Experimental electronic LP The Clearing was originally self-released on vinyl in 1988 under the moniker used by the late Barry Craig who was a prolific artist operating on the fringe of the ambient electronic and avant garde DIY music scenes of California from the 1980s up until his premature death in 2009. First becoming known in early '80s postpunk group Afterimage, Craig was responsible for documenting "the growing trance music scene" emerging in LA. In 2008 Craig re-mastered the album and three tracks were added for the first time since their original mid-1980’s cassette tape release.

Craig described his privately released, small-run debut LP as "an album of conceptual space," rooted in LA's early post-punk / DIY scene but containing an intersection of styles incorporating the new experimental or trance music that was starting to coalesce in the mid-to-late '80s. The result is a masterpiece of flow and cohesion, blending early electronic rhythms with keyboards, guitar and synthesizers which careen from lively, hypnotic grooves to deeper, inward-looking minimalist ambient passages. In 2008 Craig re-mastered the album with the help of electronic artist Loren Nerell, and self-released a very limited CDr version which included one bonus track ("Raga Riley") that was included on the Independent Project Records compilation Source in 2021. The original album was licensed to the UK label All Night Flight in 2019 for a limited edition vinyl re-issue of 500 copies, and this will be the first time that the album is being made available as a replicated CD.

This is the first release in IPR's extensive reissue campaign of the A Produce catalog. This expanded edition adds three more bonus tracks, which are solo recordings that Craig included on his three L.A. Mantra compilation cassette releases on Trance Port Tapes between 1983-1985. This is the first time these three tracks have been made available since their original cassette tape release in the early-to-mid 1980’s, and include several recordings dating back to 1979.