Sunday, August 9, 2009

New Blog for Magma and Zeuhl Music

There have been many issues concerning the old Zeuhl and Beyond blog. This is a brand new blog that will be devoted to the music of Magma and Christian Vander. Please tell your friends about it.

7 comments:

  1. OK Ok....see you here...Have a Nice Sunday

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  2. Hey, nice to see an English MAGMA blog! I look forward to following it.

    MAGMA rules!

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  3. Great work Marc. Will try an root out some old bits you can use on here.

    Steve A - UK

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  4. Thanks guys.

    Steve, looking forward to some of your memories and archives. Even stuff that you got from Paul Mummery would be welcome. And, tell Davis about the blog... he's probably still in Las Vegas.

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  5. Hi Marc
    Great to find an English Magma blog. I will be seeing them in London on the 6th August, so am very excited about that.

    Good luck with this blog
    Regds
    StuArt, UK

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  6. MANY THANKS for this new initative, Marc... my wishes are for a place of style, competence, wealth and accuracy of information, and warmth of dialogue around the music/musicians we love and appreciate so much - with their relevance in culture and in our own personal lives fully displayed... I trust this to become such place... BRAVISSIMO!

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  7. Hello, I just found this blog, and would like to ask more knowledgeable fans some questions. I have been a Magma fan for only about 2 years now, but their music has grown on me so quickly and I'm incredibly passionate about them now. I'm curious about the myths and prophecies around which Christian Vander has created such remarkable music. This leads to certain questions regarding language. Here are a few from my most recent thoughts:

    1) MEKANIK : It's a key word in many pieces. Does it simply mean "machine"? In the liner notes to Kohntarkosz, Vander compares machines, humans and orks. I initially wondered if "machine" referred to de-spiritualized human beings, i.e. capitalist ("earn and shop") robots (the greedy, self-centered aspect of humans that dies away in Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh.) But my sense now is that that's wrong, that Mekanik (as in Mekanik Zain or Mekanik Kommandoh) actually refers to some kind of superhuman force, a higher power of nature or a universal force. Can anyone shed light on this?

    2) STOAH : What is this? It seems to be described as an "ultimate weapon" but also as a kind of mind power or spiritual force. My understanding is that Stoah is used on the people of Earth in MDK, but if the story is followed literally, many of the people of Earth come to their own realizations and reach a readiness to lose their secular lives before this happens. Is the Mekanik Zain section the preparation/application of Stoah? To me, it certainly sounds like some weapon being aimed, although there is the spiritual acceptance and celebration of Mekanik Kommandoh before that happens. Any explanations or thoughts on the meaning of STOAH?

    3) ZEUHL WORTZ. "Celestial chant"? "Divine words"? Zeuhl wortz seems to be describe an oath, a prayer or a mantra, words of power that align the speaker with the powers of the universe and rectify the spirit. It's described in Theusz Hamtaahk and recited in MDK. Any ideas on the meaning? Or translation of the content?

    4) I have a pretty good section-by-section understanding of the story and progression of MDK, thanks to Vander's descriptions of the piece, but not so much of Theusz Hamtaahk and Wurdah Itah. I wonder if anyone could share their thoughts on the progression of these pieces and what is happening in them? I have my own thoughts, and can share them later, but would like to hear others' opinions. (P.S. I'm not talking about the back story of the abduction of the Kobaian delegation and the struggle with Earth, but a section-by-section description of the story or psychodrama that the music is relating.)

    I know these are difficult matters to answer. Any partial answer or personal reflection is welcome.

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