MAGMA - rfi

Erm...are you sure you're listening to Magma?

Then there's also non-Zeuhl (i.e., don't be expecting Magma or near-Magma) albums by Zeuhl musicians--these are recommended:

Laurent Thibault's "Mais on ne Peut Pas..." (like a symph prog album)
Stella Vander's "D'Epreuves D'amour" (moody, melancholic piano/vocal music)
Pierre Michel Sivadier's "D'Amour Fou D'Amour" (ditto)
Simon Goubert's "L'Encierro" (jazz)

(PS - MAGMA ROXXXX SO MUCH)

For my money, the moments in Magma that remind me most of Ruins are on Wurdah Itah, and even then, you have to imagine them amplified by about 100x.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/6music/presenters/freakzone/

[the show should be on listen again in a couple hours time]

also NEW Magma album released in Europe tomorrow:
http://muzihk.free.fr/ka/html/english.htm

Anyway, if you like 1001 Degrees Centigrade, you'll like this one.

But, yes, overall it still seems a bit much to me as well...the next two tracks are each over 20 minutes!

I got the DVD of it! In a car boot sale! For £5! Tried watching all of it in one sitting, but that was being wildly over-ambitious on my part. And stretched my schoolboy French well beyond the limit trying to follow the documentary that came with it.

More so given that said item is out of print now. Maybe I could trouble Steve Davis for a copy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnNngMb4lvk

Two awesome's in the same post about Magma. Could've been more.

http://www.emusic.com/artist/Magma/11777412.html

I have Kohntarkosz, Attahk and Udu Wudu. What next among these?

those arent so hot

pretty much all of the other albums were added to emusic today

that's almost a reason to join emusic. i'll have to do the 150 free mp3s thing again soon.

abanana - wurdah itah is the best record you don't list, but if you can stand another version of kohntarkosz, the BBC 1974 Londres is great (esp as its version of theusz hamtaahk is arguably definitive).

Followed Dominique's suggestions from here over to AllMusic, read the reviews of the recs he suggests.

Saw he wrote those reviews.

lolz.

Laurent Thibault - Mais on ne peut pas Rever tout le Temps

^^^^

D LEONE, is this good?

it's nice - nothing like Magma tho, more pastoral, symphonic prog. Most people talk about the song "Oree" because it has really pretty/wispy vocals from Amanda Parsons from National Health/Hatfield & the North, but my fave is "La Caravane de l'Oubli" which to me kind of sounds like a smoothed out Can -- or more accurately Popul Vuh trying to do Can.

wow so i can't believe how much wurdah itah sounds like stravinsky's les noces

I like most of the Magma I've heard (which isn't a whole lot), but I am way way way more drawn to the dark foreboding equally ultra prog vibe of Univers Zero. It's so much more scary and less wacky.

Loaned some gear to Richard Pinhas trio last year and one of the dudes from Magma (not Zander) played my drums. He was great.

The Ruins (alone) set I saw a few months later was fucking insane though.

http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/160/4758680.jpg

Magma making another US tour

wow so i can't believe how much wurdah itah sounds like stravinsky's les noces

Agreed. I had never heard Les Noces until recently, and was in awe...that piece kicks serious ass. I have the version on Naxos with "Oedipus Rex" (which I wasn't too fond of), which is pretty well-regarded.

Audio-only live footage of a completely new epic called Felicite Thosz:

pt 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hanyCuHAabg
pt 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvJVz1QGCxo
pt 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Kagy4FmX9M
pt 4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtfNNnDwBSM

see also some pro-footage of their recent Japan tour, tons of backstage, rehearsal, travel stuff:

pt 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEgYARe43UA
pt 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COnVPWfiSJs
pt 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KJduqWyFcg
pt 4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-dDWMj74B4

blogspot bootlegs of Felicite Thosz out and about

though I'm getting as fatigued as anyone from the 'take a foreign song and add absurdist english subtitles' concept, I will make an exception for Kobaïan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWsFWdqLmNM

If I don't own any Magma but like what I've heard from a compilation of various tracks that a friend gave me, is the "Studio Zund" boxset worth spending £80 on? It seems to be OOP and on the verge of completely disappearing, so I've basically convinced myself it's a wholly sensible purchase... what say thee Magma heads?

starting out more modestly, say with udu wudu, is not at all a bad way to go. it might be pretty overwhelming to digest all at once

Well, a wee bit more scouting located me one still for £50, so I've just ordered that! We'll see if it actually comes up. I do tend to be a bit of a 'in at the deep end' kind of guy.

Udu Wudu was my favourite of the stuff on my compilation though, btw.

Thinking of trying to get down to London to see them at the Barbican next month as well, but the travel expense from Glasgow is prohibitive.

well good luck. and be careful. that is one intense discography. don't forget to update here once it digests some

Apparently the new album "Emehntet-Re" will be out in November, this is supposedly the last part of a trilogy, the first 2 parts being Kohntarkosz and Kohntarkosz Anteria.

I've been thinking about heading to the Barbican show to see them for a few weeks, but only just checked trains today, assuming that they would be ridiculously expensive. Amazingly they're not and I just bought a return tran ticket Glasgow<->London for under £40!

I'm going to see Magma!

I'll need to kill time in London afterwards until my train leaves at 5am on the Wednesday morning, but that's for another thread perhaps...

I'm going to see Magma, too! I just bought my ticket to the Barbican show. Chrome Hoof and Massiera, too, how could I resist?

Cool beans, hopefully a friendly face! I don't know if any Glasgow cohorts will be able to make the Prog Pilgrimage with me, unfortunately.

i'm into magma but yeah, not going to London for this.

"...and Massiera, too" !!!

he's going to play live?! sounds very interesting!

Seems like it! I'm dead curious.

http://barbican.org.uk/music/event-detail.asp?ID=9534

is Steve Davis promoting the Magma/Barbican show (he used to be the sponsor for all their london gigs)?

Andy Votel, it says.

interesting!

Didn't you promote a concert for them?

In the late Eighties, I thought it would be nice if they came over to London to do a gig, so I set up Interesting Promotions to promote it. Well, I paid the bill is what I really mean. I never realised that there were 14 of them in the band, which raised the overheads slightly. They did three nights at the Bloomsbury theatre; the last night was a sell-out. I'd done my nuts (spent too much money), too, so it was great. Then I went back to (whispers) playing snooker.

Would you ever do it again?

Interesting Promotions sits there on the loss sheet, so probably not. What would be good, though, is if you could get all of the Canterbury jazz rock bands together and create a festival. They do a similar thing in America called Prog Fest.

"Andy Votel, it says"

Rather obviously, I would say.
Let us know if its good! :)

OK, now clearing some things up! Massiera came onstage to "collaborate" with Chrome Hoof. Which basically meant that CH played some Massiera tunes and he went WOORGGGH AAAHHH OOOOF over the top and occasionally banged a sample pad. It was, erm, interesting. The best thing about it was the two silver alien dancers pretending to capture him and drag him off to eat him.

Sorry, I'm still a bit dazed from Magma. Seriously. I didn't think anyone could really follow Chrome Hoof. Except the stage went all dark and Magma snuck on like spacemonks from planet prog and suddenly the lights went all red and then PHHWWWOOOOAARRRRRROOOOOUUUUUURRRRRAWAAAAWAWWAARRRGGGGGGHHHH amazingness holy shit what the FUCK is that. It's like space-jazz-opera almost Wagnerian in its scope. There's something very, very operatic about the way that they perform, especially the way that the three singers wander about the stage to take their solos.

And then some more ding ding ding whooosh BONG BONG BOOOOONNNGGG WOOOOOARRRGGGGGGHHH neow neow neow BOOOOOOOM.

80 piece drum kit (of course), bass, guitar, Rhodes, VIBRAPHONE (oh god, I loved the vibraphone) and 3 singers.

I'm not familiar enough with the catalogue to tell you what they played. But they did introduce the latter part of the set as being two new songs - one of which was AMAZING which started with a 10-minute sort of Philip Glass interplay Rhodes solo and then went all PHWOOAARRGGGHH towards the end. Then they said they were going to do the first song they ever wrote for their encore - title sounded like Kumbyah?

Really liked the records Andy Votel played between sets. Wish I had a set list. It was all amazing, but there was one that had those kind of big-beat 60s drums with swooshy synth noises that blew my mynd.

Oh, we got a nice little potted history in the programme. I'll scan it if anyone's interested?

sounds amazing. really, really wish I'd been able to go to this. hopefully they'll do some more gigs in the sticks and provinces.

Loaned some gear to Richard Pinhas trio last year and one of the dudes from Magma (not Zander) played my drums. He was great.

The Ruins (alone) set I saw a few months later was fucking insane though.

― Nate Carson, Monday, February 4, 2008 2:07 AM (1 year ago)

i saw both of these on probably the same tours that you saw them. Ruins (alone) was fucking insane and awesome.

I agree with Masonic Boom that the track they introduced as being off the new record out next month was a massive great big awesome behemoth. Kobaia was the encore track, which was a fantastic finish. I also recognised the first couple of tracks they played, but couldn't tell you what they were.

Are there any Magma forums or mailing lists where knowledgeable heads could give us the true low down?

Where were you sitting Masonic Boom? It surprisingly emptied out throughout the Magma set - what the hell were people up to? I snuck down and sat near the front though when space was cleared, so bonus!

I was sitting right in the middle of the main block of seats on the floor. Could not believe that the entire row in front of me cleared out! Wish I'd had the nerve to move down, but my row was full so could not have moved without drawing attention to myself.

I thought the early leavers were due to train times, but I was surprised when I looked at my phone at the end and saw it was only 11pm, I thought about 4 hours had gone by - I think the gravitational heaviness of the music slowed time for me - in the best possible way.

Aye, bunch of lamers wussing out. I was thoroughly confused, as even with a few flagging periods, it was a bona-fide awesome experience, and how could you resist seeing what the hell else might still be to come!?

Photos from the Magma show @ Barbican on Tuesday 6th October 2009: http://krakow.zenfolio.com/magma1009

http://krakow.zenfolio.com/img/v2/p902588780-3.jpg

http://krakow.zenfolio.com/img/v7/p48122999-3.jpg

http://krakow.zenfolio.com/img/v4/p1035562987-3.jpg

jealousy

<a href="http://www.seventhrecords.com/MAGMA/EMEHNTETT-RE/html/er_1.mp3";>new record sample</a>

ügh

Got some Chrome Hoof photos from this show sorted now as well: http://krakow.zenfolio.com/chromehoof1009

http://krakow.zenfolio.com/img/v7/p739082944-3.jpg

just got new one, Emehntehtt Re, in the mail today -- best vocals of any magma studio release?

Excellent, I'll have to start looking for it about the place. Definitely going to pick this one up after hearing the piece at the Barbican show.

awesome! didn't realize this was coming out so soon.

any other impressions?

not as impressed by this as i was by KA.

but i'm only on my second listen.

I'm actually like this better than KA, though compositionally, it's some exhausting! I think the middle 30 mins of the CD is constant peaking ("Hhai" through "Zombies" to old Magma heads). Vander's drumming sounds a bit tighter to me than on KA, tho since I've been listening to the Retrospektiw tracks the last couple of weeks, everything else is going to pale in comparison. But I still think the singing, specifically the choral arrangements and production, are the best that I've heard on a Magma disc. Really precise arrangements, really beatiful blending-- haha, I feel like a choral director commenting on it, but it's just put together really well w/the band!

Also, the DVD is cool. Vander is a perfectionist, but often doesn't know *exactly* what he wants, so hats off to his poor bandmates doing their best to figure it out. I'm going to start saying things like "that take had more music in it" at rehearsals from now on.

*somewhat* exhausting, that is

v. excited to hear this.

personally, I'm usually OK with exhausting. probably even prefer koenjihyakkei to magma! (sacrilege?)

also love KA, btw. especially the hypnotic build of "KA II".

probably even prefer koenjihyakkei to magma! (sacrilege?)

I like some of their stuff better than some of Magma's, so you're not totally alone in your heresy.

good to know. :-D

obviously, they're each doing different things within the prog framework... I think I just prefer koneji's heaviosity.

De Futura is still "the jam" though.

as a bassist (and human with ears and a soul), I can only agree.

Coming around to this. There's just a lot more going on than on KA. Exhausting is the word.

Can't argue with Dominique's description above.

Picking this new one up tomorrow/today and have amazing reports from my very trustworthy (in terms of musical taste) friend. Excited.

Jade chante magma!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52vhtwuGjOA

wow. that's fantastic. I really must expose my daughter to more zeuhl.

Looks like she understands the lyrics - real feeling there!

Ha that Jade footage has been floating around for a couple of years now. I'd like to think that she's moved on to the likes of Mekanik Machinenow she's a bit older.

i like to think she'll form a baby eskaton cover band.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBaCum5V8Hc

hey dudes, i'm listening to "simples" - does anyone know if "klaus kombalad" is an excerpt of a longer song?

whoah, "muh," closing track on kobaia, is so so good

finally listened to emehntehtt-re. first thoughts: FUCKIN' MASTERPIECE.

will have to listen to this many, many more times. was taken back by the parts that sound like new arrangements of "hhai" and "de futura" (or is it one of the similar songs bookending it on udu wudu? can't remember.) but they sound great in the context of this album.

really liked K.A but this new one is just massive, and on first listen, it pales.

now I'm listening to kobaia and reading the liner notes. (the ones from the recent box set.) not sure how much of this is due to translation, but vander has some seriously great quotes in here:

There we were, a few crazy people stuck in a studio rehearsing the same thing over and over, saying: We're going to change everything! We're going to change everything! We're going to change everything!!.. We never stopped!... I remember eating a sandwich sometimes but it sat on top of my drums, that sandwich... I ate it playing the drums..."

and my fave:

When Magma came into being in 69, I considered the people who came to our concerts as enemies (we used to play mainly in clubs.) They'd listen a bit, then chat whilst they had a drink and I knew that it was because of people like this that Coltrane died.

really liked K.A but this new one is just massive, and on first listen, it pales.

k.a pales in comparison to emehntehtt-re, that is.

and now that I'm re-reading the thread, I see that dominique already ID'ed the track I was iffy on ("zombies") and hit on some similar points. cosmic consciousness, man...

the coltrane thing I quoted sounds like something herzog would say on a commentary track.

yeah - it does sound like Herzog, doesn't it?

Anyone else been following the absurd "ex Magma member outs Christian Vander as a N@zi" furore at the Kohntarkosz Magma blog? Here : http://kohntarkosz.blogspot.com/2009/11/some-words-about-recent-controversy.html

wow, had not heard about that. sounds like a lot of speculation and very little in the way of facts...

Crucial question: Does Christian Vander like or loathe Hogan's Heroes?

FACT: christian vander is indifferent towards hogan's heroes.

listening to live cover of Gamma Anteria ("allelujah" part of KA) by Eskaton....!

FACT: christian vander feels that apple strudel has been misunderstood

sort of surprised it's taken this long for the internet to spark this off, and so many of the comments after that post are a case study in witch hunting and self-righteousness. it's sad to see people so ready to turn their backs on music which they've loved for decades. and yeah, the internet is dangerous, we all consider ourselves media-savvy and critical and then we read a blogpost summary of a private facebook chat and civility evaporates

that being said, it's hard to miss the Nazi content being explored throughout the music & packaging once you see it. and the framing of it can definitely be ambiguous. to me I thought it was clear that the framework was critical -- on the cover of the first album, the corrupt Swastika'd world is being vengefully -destroyed- by the Space Talon, and the story involves humans fleeing into space to leave a culture not worth saving. (but then, the original gatefold cartoon of the band...).

And, as a poster way down on that thread in response to those paling in horror after someone pointed out the phonetic match for the 'Zir Hhäi' chant: The 'Zir Hhai' phrase comes at the moment in the narrative of the Theusz trilogy when the people have turned towards the tyrant.) But the fact that the chant is maniacally intense & uplifting part of the record is too much for some people. Or the monologues in 'Zess' or 'Stoah', too close for comfortable listening. The other symbols in the packaging, critical references or stealth advocacy? Any multi-album science-fiction opera about despotic alien warlords systematically conquering the galaxy is going to be this complex.

The comments are worth reading in full if you love the band and I'm writing this much because I'd hate for this to turn into a brainless viral meme about their music passed around by people who haven't engaged with it. Even after I heard the rumors a decade ago, I decided that the music has far too much going on inside it for it to be written off, and the comments helped me figure out why -- Vander's reverence of Coltrane and gospel, the woman he married, the diversity of the musicians he consistently chooses to work with -- in practice his life is more nuanced than any personal issues he has, and as a result far far more ends up in the music than any kind of secret, personal advocacy of an ideology. Which explains exactly why so many social progressives have found their way to, and love this music. Liner notes of 'Köhntark', 'The music of Magma is like a mirror where everyone can see a reflection of who he is'.

very thoughtful take on this, milton. great stuff.

So eMusic has tons of Magma now, and I presently own only Live (1CD version) and MDK. They don't have the original recording of Wurdah Itah but they do have the live Trilogie Trianon version. Is the Trianon one a good way for me to hear this music?

was listening to wurdah itah this morning and reading the liners. vander talks about a demo version that they recorded w/a slightly different/more stripped-down lineup. he says it was a much wilder performance then the one eventually released as his solo album and that those sessions were the ones featured in the Tristan et Iseult film.

anyone ever hear this demo? sounds cool.

Bits of it here :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePF056VfC5k

ah, thanks. doesn't sound wildly different but the raw quality lends it a darker quality that seems to work in its favor.

but maybe I'm just projecting bc of the visuals.

dig those big bass drum htis and shrieking.

I would happily watch 2 hours of absurdly dressed actors galloping around to the sounds of Magma tbh

So eMusic has tons of Magma now, and I presently own only Live (1CD version) and MDK. They don't have the original recording of Wurdah Itah but they do have the live Trilogie Trianon version. Is the Trianon one a good way for me to hear this music?

Yes! Not so sure about the version of MDK on that box set though

I would happily watch 2 hours of absurdly dressed actors galloping around to the sounds of Magma tbh

no doubt.

digging the image on the back of this sleeve:
http://www.discogs.com/viewimages?release=1749064

(the second one down - don't think discogs allows hotlinking)

(re: Kohntarkosz) Reportedly, when Vander seemed to notice other bands copping his style (most notablhy Mike Oldfied, who Vander accuses of having literaly stolen music from him for Tubular Bells), he changed his style a bit.

... by stealing the electric piano intro on "Kohntarkosz (Part Two)" from "Partial Belated Overture" by the Incredible String Band perhaps? I'm sure he didn't btw, but it does sound like it!

... on the other had "Troller Tanz" is uncannily like the Residents, particularly the *Mole Trilogy period, expect for the bits that sound like John Williams' music for "Star Wars"

*uh hold on... unless I'm much mistaken, the Mole Trilogy is a series of concept albums documenting an apocalyptic clash between competing cultures (sometimes) sung in a made-up language...

saw magma in nyc last night. absolutely great. I have some minor quibbles - would have liked a more varied set (emehntehtt-re was played in its entirety), felt like the blues jam at the end of the "kobaia" clashed with the magma aesthetic, and no "de futura"!

but seriously, this is small-time stuff. I'm a grouch that always wants bands to play shorter sets and they left me wanting more after playing about two hours. they were AMAZING and finally seeing them live was pretty special to me. plus, the stark, colorful lighting and dark prog combo made me feel like I'd walked into suspiria. awesome.

and the new song they opened with was SO GOOD. kills me that it probably won't show up on a proper recording for a few years. here's the best clip I found online:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlWwZwL4pwM

doesn't really do the massive sound justice. :-/

You can really hear strains of Magma in the new Foetus album.

I saw jg thirwell at that show!

they were kind of beyond belief. the entire two hours, I had to remind myself to keep breathing

yep, pretty much.

btw, here's the same tune from my little camera at the new york show:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMxcGtnXmgA

RIP Francois Cahen

oh wow RIP, where did you hear?

"Ki Ïahl Ö Lïahk" is a great track!

:(

r.i.p. :-(

there will be a seminar on Magma tomorrow night at MIT, with vintage live footage shown on a big screen

get in touch if you want to come with

Much as I love everything these guys are involved in, they really need a new graphic designer on board asap :

http://v2.seventhrecords.com/en/upload/041011_163041_PEEL_hAbNb2QK.jpg

good lord.

what is that, anyway? new album?

also, lol:
http://us.fotolia.com/id/5774703

goddamnit

It's a new Christian Vander & friends record, a tribute to Coltrane as is probably obvious. There's supposedly a new Magma album being recorded too, but it'll be this new piece they've been doing called Felicite Thosz, which is pretty awful tbh so I'm not really bothered about it.

yeah, i wouldn't say awful, but from what I remember, not as driving as some of their other epics (maybe more similar to Offering than Magma?)

However, if new record has "Slag Tanz" on it, I'd buy it for that alone

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elYKaEGlTCk

yea, was going to say exactly that. 'slag tanz' is incredible.

when this gets released, really think it's going to join the ranks of classic magma tracks

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShPyiQEPGYM

and when did they start playing w/an orchestra???

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmJZxdt1hAs

agreed about the 1st track you posted. a serious highlight when I saw them last year. so heavy!

I still can't get past the first album (not to say it's incomprehensible or anything - I'm just fascinated with it to the point where I don't want to hear their later stuff yet)

oh man, you're in for a treat.

if you ever get the chance to see them live, jump on it. one of the best shows I've been to. the '75 live album is prob my favorite magma release too.

would love to regardless of how little I know of their music, but somehow I don't think Green Bay is on their list of U.S. cities to visit..

If you say they're good I'll d/l a few more discs off eMusic or something - I didn't like Autechre until you mentioned how brilliant you thought they were, then they suddenly clicked, so I'll take your word for it here

hah, nice.

definitely get live from 1975 (sometimes confusingly titled live kohntark or live hhai). the versions of 'hhai' and 'mekanik zain' on there are definite but the whole recording is fantastic.

I'm a big, big fan of their last studio release Ëmëhntëhtt-Ré too. essential.

if you're into the first lp, try 1001 degres centigrades. it's the closest in feel to that one though not as scattershot and already trending towards the hypnotic sound they would eventually land on and become obsessed with. unfortunately, not much else in their catalog sounds much like these early records aside from various rarities from that era.

obviously, these will not be on emusic, but the live dvds they released a few years ago are killer. check out this incredible version of 'de futura':

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzlMw8jqv4k

if you use spotify, an impressive amount of their material is on there as well.

or, if you decide to go that another route, I imagine it would fun to just dig through release by release. fascinating catalog imo.

so that's how they ended up sounding, eh?

I'll probably wind up just going in order, partially b/c I'm OCD about this (it's been awesome to do that for Ae and there are a lot of artists where I *wish* I had gone that way), partially because I really want to see how they arrived at the sound everyone talks about. Kobaia sounds like a neat little jazz-rock oddity, in fact outside of some of the more "out there" vocal parts, it's fairly straight, but totally addictive

yeah, kobaia is a weird one but mostly in the context of the rest of their stuff. I like it a lot as well.

New album out May 30th!

http://www.seventhrecords.com/indexuk.html

:) (but wtf, no slag tanz)

yeah thats too bad. esp since it looks like it will only run just over half an hr :-/

I got Udu Wudu on mp3 and it is great, very fresh for you alternative types! But there is something too ahistoric, un-seventies about owning it on mp3. I suspect it is worth the $30-40 the LP is going for on ebay...

Haven't seen mention of the remastered box set that came out like 3-4 years ago in the messages i've read on this thread, Sound seriously improved over the previous version of the cds.
I'm assuming that edition is currently available individually.
Was surprised that the end tone on MDK & Kohntarkhosz that I thought might be a glitch on the previous version was retained. i haven't heard the original vinyl so can't tell if it's on there too.

http://www.therocktologist.com/interview-with-christian-vander.html
Fear not, Slag Tanz will be on disc eventually

I'm really digging the Univeria Zekt disc, but was this really meant to be a Magma album? Anyway that 11 minute piece at the end "Africa Anteria" is such a crazy earworm, I just can't get enough of these guys.

huh. the way he phrases it makes it sounds like "slag tanz" will BE the next album. could just be a second language thing but I am kind of salivating thinking of that track stretched out emehntett-re style.

So, this new one... First listen and the piano on it is real pretty so far.

alright, I just heard MDK for the first time and, uh...yeah, that's got to be one of the most intense first listens to any album I can remember. like, if I was in an altered state of mind, I might have shed a tear or two

reason #lostcount I love this band: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRol2CJYwAM

longest and best version of "Slag Tanz" yet -- a track that has yet to be released, and has already evolved into a classic mini-epic. Magma pieces never remain static, even some of their most famous pieces from the 70s feature new twists when they play live. Inspiring.

thank you. love when this thread gets revived!

finally heard Felicite Thosz this weekend on a road trip to LA. it's short. we played it twice.

yeah, I usually play it twice too

John Quijada, creator of a hyper-precise invented language, was inspired as a kid by Magma's created language-

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/12/24/121224fa_fact_foer

yeah, and now certain Russians are very inspired by him...excellent piece.

I've been pretty obsessed with Wurdah Itah lately. What an incredible piece of work that is. One of those albums that I just immediately have to play again whenever I listen to it. I don't even have the words for it, everything after about 4 minutes in is just stunning. I can definitely see why so many people have a religious connection with this music.

Holy cow, Live/Hhai is just amazing. This is like the music that Zappa should've made had he not, y'know, been Frank Zappa. What are the other live albums to check out??

What's Kobaian for goalkeeper?

BBC 1974 is very well recorded, with a pretty brooding version of Kohntarkosz.
Theater du Taur 1975 and Opera de Reims 1976 sound like they were recorded from the toilets, but capture the full crazed intensity they were cooking up back then.
Bobino 1981 is best avoided if you're not into their funky fusion phase, a lot of it's good though but sounds a bit more like their subsequent band Offering.
Theusz Hamtaahk Trilogie and the Mythes et Legendes DVDs feature the newer line-up, it's good but not as insane as they used to be.

The Retrospektiw discs are great -- you just have to put up with some (actually pretty classic) 80s synths. However, the version of "Theusz Hamtaahk" on it is definitive, and I love the extended version of "Hhai".

Oh yeah, those are on my list to get (Retrospektiw). Was wondering about the newer live albums since there seem to be a lot lately and I'll bet they're a lot better recorded than some of the earlier stuff. Are they all very different?

The newer records by Magma are pretty much all good (live or not) if you like the band. Matt#2 has a point in that they aren't quite the same ball of fire they were in the 70s, but on the other hand, they add new wrinkles to all the pieces, and the performances/recordings are ace. I saw Magma in New York a few years ago, and it's probably the best concert I've ever seen.

I may have been at the same show, and yeah, co-signed! one of the live sets I've ever caught.

For me the Retrospektiw discs are the best of all. I love the synths, always felt they should've have gone farther down that road!

Aside from that, my favs are the AKT Live at BBC and also the newer 1979 live thing which is beyond killer with energy levels going straight through the roof. I also have a bootleg called live in Bremen featuring Jannick Top which gets played a hell of a lot. It's the most apocalyptic of all their stuff! They play KMX twice and both takes are staggering. Top especially sounds like some ferocious Lovecraftian monster or something. Worth tracking down!!!

Another really underrated one is the AKT Les voix de Magma which has Wurdah Itah and Zess extracts performed with choir and pianos and nothing else... maybe their most beautiful album of all. But I also am a huge fan of everything Vander did in the 80s!

xp - Well I can hardly imagine anything with the same amount of fire as the last track on Hhai. I was kind of stunned by how stupidly fast it was - were there 2 drummers or was that all Vander?

I have seen some recent videos and felt like all the newer (younger) guys did a really good job. Like King Crimson I think the constant swapping in and out of band members makes for a lot of interesting live recordings.

liam - thanks for the suggestions. I'll certainly check those out. That Bremen gig sounds amazing. Haven't heard any of Vander's work in the 80's yet or beyond...he kinda went silent for a while didn't he?

if les voix is your bag definitely check out the very limited "live in tokyo" release... this one has them doing a reduction of the whole theusz hamtaahk trilogy in the same style as "les voix"

magma is a band where you can really get into the bootlegs... even though there are a lot of hoarders, there's still hundreds of hours of classic stuff out there- one needs well-seasoned ears, of course, but they tend to be on fire. sowiloi for instance was just an epic jam in '73, going on for like half an hour, and you can hear how k.a. literally turned into kohntarkosz from '73-'74. there's also the original version of "theusz hamtaahk" from dec '73 and jan '74 where they just kill it for eight minutes straight on the ending. there's also stuff like magma's first american concert, with the brecker brothers guesting on horns- shambolic but top is fabulous- the "great zombie" from '77, where the last half of emehntehtt-re was taken from- an amazing 38 minute kohntarkosz from beynes 1975- magma doing the most ear-curdling "otis" ever in a 1981 radio broadcast- the short-lived lineup with the late pierre moerlen on second drums- a '72 concert where they encore with "klaus kombalad"- some tremendously stoned takes on "om zanka" from '75 and '77- it's a major rabbit-hole.

offically some of the stuff on the "vandertop" cds (magma by another name) is worth hearing- stuff like "la musique des spheres" and a ten-minute version of "mekanik machine"... a lot of fans don't know of these

in the '80s vander transitioned magma into "offering" which was more of a jazzy thing, to some people's tastes but not as overtly apocalyptic. in '96 magma reformed and has been going strong ever since.

from ProgressiveEars:

anyone know when "Slag Tanz" is coming to the studio?

Slag Tanz, now called Axium, is being mastered as I write. Should be out in a few months, unless Offering live is released sooner.

so...new Magma this year???

nice

Slag Tanz sung by child

frogbs, who is that user? I forgot my progressiveears login, wondering what his source is. Trying to be a good obsessive Magma fan, but can't recall passwords in my old age

it was Dana5140, who writes for Sea of Tranquility. also posted this:

Originally Posted by Dana5140
I think the plan is to include a new version of MKD with Axium on the new CD.

that's a little disappointing. I love MDK as much as anyone but how many versions of it do we need?

from "unclemeat":

They did re-record "Riah Sahiltaahk", and, along with a couple of new pieces and "Axium", this is (apparently) going to be the next CD. Also in the pipeline : the Offering DVD (and - possibly - a Vander solo DVD and a tribute to Michel Graillier, all filmed at le Triton).

I see -- well, I guess it makes sense, because I don't know any other new Magma songs that are unreleased.

just noticed a recent update to the magma discography at wikipedia:

2014: Rïah Sahïltaahk

http://www.rythmes-croises.org/traversesmag/modules/news/article.php?storyid=540

As previously announced, several album releases MAGMA (new and reissues) will be spread in the fall.

Here is what would be the program:
September 23 will see the official release of the new version of Riah Sahïltaahk on CD and LP; and November 4 will that Axiom (ie Slag Tanz) 'd.

In between, Oct. 7, will be published in LP size the three volumes of the trilogy Ëmëhntett-Re, namely Könhtarkösz, Köhntarkösz Anteria and Ëmëhntett-Re. Incidentally, this is the first time that the last two albums cited benefit of vinyl media.

that's very good news, I'll be picking up all of that for sure

I've been playing "Attahk" an awful lot lately. Such a cool, one-of-a-kind disc, and I'll be damned if it doesn't sound like Vander is trying to invent drum n' bass a decade and a half early. Curious to hear the new stuff. I haven't actually heard a recording of "Slag Tanz" yet.

I think the 2 new releases are EPs rather than full albums? I still haven't heard Félicité Thösz, any opinions?

Félicité Thösz is... ok. Less rocking than many of their other records. It has yet to click with me like the previous two (amazing) albums.

I actually like Felicite Thosz very much, have listened to it more than any other Magma record pretty much since it came out. I love the vocals, and think it's a cohesive piece (working better on record than the live versions I'd heard beforehand). Energy-wise, it's not as intense as some of their other records -- and in that way, is maybe more similar to Offering. But form-wise, and certainly music-wise (ie the kinds of melodies, harmonies and rhythms I associate w Magma), it's totally in line with Vander's past stuff. As an added bonus, the final track, which isn't part of the title suite, is one of my favorite things he's written since the 70s.

Yeah that last track is lovely. I expect I'll come around to the album eventually, just need to spend more time absorbing it all.

I fucking love Félicité Thösz - it is very much like Wurdah Itah for me, composition and style wise. It does also have an Offering vibe but only because it's very clean sounding and the focus is on the singing - the more I listen to it, the more I think comparing it to Offering is a little misleading. It is actually pretty damn heavy for something so pretty. I have so much more time for it over the other recent albums.

The new ones are indeed almost certainly EPs but anything is possible. Slag Tanz is heavy as all get out - twisted guitar riffs, intensity and chanting. A cd of that is certain to be good. Riah Sahïltaahk on the EPOK 5 dvd is totally whatever, kind of uninspired, so that doesn't get me very excited... we already have a perfect version of it from 1971 is the way I feel.

At this point, I mostly just hope they get around to doing a definitive Zess someday...

Super belated response to the post above, I agree those VanderTop things are all terrific and actually all of them just got repressed on cd so they are now readily available after a few years of being hard to find. Essential, really.

yeah I'm not sure what a re-recorded "Riah Sahilttahk" would even be like, the original sounds great and it's a really tight composition, so I don't really know what can be done. but I'm glad they haven't forgotten about it

speaking of jannick top, anyone ever hear utopic sporadic orchestra? or his solo albums? seems like infernal machina and soleil d'ork are his 'zeuhl' releases?

and echoing the felicite thosz love, wurdah itah comparison is spot on.

Pretty much. Infernal Machine is newer and kinda like Zeuhl nu-metal... kinda gross but still cool. He sounds the same and the compositions are good! Just the production is questionable with lots of crunchy guitars.

Soleil D'ork is super good - an essential Magma single called Mekanik Machine combined with lots of demos of all his compositions from that time period if I remember right. Things like De Futura with Top playing every single instrument. Sound is a little rough but not bootleg-rough and it all hangs together pretty well, really! A lot of synth work. It's all very futuristic and sci fi. In case anyone has missed this monstrous little thing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8s0TwBJ8gf0

Utopic Sporadic Orchestra is like a Magma big band with most everyone from the Magma universe and is pretty cool. I think the one CD I have is live; a 20 minute version of De Futura and a 20 minute version of another song from Soleil D'ork. Overall it is not too different from the VanderTop live albums, just denser!

awesome, thank you. big fan of "makanik machine" so I might start with soleil

magma big band also sounds exciting!

lol "zeuhl nu-metal"

I've been playing Attahk a lot lately, there isn't anything else quite like this is there? Almost feels like Vander's playing drum n' bass back in 1978.

Slag Tanz out Jan 27, here's an excerpt:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ec1oFgi6hcU

oh wow

http://www.cadoganhall.com/event/magma-150508/

Live in London May 2015! Other UK dates happening too I think.

so, who's heard slag tanz?

can't imagine a magma fan wouldn't like it, I mean, the song IS pretty killer. but I do mean "song"... the whole album is about 20mins long! :-o

seeing you bump this thread and the Hosono thread at roughly the same time, I gotta ask: is it just me or is there a lot of overlap between the YMO and Magma fanbases? its not just ILX, it seems to be that way on last.fm, discogs, and RYM, even a lot of the music blogs I follow, am I crazy?

(and no, I haven't heard Slag Tanz, I'm just kinda surprised it's actually out!)

(also, can we use this bump to talk about the possible (or probable?) US tour dates!?)

don't really hear too many musical similarities there but those are two of all-time fave bands...

so, what's this about US tour dates??

Magma supposed to announce April US tour dates next week, but per their FB page:

The dates of april in north america will be definitely confirmed this week.
North america April concerts: Dates and venues tbc next week.
Vancouver
Seattle
Portland
San Francisco
Los Angeles
Chicago
Boston
New York City

anyone else gonna try for that Chicago date??

Maybe Kraftwerk are the glue between Magma and YMO - weird electro-pop on the one hand and crazy euro prog on the other.

From a prog message board :

Chicago is April 10, as I noted above, at Reggie's Music Stage in the south Loop. Show will be announced next week, and it will be held in the larger of the 2 ballrooms (Cactus is playing in the other at the same time. The mind reels!).

Maybe Kraftwerk are the glue between Magma and YMO

hah, I like this theory

psyched for this tour, they're so great live!

Got mine today, starting listen #3 now. If you've heard the Epok V DVD version of this piece, I'd say the new version is pretty similar, if not *quite* as fiery. However, this also has the new middle section ("les silence des mondes"), and a new ending -- and obv things like vocal precision and general clarity is better here. IMO Slag Tanz is already a classic Magma piece, and if nothing else, this album (or EP, really) has me incredibly psyched about the future of this now-45 year old band.

magma are definitely in a very, very small circle of acts that can still crank out top-notch material this far down the line. and this aggressive too!! this one's a classic, for sure.

I do wish there were more to the recording, but like with the last one, I just play it a few times in a row

http://frenchculture.org/music/news/magma-tour-north-america#.VMgLpkSDM_g.facebook

yep, got my NY tix

fuuuck i think i might have to go to the portland show

slag tanz is excellent, i had no idea

Yeah, it's really good!

While this isn't a "Classic or Dud?" thread, I'll just pretend it is...

Dud.

I mean, I love and have time for a hell of a lot of progressive rock (and prog-related) bands and fully embrace the overblown, over-the-top, pompous, masturbatory, so-ridiculous-it's-actually-sublime nature of the genre... but these guys are too ridiculous even for me.

What else don't you like? Can we get a top 5?

serious prog question btw

seconding that request

I only did one close listen, and a few background spins, to Slag Tanz and so far think it is just okay as a mini-album. GREAT live piece, though. I might be overexposed to it in that context, having caught it in concert a few years ago and having looked at EPOK V quite a bit. It is not really opening up any new and exciting Magma sound universes for me, at least not in the way something like Felicite Thosz continues to do. The jury is still out, though. I can imagine my opinion changing after listening to it really loud sometime!

Slag Tanz is, however, probably Vander's shining studio-recorded moment as a drummer. He is really killing it and firing on all cylinders! Those kinds of people interested in prog for the athletic aspect should dig the hell out of the thing!

Incidentally, I don't find Magma ridiculous at all! Well, maybe a little, but not in any way that detracts. Mostly I detect seriousness, 100% commitment to the concept and a little bit of humor when they incorporate a bit of James Brown and Stax/Volt R&B into the sound. I guess the concept is certainly inherently and undeniably ridiculous but the strength and intensity of the actual compositions and performances easily transcends that. Even on Merci! I fucking love Merci!

Also, Dominique, how do ya feel about the vibes player?! Does he totally take the band to a whole new level or what on the EPOK V dvd? He so thoroughly steals the spotlight for the new pieces that I can't imagine how they'd be without him. A secret weapon: not only a strong musician but also simultaneously a keyboard player AND a drummer! A perfect foil for Vander. I can't help but wonder if his inclusion a few years back is what ultimately kicked off this new cycle of works?

I like Benoit Alziary on vibes, and when I saw Magma play a few years back (so far the only time, until April), he was one of the highlights. Agree that mallet percussion seems a great fit in Magma, and also happens to tie them a little closer to what I always thought was the non-rock counterpart to zeuhl, minimalism a la Steve Reich.

The non-rock non-Les Noces counterpart, you mean

Lengthy interview w Vander from the LA Record in advance of Magma's show Monday.

http://larecord.com/interviews/2015/04/04/magma-christian-vander-interview

Show in Seattle was absolutely fantastic. If anyone is on the fence, just go.

Yeah, the Vancouver gig was mind-blowing. Incl. a large chunk of MDK, Kohntarkosz, side 1 of 1001 Centigrades...just go if you get the chance.

kicking myself for not getting tix before they sold out here :(

Just got home from their SF show - 1:45 of towering, pulsating, transporting music. Setlist as far as I could tell was Kohntarkosz, MDK, Slang Tenz, Zombies.
So glad I got the chance to see them.

SO GOOD

No merch table - guess you gotta earn one of those shirts

A guy who used to work at Rhino's store back in the day said the manager there owned a Magma necklace and kept it on display; he'd let the employees try it on but then they'd be obligated to wear it for their whole shift. Wish I worked there, man, I'd be Magmaing hard all day every day.

without a doubt

i should go as xian vander for halloween this yr -- i have the crazyface for it already.

its killing me that they're in Chicago tonight and I won't be able to go

I mean it's a 3 hour drive through a tornado watch so it wouldn't be easy but damnit damnit damnit

Cool interview, thanks! Very, uh, expansive, ha. I never had a black and white dream but I have a friend who always dreams in b&w. Recurring dreams are strange as hell and so is the notion of astral traveling or whatever it is he's talking about!! Jealous of everyone who is going to see them this time around!

froggie, the show's totally sold out anyway so you'd brave the storm for nothing. :(

chicago iss nikt de hundin right now ;_;

Decided to give Merci a chance last week. I'm glad I did. It reminds me a lot of the album they did as Univeria Zekt in 1972. Side 2 and "Otis" are really great.

oh man, if you love Vander's scat singing, Offering is the band for you!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6_o-fsArzU

Listening to "Concert 1975: Theatre Du Taur" and man, what a version of "Kohntarkosz." Sound quality is fucking great, too, raw but you feel like you're sitting about 50 feet from the stage. Can we get a Dick Pick's style series of Magma live recordings, please?!

Vander's Ganders

Top's Pops

Blasquiz's Mass Kisses (had a bit of trouble with that one)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ar5sXdM9Jr8

been loving this album from Jacqueline Thibault, wife of Laurent Thibault

Stell's Belles

That Thibault track is very cool.

FYI they're about to issue a live box, feat remastered of Live/Hhai and the Retrospektiw discs, as well as newer sets. And I'll be getting it.

Cool! Hope it's not super-pricy.

it's out now. anyone got an opinion on how these compare to the originals? heard great things about the new version of "Hhai/Live" at least but I always thought the sound quality on the original was real good, as were the Retrospective discs - amusing that their live recordings sound better than the studio ones

3 day residency at Cafe Oto in September:
https://www.cafeoto.co.uk/events/magma-three-day-residency/

really bummed I had to miss the Chicago show...I happened to be moving that same day

heard they're really on fire this time around. hope a live disc comes out. I mean, what's one more

(xp) Jesus, they'll destroy the place!

Hey, this is the thread that got me into Jacqueline Thibault aka Laurence Vanay. Two more Vanay albums being reissued on CD by Lion, all worth checking out. Folk-psych-jazz-rock does nothing to explain it but it's great stuff that's hard to pin down.

Also thanks chaki!

After 3 intense years traveling the planet, Magma will not be on the road in 2018, except for an exceptional event to be announced in March. Our program is recording a new studio album. Keep posted for some new adventures.

what could this be? Zess or something new?

Oh wow, fingers crossed for studio Zess.

Also, unrelated but can we talk about how gorgeous/hypnotic "Eliphas Levi" from Merci is? Definitely a top 5 Magma track for me, and that includes the album-length epics.

Side 2 of Merci is so good. I feel like all the complaining about that album is due to "Call From the Dark" and "Do the Music", cuz the rest of it is great - "The Night We Died" is my pick for the most beautiful Magma tune ever

Also unrelated but Magma alumnus Didier Lockwood died recently, he's the guy playing ridiculous jazz-rock violin on "Live-Hhai" - recorded when he was about 17, amazingly.

Steve from Wayside music (who is usually in the know on such matters) says it's Zess

I think the band has always said Zess would be their final recorded piece, which I guess is fine...they've been around 50 years now...but still a little sad

(that said, who knows, bands say shit like that all the time)

apparently coming out in 2019 for a big 50th anniversary blowout. guessing it'll be a wrap after that.

its kind of disappointing that the band has written so little new music in the last 4 decades though I must admit the concept of them "finishing" pieces decades later is pretty fucking cool. probably my favorite Magma moment was listening to Emehntehtt-Re for the first time and hearing them work "Hhai" in there

Slag Tanz live videos are addictive.

London show next October:

http://islingtonassemblyhall.co.uk/events/magma-4th-oct-islington-assembly-hall-london-tickets/

Might try and get to that. Vander isn't going to carry on forever.

yea I can't see them going on too much past 2019 and by all indications they're going to pull out all the stops for Zess, I think this is it

It's in my manor I might go along, I saw them the last time they were in London though.

pricing plane tickets rn

wtf

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBI1EL6G5vY

thank you for making my day

fantastic... thank you!

holy shit just hook it to my veins

this studio version! https://xoxo-ex.bandcamp.com/album/the-last-seven-minutes

A thread on nerdy Japanese backroom musicians/producers telegraphing their obsessions via idol culture is overdue imho.

love that the cover for the single is a takeoff on Flaming Youth's "Ark" album

its like a fever dream

lol MaresNest listen to this

https://xoxo-ex.bandcamp.com/track/progressive-be-bop

Trailer for the forthcoming album:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCF9-k_LnOg

getting the feeling that this is gonna be insanely good

Who says Vander doesn't have a sense of humour?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Hc02vaxDow

That film title, though (think 'me want da Benjamins')… Casual racism in the service of post-May 1968 anti-capitalism. Autres temps, autres mœurs, I guess.

looks pretty fantastic actually

http://www.frenchfilms.org/review/moi-y-en-a-vouloir-des-sous-1973.html

we haven't discussed the new album much - I know it's an old piece but still, I think it's as good as K.A. or ER. the orchestra is a really nice touch.

Heads up, there's a fantastic audience recording from Toulouse '72 gone up on D1m3 for those that are interested.

holy fucking shit, thank you, i haven't been on dime in ages and never would have seen this. this is amazing, a 15 minute dotz hundin?!? i know of the rare charente tape from the same month that opens with a killer version of "undia", a great tape by a really unusual skeletal lineup, so fantastic to have more, all hail the liberators

YALL THIS IS FUCKING AMAZING

i had no fucking idea dotz hundin was ever performed outside that one time

Seems there was a big upheaval in the ranks at the end of last year - long-serving bass genius Philippe Bussonnet has been replaced with Jannick Top's son (!) and the vibes player is gone too. Several new singers have swelled the ranks though, although of course it's all on hold for a while now along with everything else.

Be aware this is two years out of date now and it's all changed again.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/timeline/631d4bfede7feaa1d54e6459f535fe75.png

Stella did some cute stuff pre-Magma

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLE4AeCnpjw

https://i.imgur.com/6sx5dHL.jpg

Fair deal

new stuff coming Oct 7? I thought Zess was supposed to be their final album? anyone have a clue what this is?

https://www.facebook.com/zeuhlwortzmekanik/posts/578689800285739

Preview track up from the oddly-titled new album Kãrtëhl. Sounds upbeat!

https://seventhrecordsmagma.bandcamp.com/album/k-rt-hl

Maybe cuz this (and at least one other track) are from the Attahk era? I wonder what the rest sounds like. Only listened to a minute of the preview track (cuz let’s face it, I’m buying this no matter what) and it’s nice

Wow the preview track is great, reminds me of Félicité Thösz. Was hoping they would return to the more melodic, optimistic vibe of that one.

Bandcamp page is still up but the preview track and buying options seem to have disappeared

anyone got it yet? my copy is still on order but it looks like some people got theirs weeks ago

The Quietus reviewed it, they seem pretty high on it

https://thequietus.com/articles/32113-magma-krthl-review

if it's really somewhere between Attahk & FT I suspect I'm gonna like it very much

oh yeah it's nice. I actually hear echoes of a lot of Magma albums on this. the band itself sounds a bit like Offering, real jazzy and smooth. it's recorded really well too. this is how I wish they were recording Vander's drums from the start. lets see what else. one of the tracks opens with what sounds like the entire band making turkey noises. I love it. "Dehnde" is the track that sounds like what Magma would've done after Attahk. I also think this is the first Magma album you could probably play in mixed company. it just sounds really great. my only complaint is the vinyl itself which is a 2xLP when the album itself could easily fit on one. it's cool that the demos are there but you don't really need them. it's not like they were anywhere near complete at that stage. on the other hand I guess showing what these tracks evolved from 45 years ago is pretty cool. just not worth the extra LP. whatever. the music rules.

also got the lps over the weekend. agreed on the smooth, polished sound and this being a generally good thing. its pretty evocative music, something like a jazzy lost morricone score to an italian 70s police procedural. or something.

initially this feels like this might be the best since Ëmëhntëhtt-Ré but i gotta spend some more time with it.

they sound like Setna now. who of course draw a lot from Magma. I mean this could've been on the album:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pjESCC_nkQ

just noticed that the new bassist is Jimmy Top, who I assume is the son of Jannick Top. or maybe the brother of Jimmy Pop??

I never thought that I would hear any music ever again that sounded like "Supertzar" off of Sabotage, like a mass offered up to the Elder Gods or some shit…but goddamned if that's not what Mekanik Destruktiw Kommndoh sounds like… one almost wonders if Tony heard Magma, much less this record…very very unlikely…

new video?! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmgJkEajQUo

RIP Brian Godding

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8s0TwBJ8gf0

listening to the best album of all time, merci

i mean all-time for "otis" alone

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTERp_MTcis

I love the live versions of Otis. the studio cut is alright, a little subdued, which makes that high note Vander hits pretty jarring. imo Side 2 of Merci is incredible. in fact I think the whole album would be much better regarded if they'd just cut the first track.

you don't even have to cut the first track... offering's arrangement of it is really good!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXXzXRI668M

I think Vander realised that trying to make Magma a commercial soul/funk band was Not Happening and took it in a jazzier direction with Offering, since the prog sci-fi album cycle approach was a little out of step with contemporary sensibilities by that point. Another thing that wasn't happening: replacing the best drummer in the world with a fucking LinnDrum.

Love Merci! "Eliphas Levi" is my favorite Magma song that isn't an album-length epic

eliphas levi is amazing, my standard take on "merci" is that it's the one where they "sold out" with a concept album about death featuring an 11 minute piece about the 19th century magus who transed baphomet which incorporates mccoy tyner's piano solo from trane's version of "my favorite things"

which definitely puts it on my list of "greatest sellouts ever", alongside albert ayler's _new grass_

also, i went to listen to this song and i get to see stuff i wouldn't run across normally, like this epically bro-y video about baphomet

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOgeejjr2VQ

I Will Return is one of my favorite Magma tunes, I love when they just go full showtune

its too bad they didn't release a whole lot between 78 and whenever Offering started, they were going in a real interesting direction. what bothers me about Merci is that it's just sort of orphaned out there

I think Vander realised that trying to make Magma a commercial soul/funk band was Not Happening and took it in a jazzier direction with Offering, since the prog sci-fi album cycle approach was a little out of step with contemporary sensibilities by that point. Another thing that wasn't happening: replacing the best drummer in the world with a fucking LinnDrum.

― derek of the bailey (Matt #2)

the thing is that magma never really sounded like "merci", if you listen to live concerts from the early '80s the group naturally evolves into the "offering" sound as vander tried to adjust to the realities of life in a post-blasquiz magma. "merci" is kind of an outlier. as for the linndrum, it sounds great... when prince uses it. christian vander isn't prince.

idk i lost a bunch of my playlists when my old hard drive crashed recently... mostly it was curated grateful dead mixes (though i kept the "tc era dark star" epic mix i spent a month working on in late '21, thankfully... best mix i did that nobody will ever hear) but there's some great unreleased magma stuff. at least for the attahk era stuff you can hear the bourges '79 official release and bobino '81. anyway there's a great early tape of offering from late '83 that shows off the direction they were going at the time.

I think Otis sounds like a certain side of Magma but yea that's what's frustrating about it, it lacks any context

Just went through the track listings of the aforementioned Bourges '79 and Bobino '81, and yes there's basically an unreleased album there:

Retrovision
Who's My Love
You
Ürgon Gorgo
Zaïn

which all, depending on how long they could be stretched out, adds up to around 40 minutes. Plus there's a couple of demo recordings from the era that were on the "Kãrtëhl" album from a year or two ago. Given that they've spent the last couple of decades excavating old pieces that never had a proper recording I wonder if there are any plans to tackle this stuff before Vander retires/dies?