OFF: Magma?

[K Henderson]

Stephan said...

>This release (Live) is described as one of Magma's 'most accessible albums'
>by allmusic.com and that is probably true. If you like it the one closest
in >sound is probably Kohntarkosz (the song of that name taking up large
chunks >of both releases) - the other major releases from this period (MDK
and Wurdah >Itah) have far more of the Wagnerian operatic sound and
correspondingly less >jazz-fusion.
>
>The 76 studio release was Udu Wudu, consisting half of shorter, tighter
>pieces (including Bernard Paganotti's piece Weidorje), the other half being
>the all-time classic De Futura. If 'kicking the bucket' means you didn't
>like it, all hope is not lost as it did differ noticeably from the previous
>material. But De Futura is a classic piece of heavy-as-hell space-rock, so
>maybe you're instead talking about the 77 release Attahk, which REALLY
>differs from all the band's previous output.

Yeah, what's weird is that "Attahk" was the first Magma I ever heard, and I
instantly loved it, wacko falsetto vocals and all.  "Udu Wudu" was next (to
be heard), and it's my favorite Magma album to date.  In contrast, I've
never taken to "MDK" and feel it might be their least interesting album.
Similar response to "Wurdah Itah," which does have some more interesting
moments.  I do like "Kohntarkosz" a lot though - it's much more of a
'musical' piece.  But then recent live performances, that featured stuff
from only MDK, WI, Kohntark, and Hhai, were brilliant IMHO, even though it
would have been cool to have something from the late 70s added in.  I didn't
mind so much though.  Outstanding band even with it being moreso a "Vander
and friends" combo (the friends being Ripper Owens-type tribute band
recruits I think) - they really do the material justice, and I wonder if
even the 'original' lineup did it as well.

But anyway, it is a little strange that I like the jazz fusion-gospel Magma
of Udu Wudu and Attahk, given that I'm hardly a jazz fusion or gospel fan
(understatement).  But Magma is all about weirdness, and this stuff is just
too weird to ignore.  :)  And, as Stephan says, the awesome "De Futura" is a
spacerock gem from an alternate universe.

Don't forget to find the self-titled 'Weidorje' album, that was the 'Captain
Lockheed' of Magma albums (I think you know what I mean by that)...it's darn
good too.

What's really fun is watching a live video from 1981 Magma that I have
(thanks to Karen K.)...by then, Magma had become comically gospel and it
looks like something from a religious TV channel here in the states.

Previously, D.R. had mentioned...

>BTW, there's a new 165min (!!) DVD which features the whole Trianon concert
>and a documentation.

Well, I gotta get this!  Remind me - what's the Trianon concert?  I've been
confused lately with all the recent live releases of Magma.  There are two
3-disc packages that came out this past year, one new (that I have) and one
old (that I don't have).  Plus, a few other live CDs from the old days, one
of which has the live De Futura that one of these days I'll need to get.  Is
one of these 'Trianon'?

Also, can somebody let me in on the DVD regional/encoding system?  First
off, what's it for (bootlegging prevention or something?)  And secondly,
what is the situation in Europe relative to the US?  Like, if I order this
from France or something, will I be able to play it on my simple US (Region
1?) player? I think I've seen some DVD's that say they will play in all
regions, but I gather that some/many? are made specifically for one region
at the expense of others?  I dunno - I figured by now we'd all be past this
PAL-NTSC business, but I guess there's always somebody out there who wants
to make everything difficult.  I'd just like to know what happens if I move
to Europe and can't find a player to play my (American) DVD's on...will I
need to bring my player too?

Grakkl (FAA)

P.S.  And why didn't they make CDs about a quarter-inch larger in diameter,
so that this "double LP-doesn't quite fit onto one disc, so we'll have to
either edit it down a few minutes or else sell you two for more money"
situation never happened?  I mean, really, how much forethought would that
have taken?  (One of my many pet peeves.)

P.P.S.  Does anybody else think it's ironic that General Motors is using REO
Speedwagon's "Roll with the Changes" in recent commercials, given that they
just decided to end the Oldsmobile line a few months ago.  Actually, it's
doubly ironic (or should I say Dolby ironic?) if you think about the
songtitle as well as the band's namesake.

P.P.P.S.  Who is 'James' on Brock's Memos & Demos?  Whose (female) voice is
that sampled on there also?

P.P.P.P.S.  Who are all the people in the photo collage?  Let's see...Frank
Zappa, Uma Thurman, Bart Simpson, O.J. Simpson, Kurt Cobain?, Dave Brock?
(under Mike Tyson), Mona Lisa, R.M. Nixon, J.L. Picard, Mr. Spock, Ali
Davey, John Lennon?, Mr. Ed, FDR?, Bill Clinton, Pam Anderson, the 'alien
autopsy' corpse, (no, not the same thing) Margaret Thatcher? (in the TV),
John Major?, most of Kiss...I dunno, there are a lot of other people here I
don't know.  Are they UK-specific celebrities?  Like the dudes in the front
row (guy in black with cross, guy looking like a Mr. Gumby doing a Hitler
impersonation, dude with 'Immortal' Tshirt, half-naked guy doing a Freddie
Mercury impersonation, dude with acoustic guitar, guy with shades, guy who
looks a little bit like Tom Arnold)? None of these people look familiar.  I
don't recognize any of the videocassettes at the bottom, but I do see 'The
Business Trip', 'Alien4' and Nirvana's famous album (can't even remember
what it's called).  Anybody here in the Stonehenge photo on Page 2?

ObDVD: This is Spinal Tap (lots of cool extra scenes)