In the midst of a global pandemic that has seen gigs, club nights and festivals cancelled, and tens of millions around the world in some kind of lockdown or quarantine, the need for musical escapism and aural daydreaming is greater than ever. It was this search for creativity and positivity that led to the recording of Sunday in June, the gorgeous and sun-kissed debut album from Hillside.

The outfit’s origins lie in the ongoing friendship and musical relationship of guitarist/bassist Alex Searle, percussionist Patrick Dawes and Claremont 56 founder Paul ‘Mudd’ Murphy, a trio who have been playing on each other’s records since the dawn of the millennium. They began jamming and creating instrumental music together for what would become the Hillside project a few years back, but the pace of production increased during the pandemic year of 2020, with multi-instrumentalist, composer and arranger Michele Chiavarini (an experienced solo artist and long-term member of Dave Lee’s Sunburst Band) coming on board to help shape the sound of their eight-track debut album.

Built around warm, languid grooves, expansive musicality, simmering strings – arranged by Chiavarini and replayed live by Pete Whitfield – and seductive solos provided by a handful of guest musicians (most notably flutist Tamar Osborne and violinist Mike Piggott, who has previously worked with Ralph McTell, Pentangle and Bert Jansch), Sunday in June could be considered an imaginary soundtrack to a long, lazy drive down the U.S West Coast.

The collective’s intent is exemplified by stunning opener and title track ‘Sunday in June’, where soaring strings, eyes-closed guitar solos, expressive keys and subtle percussive touches seemingly dance atop a sun-soaked groove that sits somewhere between jazz-funk and vintage West Coast rock. It can be heard, too, on the low-down hustle of ‘Trinity Strut’ – think Steely Dan doing Blaxploitation movie funk and you’re close – and in the languid drift of ‘Aguila Negra’, with its heart-aching orchestration, jazzy guitars and sunset-ready synths.

Sunday in June has many subtle twists and turns. Check the swelling, flute-sporting, organ-rich breeze of ‘For Daniel’, a track written in tribute to an old friend of Murphy’s who passed away in 2020, and the kaleidoscopic, smile-inducing positivity of ‘1939 Grand Avenue’, whose title references the address of a favourite San Diego hang out. There’s also room for recent single ‘Walpole Days’, a gorgeous downtempo odyssey, and a new album mix of the combo’s most Steely Dan-esque cut, 2019 single ‘Hidden Port’.

Rounding things off is a rather impressive bonus cut: a previously unheard ‘Spiritual Healing Mix’ of ‘Walpole Days’ by the great Joaquin ‘Joe Claussell’. Whereas his previously released versions of the track were largely percussive and dancefloor-friendly, this interpretation takes us deep into the world of weightless new age ambient, with Hillside’s impeccable instrumentation slowly rising above immersive chords and pads.

As usual with Claremont 56, the album’s artwork is every bit as detailed and painstakingly crafted as the music, with the stunning cover illustration coming courtesy of regular label collaborator Mark Warrington. His vibrant vision is naturally a perfect fit with Hillside’s colourful and emotion-rich music.

Hillside - Sunday In June

Bare Groove Part 1 Nude's Not Rude

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@ssaliva
www.instagram.com/_ssaliva

blurer is a peripheral study exploring ways to perceive our surroundings beyond any focal point. The poetic text where the winds are coming from, invites contributing artists and musicians to collectively explore a world that has become unfamiliar yet again. Inspired by the moment Alice tumbles into Wonderland, it asks what it means to unlearn, relearn, and navigate within a world anew. Like Alice, this conceptual mixtape delves into places, things, and feelings that have been overlooked, ignored or seen as a backdrop. The text, tracks, and sounds of this compilation take us on an explorative journey—not to arrive somewhere, but to sense that what lies within the blur has always already been in the here:now.
(Lisa Walder, 2025)

Most music is used as a form of abstract translation. To unblur the personal, we abstract it and transform and transport it through familiar sounds. Through abstraction, the motives are essentialized to their core. In this, minimalism becomes a prioritisation. A blur can be more flexible. The reduction of elements could be optimistic or protective.
What this release does is observe the peripheral, to look for emotionality or personality within it, but also to create atmospheres that appear peripheral, yet are again included in the general blur.
When hearing the sounds of blurer, the focus of the compositions fluctuates and directs the listener’s perception to certain points within, not only to hear what seems essential but also to draw closer attention to the peripheral. Throughout the whole release, the procedures are very different. Some moments are vivid, almost narrative. There are deconstructed references to find, in both energetic and quiet forms. Occasionally, we pass by rearing, foggy drone walls or prancing, twirling, or scurrying melodies carried around, on synths or guitar strings. Blurer seems to harbor atmospheres of comfort in the cold, loops of spiraling memories or expressions of disorientation, that scamper around on the acoustic foundation created by the 19 artists.
(Elia Brülhart, 2025) 

Assembled by Periphery Serpentine
Commissioned Text by Lisa Walder
Mastered & Cut by Isabel Schröer
Artwork & Design by Dimitri Erhard

supported by GGG Kulturkick Basel-Stadt
ryser005 © 2025

blurer

memory glu

Ssaliva - memory glu

Starlit Unicorn

Choralith: Celestial Cartography is a cinematic sci‑fi synth odyssey that fuses bombast, ritual, and avant‑garde experimentation into a single cosmic journey. Each track is a movement in a larger narrative arc—signals awakening, ancient ignition, hyperdrive storms, mechanical galley rowing across the heavens, and the daily endurance of long voyages.

Primal choral syllables collide with futuristic synths, mechanical pulses grind like oars, and ambient textures stretch into vast cosmic drifts. This is not just music—it’s a mythic voyage through wormholes, dark matter, and celestial hymns, ending in a return transmission that closes the cycle.

Crafted with extended long‑form compositions, Celestial Cartography is designed to immerse listeners in a relentless, awe‑filled journey across the stars.

Stellar Drift

found on my computer ...my edit from 2011 of the nice italo song 'Next - You're an Illusion - Still Nice!

Looking For Somebody - Edit 2011

New Chapter

B6 Trimolo - Tempo 100 (Feierwerk Version)

Cosa Ti Va?

Cosa Ti Va? (Instrumental) - CLIP

🌞 💓 🌞 💓 Hello my dear friends 🌞 💓 🌞 💓

Another outstanding sun-kissed selection for The Sunset Lovers this week is coming from Amsterdam and one of those DJs being known for a reliable good taste, for genre-bending, one who’s taking you on journeys you never know where they end up, knowing it will be a good one, Sir Robert Ellerby aka Bobby Beige.

Bobby has held a permanent residency at the Garden Festival and bar in Croatia since 2004 after been invited to do the opening night of The Garden bar in Zadar with Sir Adam Regan and Steve Cobby, then becoming great friends with the Nick & Charlotte Colgan and being asked to oversee the music at the bar in Zadar in the summer months.

Bobby has released six albums and various 12’s under many pseudonyms, such as Opik, Bullitnuts with Murray Clarke, Deep Six with Steve Cobby and Momma Gravy with Remko Schouten, and has released records on labels, such as Deconstruction, Pork Recordings and Different Drummer. Also a mix series compellation CD for London’s Fabric in 2004 Fabric 18 after playing the club many times during the mid 2000’s!

More recent times he has also held a residency at a wonderful restaurant by the sea also in Ibiza called la Escollera you can find some links to these mixes on his Mixcloud page links below.

Living in Amsterdam Bobby and his friends Siba & Troy also did events under the “Melting Point “umbrella doing various events across Amsterdam and a regular show on Amsterdam’s ”Redlight Radio” which is sadly with us no more!

This selection of music for “The Sunset Lovers” is some tracks that have helped during the lockdown and curfew which is still happening in Netherlands, 
let’s hope for light at the end of this dark tunnel….

@bobby-beige-amsterdam
www.mixcloud.com/bobbybeige/
https://www.discogs.com/artist/10712-Opik
https://www.discogs.com/artist/14921-Momma-Gravy
https://www.discogs.com/artist/1780-Bullitnuts

Big love to all and huge thanks to Bobby Beige for his contribution ❤️💛👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩🌅💏🌅👨‍❤️‍💋‍👨🌅❤️💛
✨✨✨✨✨ Tsunamica ✨✨✨✨✨

The Sunset Lovers #31

The Sunset Lovers #31 with Bobby Beige

Walpole Days (Joe Claussell's Spiritual Healing Mix) (Clip)

For Daniel (Clip)

Aguila Negra (Clip)

Walpole Days (Clip)

Trinity Strut (Clip)

Sunday In June (clip)

Claremont 56 is an independent label  dedicated to releasing beautiful music.

Please don't message me here as I don't read them, please get in touch via the website, thanks.

Walpole Days (Joe Claussell's Spiritual Healing Mix) (Clip)

Claremont 56

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