as in the years since he’s released a string of collaborative sets alongside Benjamin J Smith (as Smith & Mudd), and as part of underground ‘supergroups’ Paqua, Bison and Hillside. But that second solo album? Well, it just had to wait. In early 2023, Murphy finally decided to scratch that itch, roping in some of his most trusted collaborators (keyboardist and bassist Michele Chiavarini, percussionist Patrick Dawes, guitarist Dave Noble and HF International’s Kashif included) to lay down a sumptuous set of tracks that not only showcases his now familiar (bit hard to pigeonhole) neo-Balearic sound, but also proves how much he has matured as a writer and producer since 2006.

In The Garden of Mindfulness is richly musically detailed, expertly arranged and full to bursting with fluid instrumental solos, with Murphy and his collaborators serving up tracks that brilliantly blur the boundaries between languid jazz-funk, downtempo, vintage synth-laden krautrock, dubby grooves and sun-splashed soundscapes. It simply sparkles from the moment that opener ‘Eighty Three’ slowly rises like the morning sun, with gentle, undulating synth sounds ushering in a slow-motion jazz-funk excursion rich in twinkling electronics, spacey pads and warming bass. Recent single ‘Katanaboy’, a lusciously layered dub disco-infused dancefloor excursion in Murphy’s familiar style, raises the temperature a touch, before ‘Bonne Anse’ and the sublime ‘Unka Paw’ (whose combination of evocative fretless bass, extended electric piano solos, Clavinet licks and acoustic guitars is genuinely spellbinding) invite a combination of wavy shuffling and flat-on-the-back, eyes-closed appreciation.

And so it continues, with gorgeous title track ‘In The Garden of Mindfulness’ making way for the boogie-influenced, Japanese-British brilliance of ‘Hangsang’ (check the jaunty pianos, yearning breakdown and exotic melodies). Murphy’s long held love of warm, weighty bass, hypnotic disco grooves, colourful analogue synth sounds and jazzy guitars once again comes to the fore on ‘Way Of The Hollow’ before the album reaches a fittingly triumphant conclusion with ‘Late In March’.

A neat sonic summary of all that makes the set such a rewarding and entertaining experience, repeat listens reveals a wealth of musical details, from off-kilter triple-time drums and surprise bass guitar solos, to impeccable piano solos (provided by the immensely talented Chiavarini), fizzing jazz-funk synth doodles and stirring synth-strings. It’s a breathlessly brilliant way to end an album that was genuinely worth waiting for.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Eighty Three
A2. Katanaboy
B1. Bonne Anse
B2. Unka Paw
C1. In The Garden Of Mindfulness
C2. Hangsang
D1. Way Of The Hollow
D2. Late In March