VA - Decameron, Ten Days In 100 Novellas, Parts 1-3 [2011-2016] (12 CDs)

PROGRESSIVE FOLK ROCK

VA - Decameron, Ten Days In 100 Novellas, Parts 1-3 [2011-2016] (12 CDs)

Released between 2011 and 2016 through the ongoing collaboration between the Finnish progressive-rock collective Colossus, Musea Records, Seacrest Oy, and Visual Power, the three volumes of Decameron, Ten Days In 100 Novellas form an extraordinary twelve-disc exploration of progressive folk, acid folk, pastoral psychedelia, underground pop, and progressive rock, psychedelic rock, and the wider progressive underground.

 Taking inspiration from Giovanni Boccaccio's Decameron, a collection of interconnected stories told over ten days, the series approaches compilation-making as a narrative art, where each track contributes to a larger journey of discovery.

Rather than relying on obvious classics, the compilers balance recognised artists with forgotten albums, private-press rarities, and overlooked recordings. Familiar names provide occasional landmarks, but the real pleasure lies in the unexpected connections that emerge between tracks. Songs separated by years, countries, or styles often feel as though they belong in the same conversation, linked by mood, imagination, and a shared spirit of exploration.

Acoustic folk melodies, intricate vocal harmonies, progressive arrangements, and psychedelic textures appear throughout the set. Mellotrons drift through pastoral landscapes, acoustic guitars intertwine with chamber-pop flourishes, and moments of quiet reflection give way to passages of musical adventure. The sequencing is central to the experience. Each disc unfolds with patience, allowing contrasts and relationships to reveal themselves naturally rather than announcing them outright.

What ultimately distinguishes Decameron is its ability to create a world rather than simply document a genre. The music evokes landscapes, stories, seasons, and states of mind, drawing the listener into an alternative history of the progressive underground. Across twelve discs, the collection rewards curiosity and attentive listening, demonstrating how thoughtful curation can transform individual recordings into something greater than the sum of their parts. Rich in atmosphere, musical invention, and discovery, Decameron stands as a remarkable achievement in the art of compilation. (B)

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Track lists

Part 1 - CD1

01 La Coscienza di Zeno - Il Paradiso Degli Altri 9:56

02 Nexus - The Evil Priests 7:24

03 Lady Lake - Wisdom 10:46

04 Tommy Eriksson - Abbotic Cure 7:16

05 La Theorie des Cordes - Le Repas des Gelinottes ou Anecdotes sur un Roi de France 6:27

06 Resistor - The Inquisitor's Jig 8:38

07 Faveravola - Cangrande e Bergamino 8:04

Part 1 - CD2

01 Under - Loretta's Tale 10:42

02 Safara - Elissa 5:31

03 Andrew Roussak Project - Alberto of Bologna 5:51

04 Penelli di Vermeer - La Novella di Martellino 3:41

05 Jinetes Negros - Templanza 5:05

06 Posto Blocco 19 - Scandendo il Tempo 6:55

07 Servimontana - Campaign 5:10

08 Fufluns - Andreuccio da Perugia 7:38

09 Senogul - Sixtha Tale 6:35

10 Kate - Alathiella 6:24

Part 1 - CD3

01 Roz Vitalis - Eight tale 8:12

02 Rhys Marsh - In Deceit They Play 4:37

03 Inner Drive - Second Day 10th Tale 4:33

04 Trion - Fast Forward 4:52

05 Attilio Perrone - Peste 8:17

06 Attilio Perrone - Amami 4:23

07 Contrarian - The Alchimist 6:11

08 The Samurai of Prog - The Promise 8:13

09 Jukka Kulju - Decameron Day 3 Tale 6 6:36

Part 1 - CD4

01 Ars Ephemera - Decameron 3-7 12:00

02 Mogon - Snuff 10:55

03 Ciccada - She Went for Love 7:45

04 Ozone Player - Putting the Devil in Hell 6:40

05 Castle Canyon - The Poison Heart 9:50

06 La C.O.S.A. - Orizzonte perduto 6:30

07 Cary Clouser - After All 3:49

08 Daal - Witches 6:53

09 Marco Lo Muscio - White Prelude 4:24

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Part 2 - CD1

01 Robert Webb - Intro 8:10

02 Nexus - The Ship 6:32

03 Serdimontana - Legend 5:13

04 Jinetes Negros - Fatales Rastros 6:19

05 Mogon - Mr. Toad 8:24

06 Willowglass - The Salvestra Tears 7:54

07 Intarsia - Cuore Strappato 10:32

08 Oceanic Legion - The Sleeping Lover 8:35

Part 2 - CD2

01 Samurai of Prog - Sweet Iphigenia 7:36

02 Steve Unruh - Carapresa's Tale 14:38

03 Ars Ephemera - Lost and Found 9:34

04 Rome Pro(G)ject - Day 5 Tale 4 5:08

05 Orchestra d'Oblio - Neifile 6:15

06 King of Agogik - Damsel's Love 8:18

07 Marchesi Scamorza - La Storia 6:09

08 Playing The History - Nastagio 8:51

Part 2 - CD3

01 Senogul - Ninth Tale 5 9:15

02 Camelias Garden - Quinto Giorno 5:29

03 Rhys Marsh - The Tales That You Tell 3:57

04 Narrow Pass - Day 6 Tale 2 8:05

05 Tale 3 - Mauro Mulas - Day 6 9:12

06 La Bocca Della Verità - Chichibio 5:08

07 Faveravola - Dell'Amore 9:03

08 Trion - Xindia 4:25

09 La Theorie Des Cordes - Nouvelle VII 10:51

10 Jaime Rosas & Rodrigo Godoy - Creer Crecer 5:00

Part 2 - CD4

01 Unitopia - Day 6 Tale 9 20:08

02 Piccolo Zoo - Guccio Porco 8:59

03 Karda Estra - The Wanton Subtlety 7:41

04 Yagull - Ways 2:52

05 D'Accord - The Rock and Roll Missionary 6:52

06 Ozone Player - The Well 9:14

07 The Rebel Wheels - Golden Chains 8:21

08 Tommy Eriksson - Cherchez La Femme 5:50

09 Robert Webb - Ode to Good Sex 7:46

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Part 3 - CD1

01 Robert Webb - Intro - HeeBeeGeeBee 5:39

02 Ageness - The Bizarre Garden Incident 7:46

03 Ellesmere & Pericle Sponzilli - Sull'orlo dello spago 9:24

04 JPL - Masquerade (Lydia and Pyrrhus) 5:24

05 Willowglass - The Siena Ghost 8:06

06 Trion - Two Hundred Florins 3:45

07 Stella Lee Jones - A Wandering Poet 5:47

08 Nexus - The Heliotrope 5:19

09 The Nova Mob - The Jagged Edge 5:23

10 Elephants of Scotland - Swing the Gavel 5:37

11 Jinetes Negros - The Other Pig 7:15

Part 3 - CD2

01 Mauro Mulas - Pampinea 9:45

02 Latte E Miele - Elitropia 4:57

03 Oceanic Legion - Indictment Ever After 6:57

04 Interpose+ - Lady of Sicily 11:43

05 Court - Bleeding Hearts 10:45

06 Ars Ephemera - At Lombardy Convent 8:20

07 United Progressive Fraternity - Mercenaries 6:36

08 Alex Grata - Take Thief 5:47

09 Il Tempo Delle Clessidre - Gnaffe 6:12

Part 3 - CD3

01 Rebel Wheel - A Night With Niccolosa 9:16

02 Taproban - Il Sogno, la Bestia, la Ritrosa 7:26

03 D'accord - Rai-ti-tai 7:12

04 Phoenix Again - The Bridge of Geese 6:23

05 Castle Canyon - Put a Tail on It 6:12

06 S.A.L.U.E.N.A. - Ahead of Fortune 9:43

07 Il Castello Di Atlante - Ghino e l'Abate di Cligni 6:32

08 Fran Turner - Neighbors 5:29

09 Blank Manuscript - Decamerone 10I4 10:26

Part 3 - CD4

01 Ozone Player - The Winter Garden 8:21

02 Faveravola - Carlo D'Angio e l'Amore Perduto 8:02

03 Cirrus Bay - The Kight's Tale 9:37

04 Marchesi Scamoza - De bello inter fratres 11:53

05 Bornidol - Il ritorno mai sperato 13:05

06 Locus Amoenus - Comunque vada 9:46

07 Castle Canyon - Outro - Nephile's Song 8:09

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Music weaves itself into the fabric of our emotions, dances through the corridors of memory, and whispers to the soul of who we are. Sharing these stories deepens the connection, turning the experience into something timeless and profound.

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VA - Rock Goes Symphonic (A Butterboy Compilation) (8 x CDs)

ROCK GOES SYMPHONIC

VA - Rock Goes Symphonic (A Butterboy Compilation) (8 x CDs)

Rock Goes Symphonic isn’t about strict definitions or purist boundaries. It isn’t limited to tracks with full orchestras, and it isn’t trying to recreate the classical‑rock crossover clichés of the seventies. What this set explores is something broader and more interesting, the symphonic imagination in rock and its neighbouring genres. Sometimes that imagination comes from a real string section,sometimes it’s built from Mellotrons, synths, layered guitars, or studio alchemy. What matters is the feeling—scale, colour, drama, and the sense that the music is reaching for something larger than the room it was made in.

This compilation isn’t a “best‑of,” it’s a long, winding, cross‑era story about how orchestral thinking found its way into rock, pop, folk, ambient, and progressive music across six decades. These eight CDs trace that lineage from its earliest symphonic stirrings to its modern, cinematic bloom, using tracks that aren’t just beautiful, but often rare, overlooked, or quietly legendary in collector circles.

Across this set you’ll hear Italian one‑album wonders, French symphonic obscurities, Japanese pastoral suites, Argentinian prog epics, Scandinavian dream‑folk, American chamber‑rock, and modern orchestral‑pop that carries the same emotional weight as the classics. Many of these pieces never travelled far beyond their home countries; some were pressed in tiny quantities; others survived only through dedicated collectors and archivists. That’s part of the point, this set exists to bring those hidden corners into the same light as the giants.

CDs 1 and 2 lay the foundation: the Golden‑Era Symphonic Rock that shaped everything that followed. These are the long‑form suites, the orchestral pop experiments, the baroque‑rock hybrids, the music that first imagined rock as something widescreen and cinematic.

CDs 3 and 4 move into the modern era, where orchestral ideas reappear in new forms: chamber‑pop, post‑rock, ambient‑symphonic, and the kind of indie songwriting that treats strings and atmosphere as emotional architecture. These discs show how the symphonic impulse didn’t fade, it evolved.

CDs 5 and 6 bridge the eras. Here the acoustic, the electronic, the folk‑baroque, and the cinematic all meet. These tracks sit between worlds: part classic, part modern, all connected by a shared sense of scale and emotional depth. This is the “hybrid” zone — the place where the old language and the new one speak to each other.

CDs 7 and 8 bring the journey home with a deep dive into global symphonic prog, the rarest material in the set. Italian RPI gems, French cosmic suites, Argentinian and Japanese masterpieces, Scandinavian pastoralism, German symphonic heaviness, and American cult classics. These discs are the heart of the collector’s story: music made with ambition, imagination, and almost no commercial compromise. Many of these tracks were pressed in tiny runs, traded hand‑to‑hand, or rediscovered decades later. They’re here because they deserve to be heard alongside the canon.

Across all eight discs, the through‑line is simple, orchestral imagination. Whether it’s expressed through a Mellotron, a string quartet, a brass swell, a post‑rock crescendo, a folk‑baroque arrangement, or a 20‑minute suite, the spirit is the same, music that reaches beyond the small and aims for something larger, more emotional, more cinematic.

This set exists because these connections matter. Because the story of symphonic rock didn’t begin in 1970 and it didn’t end in 1977. Because the rarest records often say the most. And because when you place these pieces side by side, the classics, the moderns, the hybrids, the obscurities, you hear one long conversation across time.

Settle in. Take the journey. Let the scale of it unfold. (B)

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Track Lists

CD1    Golden‑Era Symphonic Rock 

01 Sebastian Hardie - Openings 13:01 1975

02 Gentle Giant - A Cry for Everyone 4:06 1972

03 Beatles - A Day in The Life 4:59 1967

04 Procol Harum - A Salty Dog 4:37 1969

05 Tom Petty - Alright for Now 2:00 1989

06 Yes - And You and I 9:28 1972

07 Premiata Forneria Marconi (PFM) - Appena un po' 7:46 1972

08 Deep Purple - April 12:10 1969

09 Renaissance - Ashes Are Burning 11:10 1973

10 Pink Floyd - Atom Heart Mother 23:42 1970

11 Strawbs - Autumn 8:30 1974

12 Jethro Tull - Baker St. Muse 16:39 1975

13 Jethro Tull - Bouree 3:45 1969

14 Renaissance - Diary of an Empty Day 4:14 1978

15 King Crimson - Epitaph 8:48 1969

16 Focus - Eruption 22:51 1971

17 Radiohead - Exit Music 4:24 1997

18 Genesis - Firth of Fifth 9:30 1973

19 Supertramp - Fool's Overture 10:52 1977

20 Led Zeppelin - Friends 3:54 1970

21 Zombies - Hung Up on a Dream 2:59 1968

22 10cc - I’m Not in Love 6:04 1975

23 Triumvirat - Illusions on A Double Dimple 23:22 1974

24 Serge Gainsbourg - Initials B.B. 3:36 1968

CD2    Golden‑Era Symphonic Rock 

25 Traffic - John Barleycorn Must Die 6:25 1970

26 Manfred Mann's Earth Band - Joybringer 3:33 1973

27 Emerson, Lake & Palmer - Knife Edge 5:03 1970

28 Electric Light Orchestra - Kuiama 11:31 1973

29 Who - Love Reign O'er Me 5:49 1973

30 Gryphon - Midnight Mushrumps 19:02 1974

31 Barclay James Harvest - Mockingbird 6:39 1971

32 Moody Blues - Nights in White Satin 4:24 1967

33 Beatles - Penny Lane 3:00 1967

34 Kayak - Phantom of The Night 4:59 1978

35 Banco del Mutuo Soccorso - R.I.P. (Requiescant in pace) 6:40 1972

36 Sting - Russians 3:58 1964

37 Matt Monro - Somewhere 3:33 1964

38 Caravan - The Love in Your Eye 12:32 1972

39 Queen - The Prophet's Song 8:19 1975

40 Camel - The Snow Goose 3:02 1975

41 Todd Rundgren - The Verb "to Love" 7:24 1976

42 Elton John - Tiny Dancer 6:03 1972

43 Colosseum - Valentyne Suite 16:51 1969

44 It's a Beautiful Day - White Bird 6:07 1969

45 David Bowie - Wild is The Wind 6:00 1976

46 Harry Nilsson - Without You 3:21 1971

47 Rick Wakeman - Jane Seymour 4:50 1973

48 Sebastian Hardie - Rosanna 6:03 1975

CD3    Modern Orchestral Rock Evolution

01 Paddy McAloon - 01 I Trawl The Megahertz 21:58 2003

02 Dead Can Dance - The Host of Seraphim 6:16 1988

03 Siouxsie and the Banshees - Dazzle 5:31 1984

04 Cocteau Twins - Frou-Frou Foxes in Midsummer Fires 5:36 1990

05 Enya - Caribbean Blue 3:59 1991

06 XTC - 1000 Umbrellas 3:40 1986

07 Tears for Fears - The Working Hour 6:31 1985

08 Talk Talk - Eden 7:40 1988

09 Mark Hollis - The Colour of Spring 3:52 1998

10 Elvis Costello & the Attractions - Shipbuilding 4:53 1983

11 Prefab Sprout - Desire As 5:20 1985

12 Kate Bush - Cloudbusting 5:11 1985

13 Sundays - On Earth 2:24 1992

14 David Sylvian - Orpheus 4:51 1988

15 Psychedelic Furs - Torch 4:51 1989

16 Peter Murphy - Cuts You Up 5:27 1990

17 Japan - Nightporter 6:59 1982

18 Roxy Music - My Only Love 5:18 1980

19 Blue Nile - Downtown Lights 6:31 1989

CD4    Modern Orchestral Rock Evolution

21 Walkabouts - The Light Will Stay on (Single Version) 4:18 1996

22 Smashing Pumpkins - Tonight, Tonight 4:14 1996

23 Church - Under the Milky Way 4:58 1988

24 Cranberries - Ode to My Family 4:30 1994

25 Smiths - Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me 5:06 1987

26 Echo and The Bunnymen - Ocean Rain 5:24 1984

27 Simple Minds - Belfast Child 6:41 1989

28 Waterboys - The Whole of The Moon 5:01 1985

29 Triffids - Wide Open Road 4:09 1986

30 Crash Test Dummies - Superman's Song 4:32 1996

31 Divine Comedy - Tonight We Fly 2:57 1994

32 Suede - Still Life 5:19 1994

33 Chameleons - Second Skin 6:51 1983

34 U2 - Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me 4:45 1995

35 Peter Gabriel - Red Rain 5:41 1987

36 Radiohead - Exit Music (For a Film) 4:24 1997

37 Cure - Plainsong 5:17 1989

38 Mazzy Star - Flowers in December 4:58 1996

CD5    Hybrid Cross Era Symphonic Rock

01 Antony and the Johnsons - Hope There's Someone 4:42 2005

02 Julia Holter - Feel You 4:08 2015

03 Efterklang - Modern Drift 4:55 2010

04 Innocence Mission - Brotherhood of Man 3:28 2007

05 Andrew Bird - Sovay 4:41 2005

06 Villagers - Becoming a Jackal 3:19 2010

07 Antlers - Kettering 5:11 2009

08 Shearwater - Rooks 3:21 2008

09 Patrick Wolf - The Magic Position 3:53 2007

10 Dears - Lost in The Plot 4:50 2003

11 Swell Season - Falling Slowly 4:50 2006

12 A Winged Victory for The Sullen - Steep Hills of Vicodin Tears 4:25 2011

13 Arcade Fire - Intervention 4:19 2006

14 Weyes Blood - Movies 5:53 2019

15 Low - Especially Me 5:26 2011

16 Angus & Julia Stone - Santa Monica Dream 5:30 2010

17 Explosions in the Sky - Your Hand in Mine 8:17 2003

18 Agnes Obel - Riverside 3:48 2010

19 Divine Comedy - A Lady of A Certain Age 5:47 2006

CD6       Hybrid Cross Era Symphonic Rock

20 Cinematic Orchestra - To Build a Home 6:11 2007

21 Decemberists - The Crane Wife, Pts. 1 & 2 11:19 2006

22 Elbow - One Day Like This 3:40 2008

23 Unthanks - The Testimony of Patience Kershaw 4:05 2009

24 Grizzly Bear - Foreground 3:35 2009

25 Florence & The Machine - Shake it Out 3:50 2011

26 MONO - Ashes in the Snow 11:45 2009

27 Eluvium - Prelude for Time Feelers 5:50 2007

28 Joanna Newsom - Emily 12:08 2006

29 Beirut - Postcards From Italy 4:17 2006

30 Paper Kites - Bloom 3:30 2010

31 Bat for Lashes - Laura 4:26 2012

32 National - Fake Empire 3:17 2008

33 Keaton Henson - You 4:42 2013

34 Radio Dept. - Heaven's on Fire 3:33 2010

35 M83 - Wait 5:43 2012

36 Midlake - Roscoe [Fleetwood Mac] 4:46 2006

37 Sufjan Stevens - Chicago 6:04 2005

38 Sigur Rós - Hoppípolla 4:28 2005

CD7    Rare Symphonic Rock

01 Celeste - Principe Di Giorno 6:13 1976

02 Harmonium - Depuis l’automne 10:27 1975

03 Locanda Delle Fate - A Volte Un Istante Di Quiete 6:28 1977

04 Triana - En el lago 6:36 1975

05 Triana - En el lago 6:35 1975

06 Carpe Diem - Reincarnation 3:51 1975

07 Sandrose - Vision 5:22 1972

08 Tai Phong - For Years and Years (Cathy) 8:31 1975

09 Corte Dei Miracoli - Verso Il Sole 6:27 1976

10 Metamorfosi - Cielo di Marte 6:00 1973

11 Atlas - Elisabiten 7:09 1979

12 Gotic - Escenes de la Terra en Fiesta i de le Mar en Calma 4:04 1978

13 Ezra Winston - Call Up 6:51 1988

14 Ragnarök - Fabriksfunky 4:52 1975

15 Novalis - Wer Schmetterlinge lachen hört 9:18 1975

16 Kaipa - Musiken Ar Ljuset 7:04 1975

17 PFM - Harlequin 7:49 1975

18 Quella Vecchia Locanda - Villa Doria Pamphili 5:26 1974

19 Le Orme - Gioco Di Bimba 2:56 1972

20 Eris Pluvia - In the Rising Mist 4:38 1991

21 Quasar - Seeing Stars 3:35 1982

22 Nimbus - Children of The Earth 3:16 1980

23 Mirthrandir - For Four 14:44 1976

24 Arachnoïd - Le chamadère 13:52 1979

25 Apoteosi - Apoteosi 5:56 1975

CD8    Rare Symphonic Rock

26 Crucis - Recluso artista 6:48 1976

27 Cervello - Canto del capro 6:33 1973

28 Bacamarte - UFO 6:27 1983

29 Balletto Di Bronzo - Epilogo 2:30 1972

30 Pentwater - Living room displays 5:01 1977

31 Yezda Urfa - Boris and His Three Verses 2:51 1975

32 Cathedral - Gong 7:00 1978

33 Cathedral - The Search 11:28 1978

34 Raccomandata Ricevuta Ritorno - Il Mondo Cade Su Di Me 6:49 1972

35 Atoll - L'araignee-Mal - B) L'araignee-Mal 5:12 1975

36 Shingetsu - Oni 9:37 1979

37 Wigwam - Bless Your Lucky Stars 6:02 1975

38 Pulsar - Puzzle / Omen 8:24 1975

39 Solaris - Marsbéli Krónikák: I 3:34 1984

40 Trace - Gaillarde 6:22 1975

41 Wapassou - Trip 13:45 1973

42 Mona Lisa - Voyage avec les morts 9:48 1974

43 Alphataurus - La Mente Vola 9:20 1973

44 Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso - Canto Nomade Per Un Prigioniero Politico 15:43 1973

45 Museo Rosenbach - Zarathustra 20:33 1973

46 Corte Dei Miracoli - Verso Il Sole 6:27 1976

47 Atila - El Principio Del Fin 15:54 1975

48 Grobschnitt - Symphony 13:47 1972

49 Dice - War a) Ouverture 1:19 1977

50 Dice - War b) Fronts 6:12 1977

51 Dice - War c) Battle 2:33 1977

52 Dice - War d) Deserted Battlegrounds 0:42 1977

53 Atlas - Den Vita Tranans Väg 7:18 1979

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Music weaves itself into the fabric of our emotions, dances through the corridors of memory, and whispers to the soul of who we are. Sharing these stories deepens the connection, turning the experience into something timeless and profound.

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Muffins - Baker's Dozen [2022] (12 x CDs)

ROCK

Muffins - Baker's Dozen [2022] (12 x CDs)

The Muffins were an American Maryland-based progressive rock/avant-jazz group. They were formed in Washington, DC in the early 1970s and recorded four albums before disbanding in 1981.  In 1998 the group reformed and recorded a further five albums and a DVD. The Muffins played at Symphony Space on Broadway in NYC with Marion Brown in 1979, and also performed at a number of festivals, starting with the ZU Manifestival in New York City in 1978, The Villa Celimontana festival in Rome, Italy in 2000, two appearances at Progday in 2001 and 2002, NEARfest in 2005, and the "Rock in Opposition" festival in France in 2009. In 2010, the Muffins headlined at Progday, making a third appearance at this long running festival. 

The Muffins are largely an instrumental band inspired and influenced by avant-garde jazz, progressive rock, 20th-century music, and the English Canterbury scene. They work in an "underground genre" (Wikipedia)

Released by Cuneiform,  Records Baker’s Dozen is less a retrospective than a long, carefully opened drawer, one that reveals how much ground The Muffins quietly covered over decades. Issued in 2022, the 12-CD plus DVD set gathers almost entirely unreleased live and studio recordings spanning from the mid-1970s into the 2010s, and it plays like a parallel history of the band running alongside their official albums.

What stands out immediately is how alive the material feels. Early recordings capture a group already comfortable juggling knotty written passages and free-moving improvisation, with winds and electric instruments threading through playful, sometimes prickly structures. As the set unfolds disc by disc, the music never settles into a single identity. There are stretches that lean into Canterbury-adjacent whimsy, others that drift toward jazz-rock elasticity, and moments where the band simply opens the doors and lets collective improvisation take the wheel. The sequencing does real work here, allowing those shifts to feel conversational rather than chaotic.

Because the material spans so many years, patterns begin to surface naturally. Certain melodic instincts recur, rhythmic ideas resurface in new guises, and the band’s fondness for surprise remains constant even as the sound matures. Later recordings feel more assured but no less curious, and the live performances remind how much of The Muffins’ character lived in interaction, timing, and quick turns taken together onstage. The included NEARFest footage reinforces that sense of immediacy, showing a group still energized by risk.

By the end, Baker’s Dozen feels complete in a way few archival sets do. Nothing here reads as padding or obligation. Instead, it offers a deep, generous listen into a band that always treated composition and exploration as equal partners, and whose unreleased work turns out to be every bit as essential as what made it to vinyl and CD the first time around. Spending time with this collection highlights what makes The Muffins distinctive. A beautifully crafted testament to one of American music’s most enduring and overlooked treasures. (B)

Another one from Cpt. Hatemonger's personal collection, and he hopes they all have a wonderful time listening☺️

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Track lists

CD01

01 Muffins - Prelude 0:30

02 Muffins - Phase 1 – Portable Hollow 14:01

03 Muffins - Interlude 1 0:39

04 Muffins - Phase 2 – Buzz Aldrin 19:05

05 Muffins - Interlude 2 0:34

06 Muffins - Phase 3 – What a Place for a Wart 5:09

07 Muffins - Brix 3:23

08 Muffins - Three Days That Won’t Soon Fade 2:41

09 Muffins - English 2:50

10 Muffins - Bartok Stockpot 8:13

11 Muffins - The Return of Uncle Don 4:31

12 Muffins - Blind Cave Tetra 2:36

CD02

01 Muffins - English 2:47

02 Muffins - Teddy Roosevelt 3:30

03 Muffins - Egress Gnome Odd/Impromptu Factory 8:45

04 Muffins - Wombat 2:58

05 Muffins - 1916/Why Pursue It/Captain Tugg Tocatta/Swashbuckler With a Brainblock 10:06

06 Muffins - Courtesy of Your Focal Interest Span/Please Do Not Open Dr. Fisher 4:21

07 Muffins - The Manilla Robots/Joe Crop on a Toxic Planet/The Bush 10:43

08 Muffins - Chronometers 21:19

09 Muffins - Creznor Okay 4:30

CD03

01 Muffins - Intro 0:22

02 Muffins - Solemn Music 1:39

03 Muffins - President Nixon’s Retirement 14:04

04 Muffins - 3 Ways Till Sunday 4:36

05 Muffins - Carbons 15:52

06 Muffins - Expected Freedom 6:10

07 Muffins - Prince Albert in the Can 7:24

08 Muffins - Monkey With the Golden Eyes 4:44

09 Muffins - Amelia Earhart 18:12

CD04

01 Muffins - Intro 0:28

02 Muffins - Expected Freedom 9:25

03 Muffins - Band of Brothers 4:15

04 Muffins - Expected Freedom 10:45

05 Muffins - Not Alone [solo] 1:25

06 Muffins - Amelia Earhart [solo] 1:21

07 Muffins - Imprimatur 10:58

08 Muffins - Not Alone 14:18

09 Muffins - Closing Hours 17:07

CD05

01 Muffins - Monkey in the Middle 6:45

02 Muffins - Lady in a Brown Paper Bag 13:33

03 Muffins - Amelia Earhart 19:41

04 Muffins - Monkey With the Golden Eyes/Hobart Got Burned 9:57

05 Muffins - The Adventures of Captain Boomerang 24:44

CD06

01 Muffins - Not Alone [solo] 1:22

02 Muffins - Whistling While We Work 3:01

03 Muffins - To-ing and Fro-ing 18:24

04 Muffins - Children and Art 22:25

05 Muffins - Not Alone 12:19

06 Muffins - Under Dali's Wing 4:17

07 Muffins - Horsebones 4:32

08 Muffins - The Grammy Snap 6:17

CD07

01 Muffins - Under Dali's Wing [false start] 0:13

02 Muffins - Under Dali's Wing 3:34

03 Muffins - Horsebones 3:01

04 Muffins - Horsebones 3:52

05 Muffins - Zoom Resume 8:05

06 Muffins - Boxed and Crossed 6:22

07 Muffins - Zoom Resume 2:58

08 Muffins - Bit Hand 3:03

09 Muffins - Wonder World 4:16

10 Muffins - Not Alone [solo] 1:52

11 Muffins - [silence] 0:07

12 Muffins - Chrestomathy 5:32

13 Muffins - Through Shawn’s Lens 4:27

14 Muffins - Father Tongue 4:31

15 Muffins - Dirty Trousers 3:16

CD08

01 Muffins - Horsebones 2:25

02 Muffins - Under Dali's Wing 3:11

03 Muffins - Squeaker's Dream 5:34

04 Muffins - Boxed and Crossed 6:17

05 Muffins - Zoom Resume 7:28

06 Muffins - Queenside 6:44

07 Muffins - Angle Dance 5:28

08 Muffins - Antidote to Drydock 5:08

09 Muffins - World Maps 10:25

10 Muffins - Bob the Bat 1:44

CD09

01 Muffins - In the Black Room 3:15

02 Muffins - Ups and Downs 4:27

03 Muffins - Poetry Drive 4:53

04 Muffins - North of Muffin Head 3:57

05 Muffins - She Wears Her Dead Mother's Hat 2:51

06 Muffins - Talking With the Planets 5:32

07 Muffins - Down From the Sun Tower/Impossible John 3:46

08 Muffins - Dancing in the Street 2:43

09 Muffins - Horny Toads 7:17

10 Muffins - There Not There 4:46

11 Muffins - Vocabulario 5:25

12 Muffins - Hobart Got Burned 6:14

13 Muffins - [silence] 0:23

14 Muffins - The Highlands 6:05

15 Muffins - The Two Georges 5:33

16 Muffins - Breaking the X 7:42

CD10

01 Muffins - Walking the Duck 3:14

02 Muffins - These Castle Children 6:37

03 Muffins - World Maps/Down From the Suntower/Impossible John/Military Road 12:13

04 Muffins - Under Dali's Wing 3:49

05 Muffins - Horsebones 2:33

06 Muffins - Dear Mona 2:59

07 Muffins - People in the Snow 5:12

08 Muffins - Out of the Boot/Nan True’s Hole 8:12

09 Muffins - East of Diamond/The Adventures of Captain Boomerang 12:34

10 Muffins - [silence] 0:10

11 Muffins - Writing Blind 5:48

12 Muffins - Combo 10:39

CD11

01 Muffins - Intro 0:46

02 Muffins - These Castle Children 6:24

03 Muffins - The Adventures of Captain Boomerang 25:41

04 Muffins - The Ugly Buttling 3:47

05 Muffins - Walking the Duck 3:05

06 Muffins - Dear Mona/Impossible John/People in the Snow 10:19

07 Muffins - East of Diamond 13:49

08 Muffins - The Man in the Skin-Painted Suit 3:19

09 Muffins - Childhood’s End 6:46

10 Muffins - Stethorus Punctum 3:51

CD12

01 Muffins - Intro 0:18

02 Muffins - Exquisite Corpse/Out of the Boot/Sam’s Room 14:53

03 Muffins - Smaller but More Heads 5:17

04 Muffins - Maya 4:44

05 Muffins - Aquatone 5:15

06 Muffins - Angel From Lebanon 6:26

07 Muffins - Queenside/Antidote to Drydock/Angle Dance 7:25

08 Muffins - Choombachang 4:22

09 Muffins - Amelia Earhart 12:06

10 Muffins - Beat 10/In the Ghost Light 8:09

11 Muffins - KGB 4:34

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Music weaves itself into the fabric of our emotions, dances through the corridors of memory, and whispers to the soul of who we are. Sharing these stories deepens the connection, turning the experience into something timeless and profound.

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