LOVELETTER #1

Those who have been following THE MUFFINS through the years have always missed the possibility to listen to them in a real live recording and, by the time being, this is the closest opportunity for it. I mean the closest because it isn´t really a live album, but a compilation of live recordings with some outtakes and other rarities.

Half of the record are excerpts from a Knitting Factory show in July 2000, where the musicians display their unbelieveable skills on the instruments, giving their classic pieces a new dimension. From this show is the improvised "Knitting Factory Blues", but its avant-garde taste makes me wonder what they think a blues is supposed to be. Besides it, there are other excerpts from concerts in New Jersey and Italy, including a Phil Miller´s classic "Nan´s True Hole" cover, so the listener can discover a tribute to one of their sources of inspiration.

The studio section includes "QSL", a studio improvisation in a spacey vein, and "But not for Others", an outtake from the Bandwidth sessions that reminds me a lot of Sun Ra´s work. For those interested in biographical details, it´s worth noting that some of the material, in this case "Walking the Duck" and "Sam´s Room", was presented live before Bandwidth was recorded.

The best point for this recording is that all the material has never been previously released, so the fans will really enjoy and appreciate it. On the other hand, the weakest point is the sound quality, which is only acceptable at its best, because the sound is many times no better than many bootlegs. Although the music is excellent and includes some of their best compositions, I wouldn´t reccommend this record if you are not into their music, so those who want to be introduced to the band should better start with another record. This one is just for fans. That´s why I rate it with 2 stars