Claremont 56 - 20 Years Anniversary Box Set

Format: Slipcase Box set with 3 x gatefold double albums
Catalogue No.: C56BS003
Release Date: Jan 2027
Genre: Balearic/Chill Out

Side A
Mudd & Pollard - Villa Stavros
Smith & Mudd - Shulme
Mudd & Ahmed Fakroun - Drago (Mudd's teriwala Mix)
 
Side B
Hear & Now - Stella Di Venti
Mudd & Pollard - Mawson's Walk
Almunia - New Moon
 
Side C
Paraíso - Tue Sorrison (Jexopolis Mix)
Jpye & e11e - Samba With You
Mudd & Pollard - Scaffold
 
Side D
Ferdi - Little River
Paqua - Escondido (Instrumental)
Mudd - In The Garden Of Mindfulness
Zee Erf - Southern Freeez (Mudd's Mix For Emma)
 
Side E
Paqua - The Visitor
Hillside - For Daniel (Bosq Mix)
Bel - Ready To Die (Mudd's Extended Mix)
 
Side F
Almunia - Travel (Felix Dickinson's Passport Control Mix)
Bison - Familiar Stranger (Day)
Jack Cutter - Serpent Strut (Larry Heard's Fingers Deep Mix)
 
Side G
Chaz Jankel - Rhumba Jam (Mudd Remix)
Dedication - Let Me Rock You
Dj Rocca & Almunia - Ever Changing Bubbles (Deep88 Dub Mix)
 
Side H
FreshRo! - Pacific State
Hillside - Walpole Days
Torn Sail - Birds
 
Side I
Smith & Mudd - 24/7 (Recloose Mix)
Bambi Davidson - Brunswick
Bison - Mandy
 
Side J
Mudd - Spielplatz (Quiet Village Deep Space Dub)
Sillyboys Ghost Relatives - In A Small Place (Mudd Remix)
 
Side K
Smith & Mudd - Vegetable Square (Version Idjut)
 
Side L
Smith & Mudd - The Surveyor
Four Hands - Hizou
 
2027 marks two decades since musician and producer Paul ‘Mudd’ Murphy struck out on his own and launched Claremont 56, a label initially dedicated to “music by Mudd and friends” and named after the house he grew up in. To celebrate its 20th anniversary, Murphy has assembled the label’s first ever decades-spanning vinyl retrospective: a six-LP re-mastered collection bringing together key cuts, cult classics, personal favourites, hard-to-find gems and inspired remixes from across the catalogue.

Unlike the label’s previous 10th anniversary box set, which focused on unreleased material and never-before-heard remixes, 20 Years of Claremont 56 traces the musical story of the imprint to date. Across six records, it showcases the distinctive Claremont 56 sound in all its many forms: acoustic, electric and electronic instrumentation, Balearic sunshine, krautrock grooves, folk-inflected psychedelia, slow-burning chuggers and deeply considered dancefloor music.
The set comes housed in a custom box featuring cover art by long-term label illustrator Mark Warrington. Inside are six slabs of vinyl across three gatefold sleeves, accompanied by liner notes from music journalist and author Matt Anniss, Murphy himself, and many of the artists whose music features in the collection.

The journey begins with a selection of formative late-noughties releases, including Mudd & Pollard’s chugging, picturesque ‘Villa Stavros’, the folksy beauty of Smith & Mudd’s ‘Shulme’ and Murphy’s exotic reworking of Ahmed Fakroun’s ‘Drago’. From there, the collection moves freely through deep cuts, overlooked gems, album highlights and some of the most inspired remixes in the label’s catalogue.

Among those remixes is Murphy’s own über-Balearic rework of Zee Erf’s cover of ‘Southern Freeez’, a mix dedicated to his partner Emma; an extraordinary 22-minute, Manuel Göttsching-meets-ambient-dub revision of Smith & Mudd’s ‘Vegetable Square’ by friends-of-the-family Idjut Boys; Larry Heard’s typically deep and immersive house treatment of Jack Cutter’s ‘Serpent Strut’; and Quiet Village’s ambient-house ‘deep space dub’ of Mudd’s ‘Spielplatz’. Also included are lesser-celebrated but no less rewarding reworks by Recloose, Jex Opolis, Felix Dickinson and Deep88.

The collection represents every corner of Claremont 56’s self-contained musical universe, from the Murphy-assembled in-house collectives Hillside, Paqua and Bison - whose members famously included the late Holger Czukay and his life partner Ursula, to long-serving label artists such as Almunia and Hear & Now, as well as later additions and artists who took some of their first steps on the label through its much-loved Claremont Editions compilations.
That means the deeply cosmic krautrock of Bambi Davidson, the folk-meets-Americana of Torn Sail and the samba-electrofunk of Jpye sit alongside baggy Balearic sing-alongs such as Bel’s ‘Ready To Die’ and Sillyboy’s Ghost Relatives’ ‘In a Small Place’, recent high-profile guest releases such as Chaz Jankel’s ‘Rhumba Jam’, and string-laden ambient pieces such as Four Hands’ wonderful ‘Hizou’.

Packed with classic cuts, formative gems and overlooked treats, 20 Years of Claremont 56 is not only a fabulous label retrospective, but also an essential collection of timeless music from a label whose output has remained distinctive and unique for two decades.