Cuneiform: The Muffins – Manna/Mirage / Dieses Wochenende für Five

„Amerikas beeindruckendste und innovativste Gruppe im Cow/Hatfield-Stil… The Muffins sind das Paradebeispiel einer Gruppe, deren Exzellenz, klare musikalische Intelligenz, Leichtigkeit und breites Spektrum sie eindeutig für den Erfolg und einen Platz in der Geschichte des „Progressive Rock“ auszeichnet. Sie werden mir nicht dafür danken, dass ich das sage, aber The Muffins verdienen ihren Platz im Pantheon der progressiven GRÖSSEN der 70er Jahre“ – Chris Cutler

„…a very charming and adventurous release that should easily appeal to fans of Henry Cow, Soft Machine or Hatfield and the North. Musically complex with a good flow to it with well-thought arrangements that are interesting to listen to all the way through with a nice, typical humoristic touch to them.“

– Prog Archives

MOST of you know this, but perhaps not everyone knows this: I got my start in the ‚funny music business‘ while I was still in high school, by partnering with The Muffins and some other like-minded friends and folks to start a co-operative record label, Random Radar Records, which was active from 1977-1981, and which was set up for the express purpose of helping The Muffins (and others, but the Muffs were the driving force) get their music ‚out there‘, once it became apparent that ‚the industry‘ was not going to sign them.

This originally came out as the third release on Randon Radar in 1978. It’s a great, great album by a great, great band. And if there hadn’t been a Random Radar, there would never have been a Cuneiform! Another reason for putting this album on special this week is to let folks know that the band and I are working very hard on a multi-disc CD box set of ALL unreleased live and studio recordings from nearly the entire life of the band that we all hope to have out in 2022!

„Manna/Mirage was the Muffins‘ first album and remained their best work. It is a fantastic blend of Canterbury prog and Henry Cow-ish intricacy, with a soupçon of improvisation. Completely instrumental, the music can also be linked to Happy the Man for its melodic side. Manna/Mirage would have become a classic prog album, if only it had come out of Canterbury instead of late-’70s U.S.A.“

– AllMusic

released December 1, 1990

Billy Swann — bass, piano, guitar, percussion
Paul Sears — drums, gong, xylophone, vibes, percussion, pots, pans, pennywhistle
Tom Scott — piccolo flute, flutes, alto & soprano & baritone saxophones, clarinet, alto clarinet, oboe, soprano recorder, percussion
Dave Newhouse — pianos, organ, piccolo flute, alto & soprano saxophones, bass clarinet, cereal box whistle, percussion
with
John Schmidt — baritone horn & tuba (1)
Doug Elliot — trombone (1)
Larry Elliot — trumpet (1)
Steve Feigenbaum — guitar (3, 4)
Greg Yaskovich — trumpet (4)

Engineered by Colleen and Tom Scott.
Mixed by The Muffins.
Recorded and mixed in 1978.

1) Click this album link: https://cuneiformrecords.bandcamp.com/album/manna-mirage
2) Click „Buy Digital Album“
3) Type „10“ into the Name your price field (The discount comes next! 😉 ).
4) Type the word „FIVE“ into the Discount code field.
5) Click „apply“
6) Click „Check out now“ or „Add to Cart“