Claremont 56 レコード& CD

Review: Cool story: 60s psychedelic folk strummer Cutter was spotted busking in an LA subway by Claremont 56's 40 Thieves. Instantly submitting to his acoustic charms, they strike up a creative relationship. Recruiting the writing skills of Jum Jum Records founder David Harks, they create the cosmic beauty that is "Strutting Serpent". Sitting somewhere between Cat Stevens and Paqua, it's the epitome of Balearic timelessness. For added psychedelic majesty flip for a future version of Cutter's classic "Gift Of Our Fathers". Stunning.

Review: Since its release almost a decade ago, Furstattl's debut EP for Claremont 56, the revivalist krautrock brilliance of 'Rheinlust', has become an in-demand item. It's for this reason that the label has decided to reissue it, alongside a wealth of other tracks from the Mountaineer offshoot and create this compilation style album. Record one pairs the kraut-goes-space-rock 'Rheinlust' with its' original B-side, the even more cosmic and epic, Can-go-Balearic style brilliance of 'Links Der Pegnitz'. Record two contains two hard-to-find cuts from C56 compilations, the pleasingly upbeat and breezy 'Leerlauf' and the heavier, fuzzier 'Haru', with previously unheard cosmic rock/kraut-disco number 'Fur Paul' (a track named in tribute to Claremont 56 founder Paul 'Mudd' Murphy).

Review: Hear & Now first released on Claremont 56 back in 2018. Almost immediately they became one fo the label's core acts and have been prolific ever since. The Italian pair made a big mark with their debut album Aurora Baleare, built on it with 2020's Alba Sol and now come through with more stylish and grown up blissed out brilliance on Milvus. All eight tracks are subversive mind music that also enrich the soul with their lazy drums, gently breaking synth waves and pillowy chords. The way each track unfolds, and builds is so perfect seductive that you will be pining for a cocktail before you hit the end of the first tune.

Review: Claremont 56 founder Paul "Mudd" Murphy has a thing for studio supergroups. New project Hillside follows in the footsteps of Bison (who once counted Holger Czukay, Ursula Kloss and Sal Principato amongst their members) and Paqua. Their debut single is closer in tone to the latter than the former, with opener "Hidden Port" offering a deliciously languid, wide-eyed fusion of eyes-closed jazz-rock guitar solos, unfurling kosmiche keyboards, bobbing Latin rhythms and an electric violin solo from a musician renowned for his work with British folk legend Bert Jansch. You'll find more electric violin on the wilder and more up-tempo flipside "The Kings Tun", where distinctive fiddle solos rise above jangling acoustic guitars, warm bass and spacey keyboard flourishes. Anyone fancy a cosmic hoedown?

Review: Although the end is now finally in sight, we are still very much spending time at home, gazing off into the distance and dreaming of better times. Enter this sumptuous soundtrack from Hillside, whose Sunday In June album on the ever classy Claremont 56 is a perfect accompaniment to you lazy afternoons. The gorgeous record is utterly doused in sun, with sparkling keys, go-slow beats and lush strings all oozing cool yet bribing with warmth. It's the sound of perfect afternoon in the garden, or on the beach, with tropical grooves and Balearic bliss flowing freely from front to back.

Review: Multi-instrumentalist and Frenchman Jype serves up a sumptuous debut album here that finds him link with a host of fine collaborators. The tracks are all brain cleansingly clean and melodic, airy and free from clutter. There are elements of pop and jazz, funk and soul from the likes of Sade and Wham! littering the horizontal Balearic grooves and the results are perfect. This is lush poolside music with proper songs and hummable top lines, deep bass and lush vocals. Only two of these slo-mo bliss-outs have been heard before, so dive in .

Review: Claremont 56 continue to disregard the genre boundaries - preferring instead to give good music the attention it deserves - as their latest looker of a twelve inch presents us the sounds of Torn Sail. Fronted by Smith & Mudd vocalist Huw Costin, Torn Sail go all 60s West Coast rock on us with the gloriously rich sounds of "Birds". From its acoustic beginnings the track gradually unfurls into a delightful groove embellished by soothing vocal harmonies. It's almost a thankless task enlisting anyone to try and remix what sounds like a perfect song, but Claremont 56 obviously chose right in requesting the services of Tiago. In the Portuguese producer's hands "Birds" is transformed into a heavily psychedelic freakout which gently develops into a kraut rock behemoth filled with swathes of heavy organ vibes. Containing several shifts in momentum - including a glorious half speed finish - this is a truly stunning remix which left our jaws occupying the floor!

Review: As he did to celebrate Claremont 56's fifth birthday, Paul "Mudd" Murphy has enlisted the help of the Idjut Boys to mark the passing of the label's first decade. This time round, the long-serving dub disco duo has put together a spellbinding, two-disc mix of specially commissioned material. Of course, they've gone to town, blending the label's 10th birthday tracks with oodles of dub delay, all manner of trippy effects, and a swathe of their own specially prepared dubs, DJ tools and re-edits. These intoxicating, mind altering versions are showcased in unmixed form on disc three, following two discs of horizontal Balearic bliss, slow-dance goodness and the impossible-to-pigeonhole antics of Can founder Holgar Czukay.

Review: After the success of the first two Claremont Editions compilations, Claremont 56 chief Pauk 'Mudd' Murphy decided to take his time over compiling volume three. It's a strategy that appears to have paid off, because this third instalment is every bit as strong as its predecessors. Once again, it features a mix of unreleased exclusives and unheard or previously digital-only remixes. The highlights across the Balearic-minded set are too numerous to mention, but our current faves include Hillside's lusciously orchestrated tribute to classic library jazz-funk, 'Pole Vault', the horizontal downtempo pop of Jpye and Renato, Connie Idjut's slow-motion, dubbed-out take on Paqua's 'The Visitor' and the pastoral-but-percussive wonder that is Ferdi Schuster's brilliant 'The Fuzz Version'.