Video Synchronizatohr Wanted

I am forwarding a request from the folks on the Zeuhl and Beyond blog.....

Somebody (Franck?) made a superb amateur video recording of the Magma concert at The Alhambra on December 5, 2009.

Rodolphe made a good audio recording from that night. Other people might have recorded this night, so it would be great to get the best possible audio recording. So, if you have a great audio recording from December 5, please let us know.

We are in search of somebody who can take the video, sync it with the audio, and produce a new video with the enhanced sound quality.

Can anybody do this?

Review of ER - The Wire No. 311- January 2010

Thanks to our friend Cortege for this article.

Muzak No. 5 - 1975

Thanks to Gianmaria once again, who is starting to send us articles from italian magazines.

This one is from Muzak No. 5 (1975). Magma is mentioned in an article on French bands.

New Version of the "Magma on Tour" Document is Available

A newer version of the"Magma On Tour" document can be downloaded here. There should be greater accuracy in the future because The Memorizatohr is going to help out a little bit.


Mr. Akoustikus has sent along the following note:

Please Note: This file is part of a collective work in progress started years ago by Paul Mummery and updated on Ork Alarm's website by Steve Davis. To help other contributors and keep track of where informations come from, I used green when I have clear evidence and blue when the proposed update need confirmation. Please DO NOT spread out this file, but always refer to the Magma on Tour page.

If you want to contribute and/or know exactly what my sources are, please ask.

Thanks, any help is appreciated.
akoustikus, December 2009

Magma - Alhambra, Paris - December 4, 2009

Here is the 2nd night of the 4-night set, courtesy of Rodolphe.

Magma - Alhambra, Paris - December 3, 2009

Our good friend Rodolphe uploaded a recording from December 3, 2009 from the first night at the Alhambra in Paris. Magma recently played a four-night stint there from December 3rd through the 6th, and Rodolphe was there with his trusty recorder.

It took me a while to search the Zeuhl and Beyond blog for this show, because all of Epanou's cats were telling me to vote !

The FLAC files can be downloaded here.

Mauro Radice's "Enciclopedia Pop" (April 1976)

Gianmaria sends along a scan and a note:


Here's the word Magma from Mauro Radice's "Enciclopedia Pop" (April 1976). No scan for this, sorry....the book binding would breakup. Anyway below is a translation and the book cover is attached.

MAGMA - Magma teach us how to be completely stoned, and not even too well; they're in search of "Universal Harmony" and of a language that is able to hit the subconscious, that can be understood without knowing the meaning of the single words (but Vander is taking care of this with a dictionary) and the results should come, one day or another. With their first albums 1001 Centigrades and 2 they have established a noteworthy ensemble, with a bit of lifting here and there, then Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh has seen Penderecki and an hypnotic and obsessive unfolding, willingly similar to an invasion from the Kobaia planet (theirs), while Kohntarzos was a bit wasted. But Vander is too crazy, or too wise, and great things are bound to come.

Review - To Love - Vinile Spring/Summer 1989

Mille grazies to Gianmaria for another scan.

Christian Vander is getting farther away on his mystical path. I mean farther from what one would expect from a "rock musician". He travels through territories which are too intense to be categorized by a review. This "To Love" album is dedicated to his friend Jean Paul Fennetau ("Urval" to the Kobaian people 1955/1987) and unfolds through piano pulsations and powerful vocal interpretations. Drums are played on just one track, the rest is just Christian, his piano, his voice and his faithful partner Stella. We're on Kobaia, the planet of soul, of love supreme.

Merry Xmas / Felice Navidad / Joyeaux Noel / Buone Feste Natalizie / Fröhliche Weihnachten / Shinnen omedeto. Kurisumasu Omedeto

(Thanks to my good friend Epanou for the inspiration)

Offering 1987 - Review in Vinile No. 1

Here is a scan of a review an Italian magazine named Vinile. Thanks again to our new friend Gianmaria.



Hello Marc, here's a scan of a review from "Vinile" n. 1 (Fall Winter 1987) a music magazine (every issue included an e.p.) which was published by Stampa Alternativa, the underground press agency which brought Gong, Henry Cow and Wyatt in Roma for the free concert in Piazza Navona to legalize cannabis.

Here's a translation for those who don't understand Italian:

The sticker on cover says "New Magma album" but it's no accident that this work is credited to Christian Vander. Whenever he's present (and his wife Stella as well) the spirit of the mother band inevitably hovers about, but this double album is meant as a personal homage (an "offering", precisely) to the unforgotten master John Coltrane. G.M. (Gigi Marinoni).

Rock and Folk No. 185, June 1982

Thanks to our new friend, Gianmaria of Verona (Italy). He has promised to send us some scans from articles that appeared in Italian magazines, so there should be some new goodies here soon.

Peppo's Review of Magma, Oslo, December 12, 2009

They played

"Slag Tanz" (Untitled according to Stella),
Felicite Thosz,
Ëmëhntëhtt-Re and closed with a very intense Kobaïa.

By the time of the encore I was totally exhausted, being slightly cold and having walked all day plus the show not being seated. But mostly because of the total intensity of the performance. They really did give their all, it seemed. Out of my now four Magma shows, this has to be my favourite yet. Awesome. Audience was absolutely enthusiastic. Christian was very positive, more so than I've ever seen him; smiling, shaking audience members' hands. His drumming was far more precise and fitting than at the RIO festival in Carmaux, and generally I thought they were tighter.

Some new compositional elements in both "Slag Tanz" and Felicite Thosz. "Tanz" transitions into major chords a few times -- not sure how I fel about that. Felicite Thosz however has really matured on me, and I really like it now.

Fortunately no "Le Gospel". Phew. I know at least two other PE members were there, maybe they can chime in...

Korekyojinn - Four Holes in the Sky

(Thanks to Issehn)

Another project from Yoshida

Photos from Oslo

A few photos of Magma in Oslo on December 12, 2009 can be found here.

Other than that, not much information has come out of Norway about this concert. I heard that the audience had to stand throughout the concert, and that they played their standard set (Kobaia instead of Le Gospel as the encore).

Can some kind Osloian write a brief review for this blog?

Gift Ideas for your Wife

Wouldn't you just love to buy one of these for your wife for Xmas?

A Hong Kong-based company is selling these up on Ebay. I just might buy one for myself!

(Update - I just ordered one.)

E-R Review by Brandon Wu

Review of E-R by Brandon Wu in the Washington (DC) City Paper.

MAGMA - ORTF, Maison Radio, Paris, France 1971-05-26 FM

On DIME now. Brought to you by Olvator, and then a re-seed by UncleMeat.


MAGMA - ORTF, Maison Radio, Paris, France 1971-05-26 FM

Lineage: ? low gen cassette > CDR > flac

Tracks:

01. FM intro
02. Christian and Klaus intro
03. Ki Iahl O Liak (part1)
04. Ki Iahl O Liak (part2)
05. Mekanik (cut)

Fantastic FM show by early Magma. This is not any of the other Mekanik versions previously seeded. Also, the opening track should be mouth-watering for the serious Magma connoiseurs here on DIME. Have fun with this, not too many soundboards around from 1971 :).

brought to you by olvator 7/2007

Magma Lyrics

Here on LyricWiki

A Word About FLACs and MP3s

One of the readers of this blog decided to help out the Magma fans who do not have access to DIME, and he re-posted the Alhambra show on Rapidshare, but in MP3 format.

The original taper contacted me and asked me to remove the link to the Rapidshare archive. He said that it was OK to post the show on Rapidshare, but he specified that it MUST be in the original FLAC (lossless) format.

I know that many of the file-sharing services like Rapidshare have a limit of 200MB for a single file. Unfortunately, Emehntehtt-Re is a 54 minute song, and it is over 300MB alone. So, it is impossible to put this file on Rapidshare unless you split it into 2 pieces.

Many people who upload their works to DIME are very adamant about retaining the lossless quality of their work. So, if you decide to repost a concert on a file-sharing service, and you need to post it in a lossy format because of size limitations, please try to contact the original taper and ask for his permission.

This has been a Public Service Announcement from your friends at magmasystems.

Slag Tanz

I have just listened to a recording of Slag Tanz from the recent concerts at the Alhambra in Paris. Vander has added about 5 minutes onto the piece, and the tune now clocks in at over 16 minutes.

When Magma first started playing Kohntarkosz on stage in 1973, they would change the piece ever few concerts. Of course, the first version of Kohntarkosz sounds nothing like the final studio version.

But, I am wondering if we are about to enter an exciting time with Magma when we can sit back and watch the compositional process unfold around Slag Tanz. Will Vander add more nuances to the piece every few weeks?

Video - Le Gospel

Our friend Robert Issehn uploaded a video clip of Magma (and guests) performing Le Gospel at the Alhambra.

Magma à l'Alhambra - Le Gospel

Photos of Don't Die, Les Voix de Magma, and More

Thanks to our friend Meurdhek, here are some old photos of Magma clone group Don't Die and Les Voix De Magma. Also, the group Ascent looks like it has Frank Vedel as its guitarist - you know frank as the guitar player from the 1996 incarnation of Magma.

DIME - Magma - Paris - December 6, 2009

Here is the last show of a 4-night stand that Magma has at The Alhambra in Paris. Thanks to the taper and sharer, metro_cubo.


LDB Master Series #220

Hello, this is a collection of masters I would like to seed here. I've been taping shows for more than 20 years and have an awful lot of masters. Most of them are in the old cassette format, some others are on MiniDisc and others are on CD. I've taped many shows of many artists over the years, so don't be surprised if you will find many different artists taped! Some shows are already circulating, some others have not circulated through collectors yet. But most of all, enjoy! They all come from my master tapes!

MAGMA
Paris, Alhambra
December 6, 2009

01.Slag Tanz
02.Felicité Thosz
03.Ëmëhntëht-Rê
04.Intro Stella Vander / Gospel (with choir)

TT 124:51

Lineage: Aiwa CM-DS6 > Edirol R-09 > HD via USB > SoundForge 7.0 > CD Wave > FLAC Frontend (level 6)

Christian Vander — Drums, Vocals, Percussion
Stella Vander — Vocals, Percussion
Isabelle Feuillebois — Vocals
Hervé Aknin — Vocals
Benoît Alziary — Vibraphone, Keyboards
James MacGraw — Guitar
Bruno Ruder — Fender Rhodes
Philippe Bussonnet — Bass

Since 1990 (when I saw the band for the first time at La Cigale in Paris) I must have seen the band
no less than ten times. Some shows I liked, some other did not at all. But this one, which closed
Magma's 4-days residency at Alhambra was probably among the best, that's why I decided to seed this
show. Part of this was the excellent little tiny venue called Alhambra which is rapidly becoming my
favourite venue in town: great sound, great seats, great look from every part of it, all in an
extremely intimate atmosphere. In that way, I was able to appreciate the full potential of the band.

And the band itself is reaching one of their peaks of their career, which is quite reassuring if you
think that they are celebrating their 40 years. The new pieces - yet unfinished and unreleased - Slag
Tanz and Felicité Thosz do show that this band is still able to produce masterpieces. Of course you
need to like Magma's music. I was once again impressed by Stella's powerful and gentle singing, much
more than Vander's drumming. But the whole band was in a state of grace: the set-list seems now well
rehearsed and at its peak. Not to mention the (now complete) Ëmëhntëht-Rê suite for which we've been
listening to extracts here and there for the last 30 years. The last encore was a complete surprise:
Stella introduced a choir formed by their friends and collaborators (included Stella and Christian's
daughter) that has accompanied the band in a nice and simple gospel ("to demonstrate that Magma music
is nothing but difficult").

So enjoy this nice show. I did enjoy it very very much.

ldb

Magma at L'Alhambra, Paris, Dec 3-5 2009

Wanted - Reviews of the concerts at L'Alhambra.

It has been reported on the French Magma forum that Magma played a new piece called Le Gospel as an encore instead of their usual Kobaia or Ballade. The special guests for this encore were supposed to be Julie Vander and Marcus Linon.

Wanted - Reviews of Emehntehtt-Re

Are you going to be bored over your holiday vacation? Feel the urge to write something about Magma? Tired of me monopolizing this space?

Here is your chance. Just like our friends over at the Zeuhl and Beyond blog, I am soliciting reviews of the new Magma CD (in English only, please) for this blog. I would like the review to concentrate on the music rather than the quality of the sound, but if the quality of the sound affects your listening experience either positively or negatively, then you can certainly mention that aspect too.

Feel free to email me at the standard magmasystems address if you would like to publish a review. Also, no anonymous reviews. You need to tell us your name and stand by the courage of your convictions.

Magma Photos - Alexandre Martin

Courtesy of our friend, Michael Bohn from Denmark.

Here is a link to a photo page of Magma by French photographer Alexandre Martin.

Neom and Camembert in Wurzburg, March 2010

Neom and Camembert, two of Steve Davis's favorite bands, are playing at the FreakParade Artrock Festival in Wurzburg, Germany on the weekend of March 20, 2010.

Steve introduced me to Camembert through his great radio show. If you like Zappa and you like vibes, then you will certainly like Camembert.

I know that Hanwaker and Rapideye and Juhab will all be there! That's a good enough reason for you to attend.

Reseed of Eskaton, Blois, 1983 is on DIME

Reseed of Eskaton, Blois 1983, is here. This is an original Magmasystems (me) tape, transferred by the amazing Hanwaker.

Magma - Bourgoin-Jallieu - February 11, 2005

On DIME, here is a master recording of Magma from 2005 that is being shared by the man of many names, Mr. Urich21.

MAGMA "L'HABILLAGE"
Bourgoin-Jallieu (France), SMAC Les Abattoirs
11 February 2005

source: MD audience recording

In 2005, played a series of 3-concert residencies; the first concert was just piano and voices; the second, the electric line-up performing instrumentally; and the third, the full band. This is from the series in Bourgoin-Jallieu near Lyon. I was quite pleased with the sound and, consequently, my recording - the icing on the cake for positively stupendous music. 2005 was really a great year for Magma ! Of particular interest is the version of "Kohntarkosz" (which, unlike the remainder of the concert, was played as a quartet, with only Emmanuel Borghi on keyboards), which wasn't played at all the other series. Enjoy !!

cd1
1. Kohntarkosz (34:18)
2. Frédéric d'Oelsnitz solo (3:56)
3. Soï Soï (Sowiloï) (6:03)
4. KMX (8:14)

cd2
1. K.A. III (22:32)
2. De Futura (15:04)

Christian Vander - drums
Emmanuel Borghi - Fender Rhodes & synthesizer
Frédéric d'Oelsnitz - Fender Rhodes & synthesizer (except "Kohntarkosz")
James MacGaw - guitar
Philippe Bussonnet - bass

Thanks to Alexis

I want to give a shout out and big thanks to French reader Alexis, who has translated a number of the French articles into English (see recent blog comments). I have been too busy with my new job to thank Alexis properly, but let me pause to do it now. Thanks very much, Alexis.