Magma (band)
| magma | |
|---|---|
 Symbol of the band magma |
|
| General information | |
| Genre (s) | Zeuhl |
| founding | 1969 |
| Website | seventhrecords.com |
| Founding members | |
| Christian Vander | |
singing |
Zabu |
| Laurent Thibault | |
| Eddy Rabbin | |
| Francis Moze | |
| Claude Engel | |
| René Garber | |
| Guy Marco | |
| René Morizur | |
| Current occupation | |
Drums, vocals |
Christian Vander |
Singing, percussion |
Stella Vander |
singing |
Isabelle Feuillebois |
singing |
Hervé Aknin |
Keyboards |
Jérôme Martineau-Ricotti |
Vibraphone , keyboards |
Benoît Alziary |
guitar |
Rudy Blas |
Electric bass |
Philippe Bussonnet |
Magma is a French progressive rock band formed in 1969 . The band founded the Zeuhl genre and performed many texts in the artificial language Kobaïan . Alongside driving bass lines and polyphonic choral singing, the artificial language became an important stylistic feature of the Zeuhl.
Career
Foundation and classic phase (1969 to 1984)
Magma was founded in 1969 by the drummer Christian Vander (born February 21, 1948) and the bassist Laurent Thibault. The short-lived founding line-up also included Francis Moze ( keyboards ), Lucien Zabu Zabuski (vocals), Eddy Rabbin (keyboards), Claude Engel ( electric guitar ), René Garber ( bass clarinet ), Guy Marco ( trumpet ) and René Morizur ( saxophone ).
Laurent Thibault left the bass to Francis Moze and dedicated himself to the production of Magma's debut. This first album, Magma (later Kobaïa ), was recorded in April 1970 by the line-up of Christian Vander, Engel, Moze, Teddy Lasry ( soprano saxophone ), François Cahen (piano) and Klaus Blasquiz (vocals), reinforced by the wind instruments Richard Raux and Alain Charlery, who were replaced by Yoch'ko "Jeff" Seffer and Louis Toesca for the second album 1001 ° Centigrades from 1971, which was recorded without guitarist Claude Engel . These first two Magma albums were more oriented towards jazz / jazz rock than the follow-up album, and the compositions were contributed by various band members. This occupation remained stable until May 1972.
Between these two first works, Thibault left the band to set up his own label called Thélème in collaboration with Philips . For this, in 1971 Magma musicians recorded the album The Unnamables together with Tito Puente ( trumpet ) and Lionel Ledissez ( bass ) under the name Univeria Zekt , which is more in jazz than in Zeuhl.
Moze, Cahen, Lasry, Seffer and Toesca left the band in 1972, followed by keyboardists Jean-Luc Manderlier and Gérard Bikialo, bassist Jean-Pierre Lembert, guitarist Marc Fosset and singer Stella Vander, Christian Vander's wife at the time, to the band, which nevertheless appeared with changing line-ups in the future, as the new musicians were also involved in other projects. René Garber, who had already been part of the first cast, was also involved in the recording again. After Marc Fosset left, guitarist Claude Olmos joined the band in the first half of 1973. At this time, Jannick Top Magma also joined, who replaced Lembert on bass.
In January 1973 the formation S. and C. Vander, Lembert, Blasquiz, Manderlier, Garber, together with the Chœurs De La Stochhaus, recorded an alternative version to Mekanïk Destruktïw Kommandöh , the next Magma album. This recording was published in 1989 under the title Mekanïk Kommandöh .
The pieces on the third album Mekanïk Destruktïw Kommandöh (1973) were all composed by Christian Vander. The album was recorded with Christian Vander, Top, Blasquiz, Manderlier, Garber, Olmos, Lasry, Stella Vander and four other singers. The album is a concept album that is divided into 7 movements and is considered by many to be the band's masterpiece. The music magazine eclipsed chose Mekanïk Destruktïw Kommandöh on the 28th place in its list of the 150 most important prog albums. In June 2015, Rolling Stone magazine editors voted the album 24th out of the 50 best progressive rock albums of all time . In 2010, the French edition listed the album at number 33 of the 100 best French rock albums.
In April 1974 C. and S. Vander, Blasquiz and Top recorded the album Wurdah Ïtah , on which the final version of the score for the film Tristan et Yseult by Yvan Lagrange can be heard. Originally released as a solo album by Christian Vander, it is now part of Magma's repertoire.
The 1974 album Köhntarkösz , to which Jannick Top contributed the piece Ork Alarm , is also conceived as a concept album . All other pieces on the album recorded by C. and S. Vander, Top, Blasquiz, Bikialo, Michel Graillier (piano) and Brian Godding (guitar) are compositions by Christian Vander. The recordings took place in May 1974. For those who did not have the opportunity to experience the band live in the early seventies, Magma released a live double LP in 1975, which was released under the name Magma Live . The recordings for this album were made between June 1st and 5th, 1975 in the Taverne de l´Olympia in Paris. You can hear S. and C. Vander, Klaus Blasquiz, Bernard Paganotti on bass, Gabriel Federow on guitar, Benoit Wîdemann and Jean-Pol Asseline on keyboards and the then 19-year-old Didier Lockwood on violin. The two pieces Hhai and Lihns had not been heard on any studio album before.
In 1976 the album Üdü Ẁüdü was released with C. and S. Vander, Top, Blasquiz, Paganotti, Graillier, Lisa Deluxe, Lucille Culaz and Catherine Szpira (all three vocals), Patrick Gauthier (piano, synthesizer), Pierre Dutour (trumpet) and Alain Hatot (saxophone, flute). The top composition De Futura can be found on this record . The recordings were made in May 1976. At that time, Magma only existed virtually because the band had split up beforehand. This is why Üdü Ẁüdü originally appeared under the name VANDERTOP. The album Inédits was released in 1977. It contains live recordings of various formations by Magma between 1972 and 1975. You can hear previously unreleased pieces that were never recorded by a studio line-up, but were part of the band's regular live repertoire. HR Giger designed the cover of the 1978 album Attahk , which appears musically carried, and in parts almost sacred . Laurent Thibault was again the producer and sound engineer. The cast consisted of S. and C. Vander, Garber, Wîdeman, Deluxe, Blasquiz, Guy Delacroix (bass), Tony Russo (trumpet) and Jacques Bolognesi (trombone). Christian Vander is the lead singer for the first time, and Wind Quiz is the background singer. From this album a single with the pieces Last Seven Minutes and Spiritual was released for advertising purposes .
In the winter of 1978/79 the band broke up for the second time. For the ten-year anniversary of the band, from 9. – 11. June 1980 several concerts with musicians from the various previous lineups and the then current line-up took place. The two albums from 1981 , called Retrospektïw I - II and Retrospektïw III , contain recordings of the anniversary concerts. A stable line-up did not develop, however, only Christian and Stella Vander, Benoît Widemann , bassists Jean-Luc Chevalier and Dominique Bertram (who played bass together at the same time), singer Guy Khalifa and singer Lisa remained permanent members Deluxe. The studio album Merci , released in 1984, first contained echoes of disco and funk . It was recorded by Christian and Stella Vander, Wideman, Khalifa, Deluxe, the drummer François Laizeau and the bassist Marc Eliard and supported by brass sections and others on individual pieces. The texts were only partially in Kobaïan, but mostly in English and French . It is also unusual for this album that Christian Vander limited himself to percussion, vocals, celesta, keyboards and piano in addition to the production and left his traditional place on drums to Leizeau. Despite the sometimes lively melodies, it was pointed out in the press release that Merci's pieces all have death as their theme. With Ooh ooh baby , the funkest and perhaps the least characteristic title in the entire history of the band, a single was not released for promotion for the first time, but it did not have any commercial success. Otis can be heard on the B-side .
Albums Wurdah Itah (1974, actually a Vander solo album) and mëkanïk dëstruktïẁ kömmandöh form with the piece Theusz Hamtaahk from the album Retrospektïw I - II trilogy Theusz Hamtaahk . A second trilogy from the albums Köhntarkösz , KA (2004) and Ëmëhntëhtt-Rê was completed in 2009.
After the end of Magma (1984 to 1995)
In the period that followed, numerous albums from other Christian Vander projects such as the Christian Vander Trio (jazz), Welcome (jazz), Fusion (fusion, jazz rock), Offering and Les Voix de Magma were released, in which musicians from Magma were also involved. The two last-mentioned projects fit seamlessly into the overall Magma oeuvre. Christian Vander also published solo recordings. In 1987, Francis Linon, Magma's sound engineer, and Stella Vander founded Seventh Records. For over ten years, however, only post-published live recordings from the 1970s and early 1980s appeared under the name Magma. The only exception was the aforementioned album Mekanïk Kommandöh , which was released in 1989.
Comeback (1996 to today)
In 1996 Christian Vander reorganized Magma after a friend offered him to organize a tour if he put a band back together. The band, which toured France in December of that year, consisted of C. and S. Vander, Simon Goubert (drums), Isabelle Feuillebois (vocals), Philippe Bussonet (bass), Franck Vedel and Jean-Francois Déat (keyboards) as well the singer Bertrand Cardiet. In 1997 Simon Goubert resigned and the pianist Pierre-Michel Sivadier, who also played for Offering, joined. In the second half of the year, Vedel and Déat left, Emmanuel Borghi (keyboards) and James Mac Gaw (guitar) completed the band.
In 1998 the band released the single Floe Essi / Ektah for the first time since 1984.
In 2000 Magma celebrated the 30th anniversary of the band. Two concerts took place in Paris at the Trianon in May, at which the complete Theusz Hamtaahk trilogy from Theusz Hamtaahk , Wurdah Ïtah and Mekanïk Destruktïw Kommandöh were performed by the same band for the first time. This happened in the line-up of C. and S. Vander, Feuillebois, Mac Gaw, Borghi, Bussonnet, Antoine Paganotti (vocals, piano) and Jean-Christophe Gamet (vocals). The band was partially supported by Julie Vander and Claude Lamamy (vocals) with Wurdah Itah and a brass section with Mekanïk Destruktïw Kommandöh . The recordings were released as a 3 CD set.
In 2004 Magma presented a new album with KA , which reconstructs a piece from the seventies and therefore stylistically follows on from the classic phase of the band in the mid-seventies (and again features Kobaïan lyrics). The line-up consisted of C. and S. Vander, Feuillebois, Mac Gaw, Borghi, Bussonnet, Antoine and Himiko Paganotti (vocals) and Frédéric d'Oelsnitz ( Fender Rhodes ). The publication Uber Kommandoh , which followed shortly thereafter, is an unauthorized compilation. From 2006 the group continued their work of reconstruction and worked on Emëhntëht-Rê , an album-filling piece that completed their second album trilogy in 2009. In February 2008 the Paganotti siblings and Emmanuel Borghi left the band for personal reasons, but are also featured as guest musicians at Emëhntëht-Rê , as are Claude Lamamy, Marcus Linon (son of Stella Vander and Francis Linon) and Pierre-Michel Sivadier. The main cast were C. u. S. Vander, Feuillebois, Hervé Aknin (vocals), Benoît Alziary ( vibraphone ), Mac Gaw, Bruno Ruder (Fender Rhodes) and Bussonnet.
It was this line-up that brought in Félicité Thösz in 2012 . This is an album of newer compositions from the years 1992/1993 and 2001/2002, which have only been heard at Magma concerts since 2009. Jéremie Ternoy replaced Bruno Ruder on the two subsequent studio mini-albums Rïah Sahïltaahk (2014) and Šlag Tanz (2015).
In July 2015, James Mac Gaw announced that he had cancer. In July 2016, Rudy Blas played guitar and Jérôme Martineau-Ricotti keyboards, the rest of the line-up remained the same.
style
The music of Magma is dominated by the rhythm section around Christian Vander, which is supported by e-piano and brass . In the course of the band's development, the group stayed true to this sound mixture, the vocal part developed more and more in the direction of ecstatic, complex polyphonic choral singing , so that up to six singers were involved at the same time. The line-up of the band has changed a lot. Practically on every album, the line-up was more or less different from the previous release. The only personal constants were and are Stella (since 1973) and Christian Vander, whose drum style dominates most of the pieces to this day, who composed most of the music and who also appeared frequently as a singer. His drumming is heavily influenced by the jazz drummer Elvin Jones .
The music of Magma, which is strongly characterized by monolithic rhythmic complexity and low melodic modulation , is characterized from the beginning by pronounced influences from Carl Orff (on a musical level) and John Coltrane (on a spiritual level, as Vander emphasizes).
Characteristic for Magma were long compositions with intricate rhythms, which implement the philosophical and futuristic content less with science fiction sounds and more in theatrical and emotional form.
Myth of Kobaïa
The music of Magma tells myths of the fictional planet Kobaïa , which was colonized by emigrated people . The band's first two albums describe the journey to Kobaïa, the enlightenment and the return of the astronauts to a doomed earth. The belief in a figure of light called Kreuhn Kohrman , who leads mankind out of Theusz Hamtaahk , the age of hatred, promises redemption . The trilogy Theusz Hamtaahk describes a confrontation between earthly citizens and Kobaïans, the second trilogy from the albums Köhntarkösz , KA and Ëmëhntëhtt-Rê reports on a connection between early Egypt and the Kobaïans. The mythology is much on the esoteric book Urantia affected a kind pseudo Bible , the religious elements of diverse origin with scientific knowledge and science fiction combines.
Christian Vander and Klaus Blasquiz developed the artificial language Kobaïan (French Kobaïen ), in which most of the band's texts are performed. The members of the group also often have Cobaïan names, including Zebëhn Straïn dë Ğeuštaah , such as ['zebɛn ʃtrain dɛ' gœʃta] (Christian Vander), Klötsz Zaspïaahk , [klots' zas'pjak] (Klaus Blasquiz) or Ẁahrğenuhr / Reuëhelem , about ['va: rgɛ'ny: r' rœgɛlɛ'moʃtɛ:] (bassist Jannick Top). In addition, the texts on the record sleeves are also often written in the language of the planet. The genre name Zeuhl is also borrowed from Kobaïan. Zeuhl or Zeuhl Wortz ([zœl vorts]) means 'heavenly music', 'music of all-embracing power'. Kobaïan (or one of its variants) has become an important stylistic feature of the Zeuhl over the years, also in other bands such as Weidorje , Koenjihyakkei , Zoïkhem or Ruins .
The music journalist Siegfried Schmidt-Joos saw Kobaïan in his rock lexicon, published in 1973, as “a backwards-spoken mélange of German and Slavic chunks of language”, but Vander and Blasquiz actually developed the language from scat singing, a kind of improvised singing that is widespread in jazz of rhythmically and melodically lined up onomatopoeic syllable sequences without semantic content ( meaning ). The syllable sequences sung by Vander and Blasquiz gradually condensed into recurring patterns, which were subsequently assigned meanings:
- ëmgalaï : apocalypse
- glao : blood
- hamataï : greet, salute; also: greetings!
- hamtaahk : hate
- bitch : forever
- kreuhn : superior being, God
- ẁurdah : death
- theusz : Time
- zeuhl wortz : heavenly music
Some words seem to be based on the French or Latin / Greek model, such as B .:
- dëstruktïẁ : destroyer
- klawiehr : piano, keyboard
- kommandöh : command
- mëkanïk : movement
- zeuhl : heaven (French ciel )
However, only semantic structures can be identified, Kobaïan does not seem to have any grammar . Theusz means “time”, hamtaahk “hate”, and the connection theusz hamtaahk “time of hatred”. How or whether the genitive is marked is unclear (possibly through word order , stress or melody ).
The beginning of the text for Magma's Magnum Opus Mëkanïk Dëstruktïẁ Kömmandöh reads, for example:
Lah ẁortz rëišfünk dëh ẁërëstëgëuhnzür ünd dëh bundëhr drakeïdah kömmandöh ẁürdï hëul zortsüng. Hurẁah dëh zün Hurẁah dëh Zëbëhn Hurẁah dëh Ğëuštaah Hurẁah dëh ğlëšt Hurẁah dëh kümpkah Hurẁah dëh Hürẁah Hurẁah Kamkaï!
Influence and importance
Magma's influence on the French music scene of both (progressive) rock and jazz is great. Numerous important musicians from these fields ( Jannick Top , Bernard Paganotti , Teddy Lasry ) gained experience at Magma, which they later brought into a newly developing music scene. In addition, the band practically single-handedly founded the Zeuhl , a sub- genre of progressive rock to which numerous bands around the world can now be assigned. This initially includes bands that were founded by the numerous musicians involved in the course of the band's history ( Weidorje , Zao , One Shot ) and other French bands such as Dün , Eskaton , Shub-Niggurath , Eider Stellaire , Vortex or Zoïkhem , but also bands from England ( Guapo ) and Belgium ( Univers Zéro , Present ). Especially in Japan the genre was further developed and enriched with elements from hard rock , heavy metal and jazz ( Bondage Fruit , Koenjihyakkei , Ruins ). The protagonists of Zeuhl not only use the stylistic elements developed by Magma, but also like the Kobaïan or a variant of the same.
Discography
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Studio albums
- 1970 - Magma (re-released as Kobaïa )
- 1971 - 1001 ° Centigrades
- 1973 - Mekanïk Destruktïw Kommandöh
- 1974 - Ẁurdah Ïtah
- 1974 - Köhntarkösz
- 1976 - Üdü Ẁüdü
- 1977 - Attahk
- 1984 - Merci
- 1989 - Mekanïk Kommandöh
- 2004 - KA
- 2009 - Ëmëhntëhtt-Rê
- 2012 - Félicité Thösz
- 2014 - Riah Sahiltaahk
- 2015 - Šlag dance
- 2019 - Zëss
Live albums
- 1975 - Live (Hhai)
- 1976 - Inédits
- 1981 - Retrospectïẁ 1-2
- 1981 - Retrospectïẁ 3
- 1984 - Concert Bobino 1981
- 1992 - "Les Voix" Concert 1992
- 1996 - Concert 1971 Bruxelles - Théâtre 140
- 1996 - Theater du taur Concert - Toulouse 1975
- 1996 - Concert 1976 Opéra de Reims
- 1999 - BBC 1974 Londres
- 2001 - Theusz Hamtaahk trilogy
- 2008 - Bourges 1979
- 2009 - Live in Tokyo (recordings from 2005)
- 2014 - Zühn Wöhl Ünsaï - Live in Bremen 1974
Video albums
- 2001 - Theusz Hamtaahk trilogy
- 2004 - Concert Bobino 1981
- 2006 - Mythes et legends Volume I
- 2006 - Mythes et legends Volume II
- 2007 - Mythes et legends Volume III
- 2008 - Mythes et legends Volume IV
- 2013 - Mythes et legends Volume V
- 2016 - Nĭhăo Hamtaï: Magma. First Chinese tour
- 2017 - Ëmëhntëhtt-Ré trilogy
More shots
- 1972 - The Unnamables (as Univeria Zekt )
- 1993 - Mythes et Légends (with spoken commentary)
- 1995 - Baba Yaga la Sorcière, quand les enfants chantent Magma
- 1997 - Kompila
- 1998 - Flöë Ëssi / Ëktah
- 1998 - Simples
- 2008 - Studio Zünd
- 2015 - Köhnzert Zünd Box Set
- 2017 - To Life, Death and Beyond. The Music of Magma
literature
- Klaus blowing quiz: Au coeur de Magma . Le Mot et le Reste, 2013, ISBN 978-2-36054-106-5 . (French)
- Philippe Gonin: Magma - Décryptage d'un mythe et d'une musique . Le Mot et le Reste, 2010, ISBN 978-2-36054-000-6 . (French)
- Christopher Rossi: À vie, à mort, et après ... Editions Naîve, 2013, ISBN 978-2-35021-349-1 . (French)
- Antoine de Caunes: Magma . Albin Michel / rock & folk, 1978, ISBN 2-226-00563-3 . (French)
Web links
- German website about Magma
- Magma on the baby blue pages
- Comprehensive website on Magma (English)
- Official website in English
- To Kobaïan
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Guideline Zeuhl on the Babyblauen Seiten, accessed on July 1, 2016
- ↑ a b c d www.magma.fan.free.fr, French fansite by Jacques Guiton, accessed on June 30, 2016
- ↑ Reviews of Mekanïk Kommandöh on the Babyblauen Seiten, accessed on July 5, 2016
- ↑ Baby blue pages, reviews on Mekanïk Destruktïw Kommandöh , accessed on June 30, 2016
- ↑ Mekanïk Destruktïw Kommandöh at www.magmamusic.org (English), accessed on July 1, 2016
- ↑ eclipsed No. 144, p. 39.
- ↑ Richard Gehr: 50 Greatest Prog Rock Albums of All Time - Magma, 'Mëkanïk Dëstruktïẁ Kömmandöh' (1973). In: Rolling Stone . Wenner Media, June 17, 2015, accessed on September 25, 2015 .
- ↑ List of the 100 best French rock albums , Rolling Stone France, accessed July 1, 2016.
- ^ Magma Live at www.discogs.com, accessed July 1, 2016
- ↑ Magma Live on www.magmamusic.org, accessed on July 1, 2016
- ↑ a b Lineup History and Discography, Peter Thelen, accessed on July 5, 2016
- ↑ Interview with C. Vander from Jazzthetik , accessed on July 20, 2016
- ↑ 30 years of Magma ( Memento of the original from May 13, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. from www.rythmes-croises.org (French), accessed July 6, 2016
- ↑ Kosmikmuzik (French), accessed on July 11, 2016
- ↑ Chart sources: FR
