Magma: K.A.

Cover	Release	Style
	2004-11-08	zeuhl
	Label
	Seventh Records
	Website
	Seventh Records
	Contact
	seventh@seventhrecords.com
	Playing Time	Cat. N°
	48:51	A 34
	Review by	Rating
	Christoph	9/10
nederlands	Review
Some time ago on the Net, I was going through the best ever lists from Expose, an American quarterly progressive journal that focuses on the adventurous side of music. Here the music comes alive when it’s ignored by everybody else. One of the records that is up there frequently, is 1975’s “Live” by Magma. The emotion and the power of this music made a huge impression on me. Since then, I consider Magma a crucial player in prog. Magma was a very influential French band in the seventies. They actually invented a whole new genre, Zeuhl, incorporating influences from jazz, minimal music, symphonic prog and classical music. What these guys are doing now, differs barely from what they did back then. But then, their new album “K.A” (Kohntarkkosz Anteria) contains some Magma history. The first two tracks are in fact compositions from their heydays, but leader Christian Vander considered them not mature enough back then. The third is the only new piece. Here the Fender Rhodes lends the music a more traditional prog rock character. Apart from this ‘new’ element, this record offers all the Magma hallmark ingredients with a grandeur only such an experienced outfit can display. So there is classically-trained Christian Vander‘s propulsive jazz rock drumming. You get some very nice fusion guitar soloing. And of course those large vocal harmonies, mostly sang in an invented dialect called Kobaian, which makes Magma a conceptual band, depicting an imaginary Kobaian civilisation and its relation to Earth and the other planets! The classical references shine through these vocals (call them choral or operatic), the repetition of motives (think of minimal music), and the use of dynamics. Magma is definitely not your daily prog rock band. If you don’t know them, and you’re sympathetic to astral travelling, or looking for progressive music in quite a different vein, this Magma could be your surprise record of the year. And if you do know them, then you will happily find out that these French aliens are still among us, even though on “K.A” they don’t break really new ground.
Musicians
Stella Vander: vocals, percussion Isabelle Feuillebois: vocals Himiko Paganotti: vocals Antoine Paganotti: vocals James Mac Gaw: guitar Emmanuel Borghi: piano, Fender Rhodes Frédéric d'Oelsnitz: Fender Rhodes Philippe Bussonnet: bass Christian Vander: drums, vocals, percussion
Tracklist
1. K.A I (11:12) 2. K.A II (15:53) 3. K.A III (21:43)
Discography
Kobaïa (1970) 1001 Degrees Centigrades (1971) Univeria Zekt – “The unnamables (1972) Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh (1973) Köhntarkösz (1974) Wurdah Itah (1974) Live (Hhaï) (1975) Inedits (1976) Theusz Hamtaahk (1976) Udü Wüdü (1977) Attahk (1978) Retrospektiw Vol. 3 (1981) Retrospektiw Vol. 1 & 2 (1981) Concert Bobino 1981 (1981) Merci (1984) Mythes & Legendes (1985) Mekanik Kommandoh (1989) Les Voix – Concerts 1992 – Douarnenez (1992) Mekanik Zeuhl Wortz 1976 (1994) Magma Concert 1971 Bruxelles – Theatre 140 (1996) Theatre du Taur – Toulouse 1975 (1996) Komplila (1997) Flöë ëssi / Ektah (1998) Simples (1998) Magma – BBC Londres 1974 (1999) Theusz Hamtaahk Trilogie (2001) Theusz Hamtaahk Trilogie (DVD) (2001) Spiritual (2002) K.A (2004)


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