Magma

Track Listings

1. Magma, For 16 Soloists

2. Cadenza, For Solo Cello

3. Nexus, For Instrumental Ensemble

4. Barcelona 216, For Instrumental Ensemble

5. Homenaje a Carmen Amaya, For 6 Percussionists

Magma, Music, Juan Guinjoan, Proyecto Gerhard, Chamber, Chamber Music, Chamber Music & Recitals, Classical, Classical Composers, Electronic/Avant-Garde/Minimalist Music, Miscellaneous, Miscellaneous Music

Love's Illusion-Music From The Montpellier Codex 13th Century
Average customer rating:

Excellent Rendition of Early Music. Buy It.

Fun and full of love

from a newcomer viewpoint

Love's Illusion

OUTSTANDING

Love's Illusion-Music From The Montpellier Codex 13th Century
Anonymous 4 , and Marsha Genensky
Manufacturer: Harmonia Mundi Fr.
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Vocal & Song | Early Music | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music | Requiems
Anonymous 4 | ( A ) | Featured Performers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
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The Lily and the Lamb: Chant and Polyphony from Medieval England

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An English Ladymass: Medieval Chant and Polyphony

Legends of St. Nicholas: Medieval Chant & Polyphony

La Bele Marie: Songs to the Virgin from 13th-Century France

ASIN: B0000007E5
Release Date: 1994-08-23

Tracks:

Montpellier Codex: Plus Bele Que Flor - Quant Revient - L'autrier Joer - Flos Filius (Mo 21)
Montpellier Codex: Puisque Bele Dame M'eime - Flos Filius (Mo 231)
Montpellier Codex: Amours Mi Font Souffrir - En Mai - Flos Filius (Mo 111)
Montpellier Codex: Ne Sai, Que Je Die - Iohanne (Mo 185)
Montpellier Codex: Si Je Chante - Bien Doi Amer - Et Sperabit (Mo 311)
Montpellier Codex: Or Ne Sai Je Que Devenir - Puisque D'amer - Kyrieleyson (Mo 267)
Montpellier Codex: H? Dieus, De Si Haut Si Bas - Maubatus - Cumque (Mo 92)
Montpellier Codex: Celui En Qui - La Bele Estoile - La Bele, En Qui - Iohanne (Mo 20)
Montpellier Codex: Qui D'amours Se Plaint - Lux Magna (Mo 215)
Montpellier Codex: Amours, Dont Je Sui - L'autrier, Au Douz Mois - Chose Tassin (Mo 270)
Montpellier Codex: Au Cuer Ai Un Mal - Ja Ne M'en Repentirai - Jolietement (Mo 260)
Montpellier Codex: Quant Voi La Fleur - Et Tenuerunt (Mo 241)
Montpellier Codex: Quant Se Depart - Onques Ne Sai Amer - Docebit Omnem (Mo 131)
Montpellier Codex: Joliement - Quant Voi La Florete - Je Sui Joliete - Aptatur (Mo 34)
Montpellier Codex: Amor Potest Conqueri - Ad Amorem Sequitur (Mo 238)
Montpellier Codex: Ce Que Je Tieng - Certes Mout - Bone Compaignie - Manere (Mo 33)
Montpellier Codex: J'ai Si Bien Mon Cuer Assiz - Aucun M'ont - Angelus (Mo 128)
Montpellier Codex: Ne M'oubliez Mie - Domino (Mo 236)
Montpellier Codex: J'ai Mis Toute Ma Pensee - Je N'en Puis - Puerorum (Mo 255)
Montpellier Codex: Blanchete - Quant Je Pens - Valare (Mo 168)
Montpellier Codex: Dame, Qeu Je N'os Noumer - Amis Donc Est - Lonc Tans A (Mo 337)
Montpellier Codex: Li Savours De Mon Desir - Li Grant Desir - Non Veul Mari (Mo 323)
Montpellier Codex: Entre Copin - Je Me Cuidoie - Bele Ysabelos (Mo 256)
Montpellier Codex: S'on Me Regarde - Prenn?s I Garde - H?, Mi Enfant (Mo 223)
Montpellier Codex: Quant Yver La Bise Ameine - In Seculum (Mo 223)
Montpellier Codex: Ne M'a Pas Oubli? - In Seculum (Mo 207)
Montpellier Codex: On Doit Fin[e] Amor - La Biaut? - In Seculum (Mo 134)
Montpellier Codex: Ja N'amerai Autre Que Cele - In Seculum (Mo 3)
Montpellier Codex: Quant Je Parti De M'amie - Tuo (Mo 200)

Amazon.com essential recording

How's this for a concept: "True love may exist only outside of marriage, and a man must subject himself totally to the will of his beloved, whether or not her requests seem rational." If you think these ideas strange, be glad you weren't looking for love in France in the Middle Ages. These precepts course through thousands of song lyrics and love poetry during the 12th and 13th centuries and some of them appear on this exceptional recording by Anonymous 4. Specifically, these four women perform 13th century French motets found in an important manuscript known as the Montpellier Codex. These polyphonic works span the entire century and thus express a variety of styles. Sometimes the use of texts is striking, as when a love song, a diatribe against hypocrisy, and a rousing drinking song are sung simultaneously. Not bad, if you can get away with it. Anonymous 4 can-and does. --David Vernier

Customer Reviews:

Excellent Rendition of Early Music. Buy It........2005-10-29

`Love's Illusion' is the third album done by the medieval vocal quartet, `Anonymous 4' and the first recording for them of secular motets, although it is important to note that to my relatively uneducated ear, I find it hard to discern the difference between these French love songs and their renditions of medieval church music.

This is not to say I have a totally tin ear but rather to indicate that there is as strong or stronger connection between these secular songs and the liturgical music of the day as there is between Aretha Franklin's soul singing and Southern Baptist church songs. One would be foolish to think that church music influenced secular music for the first time in 1956.

The text for these songs is based on the Montpellier Codex from the 13th century and, as I said, are all in what I believe is an early version of French. The accompanying booklet gives all the French lyrics, plus translations of these lyrics into English and German (since the record company, harmonia mundi, is, I believe, headquartered in Germany and the recording is manufactured in Germany.

While this is the first album I have reviewed by this group (named after an anonymous 13th century English writer on music who lived and worked in Paris and wrote about the music done) I have been listening to their recordings for several years now and I decided to start with this one and leave some of the liturgical works for later, closer to the Christmas season.

On a purely visceral level, I like this recording very much. On an intellectual level, I believe this is as good or better than any other medieval pieces, and most other Renaissance vocal pieces I have heard, except for some works with larger choruses such as Guillaume Du Fay's Mass for St. Anthony of Padua and Ensemble Gilles Binchois recording of eleventh century French Polyphony.

For those who are new to Anonymous 4 recordings, they are generally done not in a studio but in the nave of a large church, so there is a distinct sense of their singing in a great open space, with little or no sense of electronic enhancement. I really like this effect for this music and find it just one more reason to recommend this and other Anonymous 4 recordings. I think my highest recommendation comes from the fact that I can listen to this recording many times over and not become tired of it. There are other unusual types of music such as Russian chants, tangos, and even jazz which I can take for an hour or so and then must change. This material I can listen to for hours on end.

Highly recommended for fans of early music or for people who want something different.

Fun and full of love.......2005-10-13

This is a wonderful collection of chansons, or songs, from medieval France. It is different from many Anonymous 4 collections in that this is a piece of secular songs, primarily dealing with courtly love; the songs are particularly influenced by the Arthurian romances, very much in vogue at that time. This is a collection of motets - a musical style that came out of polyphony and is an important bridge between chant and modern song styling.

The Montpellier Codex has over 300 different motets (not including duplications), including many double motets, where the tenor piece is based on a plainchant, and different voices have their own texts. These 'fin amours' songs were most likely performed mostly in private entertainment settings, and song have argued that certain parts should be done by instruments rather than voices. Of course, the Anonymous 4 is an a capella group, so that idea does not come into practice here.

This is a playful and fun recording, full of lovely songs that reach the heart in strong ways.

-- Liner Notes --
This text accompaniment to this disc is very full, so much so that the booklet is not contained within the jewel case, but rather within a slipcover in which both the CD/jewel case and the booklet reside. The liner notes include a description of the work, a brief piece about the quartet, and the lyrics of the songs both in original language and in translation - all repeated in English, German, and French sections (however, the French lyrics are in the older French language; a modern translation would be helpful). The cover art is a section of the lovely Tapestry, Lady and the Unicorn, Atelier of the Loire Valley, 'mille fleurs', fifteen century in the Museum of Cluny, France.

-- Anonymous 4 --
Contrary to the implication of their name, the Anonymous 4 are not anonymous. This is a vocal quartet made up of Ruth Cunningham, Marsha Genensky, Susan Hellauer, and Johanna Rose at the time of this recording (Ruth Cunningham will later go on to a solo career early, and another member will join - Jacqueline Horner). They came together as a formal group in 1986, and have been ensemble-in-residence at St. Michael's Church in New York City, giving concert series in New York as well as throughout North America. They have been featured a number of times on national media in North America as well as Germany. They then went on to yet more success, eventually performing more that 1000 concerts worldwide.

Their specialty is working with chant, monophonic and polyphonic music, and working with medieval texts. According to one source, 'The group takes its name from an anonymous music theorist of the late 13th century, Anonymous IV, who is the principal source on the two famous composers of the Notre Dame school, Léonin and Pérotin.'

The group ended a touring career of nearly two decades in 2004.

from a newcomer viewpoint.......2003-02-23

LOVE'S ILLUSION is one of those uncanny instances that make tradition more unusual than avant-garde. Having two to four texts in an archaic language sung on top of each other makes the album at once chaotic and highly ordered. Some texts were clearly written after one another (cf. track 24), whereas others have but a random connection. Harmonically, however, everything falls into place.
I'm still fairly new to classical music, so I can only speak of my attempts at overcoming my difficulties in listening to mediaeval polyphony. When one knows any piece of music has a text, one wants to be able to hear the words - even if one doesn't know the language -, and this is main reason why a first listening of LOVE'S ILLUSION may be disturbing, if not annoying. One initial solution is to think of it as instrumental, and take the words for granted; I suggest also repeated listening of your favorite tracks, while trying to follow one singer's voice, with booklet in hand. I have paid some attention to this record and I believe it has helped me.
The major flaw of this record is not presenting a translation of the 13th century French songs into contemporary French. The difference is indeed quite astounding.

Love's Illusion.......2002-12-11

Overall: Monotonous, irritating. I had a headache after only three cuts, and the cut I really wanted is barely recognizable as the melody of interest. Let's just say that this is a sound (i.e., all female vocals, no instrumental variety), regardless of performers, that I do not go looking for.

OUTSTANDING.......2001-01-11

This is an excellent recording of some of the most beautiful music from the 13th Century. The vocal quartet "Anonymous 4" does a superb job, especially considering the entire CD is sung in Old French. This may well be the most peaceful and reaxing CD you will ever own.

Average customer rating:

A Masterpiece
Serious european music
awe-inspiring avant-prog
One of the greats
laughable european fusion

Live
Magma
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Uber Kommandoh
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ASIN: B000059ZDX
Release Date: 2001-08-22

Tracks:

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Kobah
Lihns
Hha
Mekanik Zain

Album Description

'Live' features the highly influential, avant-garde fusion/rock band in concert from 1975. Recorded in Paris, it comprises five extended tracks, including the awesome 31 minute epic, 'Kohntark'. Originally released as a double album, it's now featured on a single disc. Standard jewel case. 2001 release.

Album Details

Classic Live Set from the Legendary Prog-rock Band.

Customer Reviews:

A Masterpiece.......2006-04-05

Without a doubt the best introduction to the conceptual power and force of one of the single best progressive bands ever!

Didier Lockwood's frenzied solos behind drummer Christian Vander's Wagnerian themes is easily on par with the intensity and drive of the original incarnation of the Mahavishnu Orchestra. Admittedly, the great bassist Bernard Paganotti is not quite on par with that of Janik Top from Magma's previous line up, but Janik Top was never on par with Janik Top outside of his tenure with Magma.

While I would agree with another reviewer that Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh is arguably Magma's crowning achievement, MDK it is considerably less accessible than this live album (at least "accessible" as far as any Magma recording goes). One possibly minor caveat; I have the double CD put out by Seventh Records, Christian Vander's company. I haven't heard this version. So if you want to be sure you're getting the best possible recording spend the extra money and get the double CD release directly from Seventh Records.

Serious european music.......2005-12-02

On the contrary of some amazon.com american reviwers, who obviously don't know what tey're talking about, we are in the presence of a great european band. This record stands alone for it's music, and becomes even more intersting in the Magma context. Maybe our american reviewer "grew up in the 1960s's" is not familiar with a culture with no censorship. I remind him that unlike the USA in europe there are no fascist regimes.

awe-inspiring avant-prog.......2005-10-31

Magma is not an easy band to describe to people. in fact, i feel like the term "band" is not adequate and is misleading. the same goes for labels and genres like "prog" or "fusion." sure, there are plenty of those styles represented within Magma's core sound; and their influences are easily felt in their music. but Magma, to me, are a force...a gigantic, almost monsterous presence that cannot be ignored. their sound is huge and massive, filled with moments of terror and beauty. stark minimal rhythms give way to colourful audio explosions, drenched with harmonious voices and thundering bass and guitar. and the drums...wow. well, the drumming is just brilliant. this French group has enjoyed legendary status for decades, and has been highly influential (spawing many Zuehl obsessed bands...Ruins, Guapo, The Flying Luttenbachers...just to name a few), but yet their overall appeal is quite limited. probably due in no small part to their choice of language to sing in (a language called Kobian, which Christian Vander, drummer and mastermind behind Magma, has invented in order to explain the concepts behind his group's music and lyrical stance). there pieces are long and full of complexities and brilliant twists and turns...dark, treacherous, disonant avant-prog with intense crescendoes that bubble and boil with an electrifying power and joy that is both familiar and strangely alien to the senses.

this live document is a testament to the band's incredible power in a concert setting. i once heard that their performance made Frank Zappa so impressed and so awed that he couldn't take the stage after their show. i'm not sure if that's a certified fact, but after hearing this cd, it's not difficult to imagine being true.

One of the greats.......2005-06-29

This is surely one of the greatest live concerts ever recorded, up there with the MC5's "Kick Out the Jams" in terms of sheer intensity. But Magma is a band unlike any other, a French proto-Wagnerian juggernaut that combines the mystic chanting of Karl Orff with the classical complexity of Stravinsky, and the sheer volume and instrumental expertise of the Mahavishnu Orchestra at its prime. Though this was recorded in the 1970's it still thrills today. It's live version of Kohntark is a killer, with the first 16 minutes gradually building in intensity until the band cuts loose form all moorings and goes berserk, with maniac solos from violinst Didier Lockwood and bassist Bernard Paganotti, and a final burst of huge choral chanting and the astonishing drumming of founder Christian Vander. This composition is simply breath-taking. Version of Hhai, Lihns and Kobah follow, each with its own pleasures, from the invocation of Hhai to the gentle and charming Lihns. The CD closes with the composition Mekanik Zain, which is taken from the longer compositon Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh, still a stalwart composition in the Magma repertoire today. Toward the end, it is not possible for humans to sing that fast and that hard for that long; having seen this live in concert, they do, and Stella Vander still leads the choral contingent today, nearly 30 (!) years after this was recorded. This record is so blisteringly intense it will peel the paint from your walls.

laughable european fusion.......2004-09-12

the playing is okay. kinda like second rate mahavishnu orchestra without mclaughlin. the operatic vocalizing is laughable. how can anyone take the europeans seriously?

Average customer rating:

Intricate, Complex Music
The Beginning
the Magma journey begins here
dark, thick, funky, heavy, intense, deep, complex, so good
If you have a passion for Magma, you need this album

kobaia
Magma
Manufacturer: Import [Generic]
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B0000076GB
Release Date: 1999-03-02

Tracks:

Kobaia
Aina
Malaria
Sohia
Sckxyss
Aurae
Thaud Zaia
Nau Ektila
Stoah
Muh

Album Description

Available again at a new low price for a limited time. Digitally remastered and authorised by the group. Reissue of theveteran French prog act's 1970 album. Standard double jewel case.

Customer Reviews:

Intricate, Complex Music.......2007-06-07

The music of Magma is something intense and reasonably complex. And, very much grounded in non-rock aesthetics (particularly classical ones, to include choral music and 20th-century minimalism but also Wagnerian opera). Make no mistake, it's worth investigating. This is not just another obscure prog act who emulated the sounds of the time. This band was SERIOUS about striving for something very different and pure. The idea that they actually invented their own language to sing their songs in sounds strange or even quaint; on investigation it's I think a brilliant aesthetic choice by a band that sought to express in new ways.

The band's first two album had lots of horns playing nice slightly jagged parts - a bit like Soft Machine when they had their hown phase, a bit like Chicago and Blood sweat and Tears - nice stuff. There's some great impressive music on here but also large portions of musical abstraction that don't really cut it for me or I would think most listeners. the band's best was yet to come but again I say some of the music on here is tremendous.

The Beginning.......2005-12-05

I have been listening to the music of Christian Vander for many years now, and it is difficult to remember back to how and when I was first really exposed to his life vivifying music. But I do know that this was the first album of his work that I ever owned.

And what an album it is! This is the very first album of Vander's most well known band Magma and it remains to this day an incredible and powerful listening experience. There are other Magma CD's (and indeed, other Vander related projects) which move me even more than this one does, but this one will always hold a special place with me due to the fact that it is the first I owned and the real birth of Vander's exhaustive and wonderful musical output.

For the uninitiated who are truly seeking a rigorous and wonderful musical listening adventure, I do recommend starting here and then continuing on through Vander's incredible body of work.

the Magma journey begins here.......2005-10-31

Magma is not an easy band to describe to people. in fact, i feel like the term "band" is not adequate and is misleading. the same goes for labels and genres like "prog" or "fusion." sure, there are plenty of those styles represented within Magma's core sound; and their influences are easily felt in their music. but Magma, to me, are a force...a gigantic, almost monsterous presence that cannot be ignored. their sound is huge and massive, filled with moments of terror and beauty. stark minimal rhythms give way to colourful audio explosions, drenched with harmonious voices and thundering bass and guitar. and the drums...wow. well, the drumming is just brilliant. this French group has enjoyed legendary status for decades, and has been highly influential (spawing many Zuehl obsessed bands...Ruins, Guapo, The Flying Luttenbachers...just to name a few), but yet their overall appeal is quite limited. probably due in no small part to their choice of language to sing in (a language called Kobian, which Christian Vander, drummer and mastermind behind Magma, has invented in order to explain the concepts behind his group's music and lyrical stance). there pieces are long and full of complexities and brilliant twists and turns...dark, treacherous, disonant avant-prog with intense crescendoes that bubble and boil with an electrifying power and joy that is both familiar and strangely alien to the senses.

Kobaia is the debut 2cd album and marks a signifigant starting point for this adventerous group. these songs are great testimonies to the unique vision that Vander has; and Kobaia is a fine offering for fans. it's certainly a bit rough around the edges and alot of the songs on here seem to be slightly under developed, but this was their first album...so it's understandable. the sound quality of Kobaia is really 70's sounding and is justly deserving of a remastering job. it would be nice to hear these levels pumped up and overall mix needs a good kick. the influence of John Coltrane is especially deep on these first recordings. just listen to the first few minutes of "Aina." sadly, there are no female vocals in Magma as of this time, and their presence is missed. in my opinion, Magma sounds million times better with Stella's angelic voice. but Kobaia is worth the purchase just to hear the glorious swing of the title track and realize that this is where the Magma journey began.

dark, thick, funky, heavy, intense, deep, complex, so good.......2005-09-29

From the beginning, you can clearly tell that it is Magma (I was acquainted with their later work, like _MDK_ and _Üdü Wüdü_ before I had ever heard this, their debut) - the trademark choral-like vocals, Christian Vander's fluid and dexterous jazzy drumming, the experimental aesthetic and engrossing atmosphere. What makes this album much different from any other Magma I have heard is that it is basically full-on JAZZ FUSION with their experimental trademarks and nuances. But not fusion in a "rock band with saxophone" kinda way; they use saxophone, flutes, trumpet, and contrabass more effectively and in a more engaging manner than 99% of all straight-up jazz bands.

AND IT IS PLAYED FIERCELY. The pacing of this album is crazy. _Magma_ announces to the world an incredibly original, innovative, and f---ing amazing band that is bursting with energy and ideas. This album is just so fun to listen to because of the pacing, but it has such depth to it that it is so easy to get lost in by analyzing the instrumentation and complexity of the arrangements.

Basically, if you enjoy Magma at all, this is among their best work (in fact, the only other Magma album I like more is _Mëkanïk Destruktïw Kommandöh_). If you don't know too much about Magma, here's what this album kinda sounds like: Miles Davis _Dark Magus_ (the dark, thick, funky fusion) bred with Godspeed You Black Emperor _Slow Riot For New Zero Kanada_ (the intensity and emotional weight it carries) bred with King Crimson _Red_ (the basic aesthetic and metal-ness that KC has) - but this album predates all of those. This is totally and completely essential.

If you have a passion for Magma, you need this album.......1998-10-17

You love Magma or you don't. No half measure. If you are in the first category, then you need the complete collection. This double album is somewhat calmer that their usual music, more melodious, with fully developed pieces.

Average customer rating:

Brilliant avant-funk
Menacing, evil, and positively brilliant.

Udu Wudu
Magma
Manufacturer: Tomato
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B0000C6VSO
Release Date: 2004-01-01

Tracks:

Udu Wudu
Weidorje
Trr Tanz (Ghost Dance)
Soleil D'Ork (Ork' Sun)
Zombies (Ghost Dance)
De Futura

Album Description

2003 reissue of 1976 album packaged in a digipak. Charly.

Customer Reviews:

Brilliant avant-funk.......2006-08-31

What a piece of St. Vitus dancing we've got here. Mad, really schizofrenic music, piano driven music and chorus as a mad Sufjan Stevens and then funk coming out from all early Zeuhl - jazz adventures - a spacey avant funk. Yeah, it's funk allright!! There is a strange kind of funk in their planet!! Listen to it and you will believe me.

But away from space funk, don't forget the other masterpieces:

Kontarkhoz, 1001 degrees or Mechanik Destruktiv Kommandoh

Menacing, evil, and positively brilliant........2005-07-11

Wow. Another amazing recording that dazzled me with wild daring and technical excellence (the other being Birds of Fire by The Mahavishnu Orchestra). The music on Udu Wudu (1976) is unlike anything I have ever heard - it is not quite prog or jazz rock, although elements of both can be heard along with Carl Orff and Bartok influences. This stuff is very heavy, with positively excellent drumming/percussion work from bandleader Christian Vander and incredible bass work from both Janik Top (who plays on five of the six tracks) and Bernard Paganotti (who plays on Weidorje only). The bass sound Janik Top gets is just awesome, heavily distorted with lots of octave swoops, although much of his bass work is in the lower register (there is one point where he hits a low B - I am not sure if his E string was tuned lower or used a 6-string bass). Scattered throughout the recording are "evil" sounding synthesizer and bass synthesizer parts, bizarre, almost menacing vocal arrangements sung in a fabricated language called Kobaian, and a pretty cool trumpet/sax arrangement written by bassist Janik Top (on the first piece only). Five of the six pieces on Udu Wudu range from 3-5 minutes in length although the centerpiece of the disc is the lengthy 17'37" De Futura. Evidently, De Futura relates the story of a voyage through time and it is only through time-travel that we can see the people of "Ork". Well, that is what the liner notes say at any rate. This is truly distinct music that has been termed "chamber progressive rock" and spawned a number of similar European bands including Univers Zero and Art Zoyd amongst others. If you like this recording as much as I do, grab the 1975 recording Magma Live - it is where I started exploring this extraordinary band and showcases their considerable abilities in a live setting (although it sounds like a studio work). Although earlier recordings such as Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh (1973) and Kohntarkhosz (1974) only seem to be available as very expensive Japanese Imports, they are praised by fans and are next on my list.

Average customer rating:

Great Thundering Operatic Music
YOUR NEW FAV
The Cosmique March
Message is the medium
Travel to other worlds with Magma

Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh
Magma
Manufacturer: Phantom Sound & Vision
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B00002MJYK
Release Date: 2004-01-01

Tracks:

Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh

Album Description

Available again at a new low price for a limited time. Digitally remastered and authorised by the group. Reissue of the veteran French prog act's 1974 album. Standard jewel case.

Album Description

1973 release for the jazz-rock fusion act features one 38 minute track. Seventh.

Customer Reviews:

Great Thundering Operatic Music.......2007-06-07

It's Wagnerian but it's got lots of elements of rock and jazz in it, which Wagner did not. Band leader/drummer/composer Christian Vander really hits a peak here, he makes a dark and powerful record. If you're open to all types of music, you'll likely be impressed. All the unusual choices Vander made for his music pay off here.

YOUR NEW FAV.......2007-06-06

This is highly recommended for anyone looking for something new in sound, this will Expand your mind in ways that nothing else could. Many people and musical Artist will agree that Magma is one of the most influential Progressive music groups of all time. Any and all drummers who hear this will be blown away by the insane ploy-rhythms with vocals done as a rhythmic melody in a made up language that sounds like Japanese-German-French-Martian. Bands that turned me onto Magma: King Crimson, Hella, Gong, Gentle Giant, Yes, Boredom's, Yoshida Tatsuya and his many forms RUINS and so on... Don't just buy this album Check out attahk and kobaia or just buy them all it's better to support true music than regress to 2/4 C-G-D cookie cutter songs.

The Cosmique March.......2005-11-01

Magma is not an easy band to describe to people. in fact, i feel like the term "band" is not adequate and is misleading. the same goes for labels and genres like "prog" or "fusion." sure, there are plenty of those styles represented within Magma's core sound; and their influences are easily felt in their music. but Magma, to me, are a force...a gigantic, almost monsterous presence that cannot be ignored. their sound is huge and massive, filled with moments of terror and beauty. stark minimal rhythms give way to colourful audio explosions, drenched with harmonious voices and thundering bass and guitar. and the drums...wow. well, the drumming is just brilliant. this French group has enjoyed legendary status for decades, and has been highly influential (spawing many Zuehl obsessed bands...Ruins, Guapo, The Flying Luttenbachers...just to name a few), but yet their overall appeal is quite limited. probably due in no small part to their choice of language to sing in (a language called Kobian, which Christian Vander, drummer and mastermind behind Magma, has invented in order to explain the concepts behind his group's music and lyrical stance). there pieces are long and full of complexities and brilliant twists and turns...dark, treacherous, disonant avant-prog with intense crescendoes that bubble and boil with an electrifying power and joy that is both familiar and strangely alien to the senses.

Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh is a dark, sprawling march into abyssmal terrain. playing out more like a mini rock concerto than a proper album, MDK unravels at a slow pace, with a steady, rolling drum that keeps the affair tight with a restrained hold. as it progresses, the sound slowly gathers other elements and ideas and it begins to take on a savage form. a morphing takes place and before you know it, you've joined in line with the others in this hypnotic march. Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh is more than an album, more than a rock concerto, it's an event!

Message is the medium.......2005-08-17

I bought this in vinyl when it came out, because it was "out there"---Melody Maker said so. Saw the band in concert in Hamburg that same year, '74.

Vinyl never played well under Mr. Stylus: but I sure didn't know that the same parts were being played over & over. Somewhere along the way, I must've slipped the album in a Goodwill drop box, 'cause I don't have it anymore.

Three stars for trying, but Magma & prog. bands in general are potent reminders to beware of messages in art: when the medium's a made-up language (gee, I thought it was Flemish), then the message can't be too important. Pass.

Travel to other worlds with Magma.......2004-06-19

Well, I heard that Magma had some pretty good music that was different. I was sure in for a surprize! Was it ever different. This album is only for those with an open mind for music, but if you accually found this album you probably know you're in for a good ride. This album sounds like one long song, with lots of words that are not words at all, just random singing.

Tracks:

Last Seven Minutes: 1970-77, Phase 1 [1970-71, Phase I]
Spiritual (Negro Song)
Rind (Eastern Song)
Lir Necronomicus Kanht (In Which Our Heroes gon and Gorgo Meet) [I
Maahnt (The Wizard's Fight Versus the Devil)
DondaTo an Eternal Love)
Nono (1978, Phase II)

Average customer rating:

Magnum Magma
Magma through and through
Au Magma Eternel
Embarrassing
Fantastic!

Ka: Kohntarkosz Anteria
Magma
Manufacturer: King Japan
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Jazz Fusion | Jazz | Styles | Music

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Progressive Rock | Progressive | Rock | Styles | Music

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Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh
Trance-Fusion

ASIN: B0006FGYBI
Release Date: 2005-01-03

Tracks:

K.A I
K.A. Ii
K.A. Iii

Customer Reviews:

Magnum Magma.......2006-05-20

After their 'Attack' record which was the last one with the recognizable style of composition and sound we all love and crave from the creators of the zeuhl genre, i had not heard of any new (with new material) Magma effort. Tha album was done long ago in the late seventies. After that, many projects by the leader have appeared regularly (Offering, Fusion, etc.) but none was as satisfactory as the Magma band of earlier glorious days. So, when i saw this i was not enthusiastic at all. I thought it would be another disapointment (like so many reunion bands). NOT SO!
This is a thrill-to-your-skull Magma record as there ever was. Amazing compositions and excellent musicianship. Gorgeous recording too. Recommended!

Magma through and through.......2006-02-19

This release is certainly among Magma's best work, which puts it strongly in the running for some of the best music ever made. Christian Vander's drumming is as excellent as ever; the melodies are spine-tingling; the invariably diverse instrumentation continually lends itself to a vastly engrossing and original offering; the choir-like Zeuhl vocals are as amazing as on any other Magma release. Overall, the three pieces have that Magma feel that cannot be replicated by any followers or imitators. Magma's music is simply Magma, through and through. They are an island unto themselves, and on that enchanted isle they have created some of the greatest music of the modern ages. _KA_ is certainly not an exception.

Any fan of the band will enjoy this immensely, and any newcomer to the band that is not afraid of 10-20 minute songs should be able to get into this.

Au Magma Eternel.......2005-11-01

"Yay"" ...i know that sounds childish, but..."YAAAY!" i am so so happy with this new Magma album that i can't help but act foolish ansd giddy. i was a little apprehensive with the idea of this amazing French group giving new life to one of their old, unheard compositions. one has to admit, it could've been a sour affair. but Magma does not dissapoint, in fact, they shot over my expectations...way over....into the other stratosphere. Kohntarkosz Anteria is the real deal. a triumphant album that sounds like the band has a rekindled creative fire. perhaps all those live shows they've been putting on for the past years gave them a good push. whatever the case may be, this is a jaw-droppingly astounding album and, possibly (possibly!) Magma's best album...ever(?). the verdict is still out on that one, but let's just say that if i was to recommend a Magma album to someone who was semi-curious about the band, you could do no worse than to pick up Kohntarkosz Anteria!

Magma is not an easy band to describe to people. in fact, i feel like the term "band" is not adequate and is misleading. the same goes for labels and genres like "prog" or "fusion." sure, there are plenty of those styles represented within Magma's core sound; and their influences are easily felt in their music. but Magma, to me, are a force...a gigantic, almost monsterous presence that cannot be ignored. their sound is huge and massive, filled with moments of terror and beauty. stark minimal rhythms give way to colourful audio explosions, drenched with harmonious voices and thundering bass and guitar. and the drums...wow. well, the drumming is just brilliant. this French group has enjoyed legendary status for decades, and has been highly influential (spawing many Zuehl obsessed bands...Ruins, Guapo, The Flying Luttenbachers...just to name a few), but yet their overall appeal is quite limited. probably due in no small part to their choice of language to sing in (a language called Kobian, which Christian Vander, drummer and mastermind behind Magma, has invented in order to explain the concepts behind his group's music and lyrical stance). there pieces are long and full of complexities and brilliant twists and turns...dark, treacherous, disonant avant-prog with intense crescendoes that bubble and boil with an electrifying power and joy that is both familiar and strangely alien to the senses.

ghostly distant voices and warm cymbal washes greet the listener for the first few seconds of Kohntarkosz Anteria, and it sounds (briefly) like a cut from Donald Byrd's brilliant album A New Perspective. but within moments, the Kobaian chanting begins and the song erupts forth in it's cosmic swing. there are still lots of elements of the gospel influence here on KA, as seen in Magma's Udu Wudu & Attahk albums, although now it feels like that gospel influence has been refined to fits more in with the traditional Zuehl and avant-proggy sounds. the choir has been stripped down to only five singers (including Vander), as compared to the seven member group that graced the third disc of the Theusz Hamtaahk Trilogie Live 3cd box set (that Amazon does not seem to carry at the time of this writing...shame), and it sounds alot more open and clean, allowing these beautiful voices to rise and soar among these infinitely expressive and impressively complex structures. and i feel lucky and blessed to have witnessed this amazing album performed live on their Japan tour this past September. and if you thought this album sounds good at home on the stereo; you have no idea how powerful it can be in a live setting! wow! Kohntarkosz Anteria is a more than worthy addition to the otherworldly Magma legacy. Hail!

Embarrassing.......2005-05-25

For many, 1973's 'Mekanink Destructiw Kommandoh' is one of the most amazing records ever made. The only problem is that the sound quality is murky, and every edition of the CD released always attracts the rumour that it has been recorded from an LP (albeit a pristine copy) rather than any tape master. It's an album crying out for a re-mastering -- ideally to a 5.1 SACD format.

In the absence of such, I was intrigued by the blurb about 'Ka', which seemed to herald a return to Magma's 1970s values, while promising 2004 recording quality. The only original members stil in the band, as far as I can tell, are Christian and Stella Vander. Desperately missed are Jannik Top (now working on stage productions like Notre Dame) and vocalist/shrieker Klaus Blasquiz.

The result is an anodyne, no-risks return to pseudo-MDK compositions. Unfortunately it now sounds to me rather like an amateurish school concert in which a few ageing teachers have donned their flairs one last time to play for the parents, with the headmaster's secretary on backing vocals.

It undoubtedly has its musical moments, but just as most of us had grown out of Star Wars by 1985, so we also learnt to put away the childish things of the Kobaia story about 30 years ago.

Fantastic!.......2004-12-27

What an incredible CD! Having bought everything Christian Vander has ever recorded through the years, I did not expect this CD to be a disappointment. But little did I know that this tour de force could very well be Magma's greatest album!

While Christian Vander has always been busy musically, it has been many years since there was a "true" Magma album released of new studio material. "K.A" is the CD that Vander fans have been waiting for, and the wait has been well worth it! Vander wrote the music for this album back in the 70's, but it took him this long to get it recorded and released.

While so many bands reform to cash in on their former reputations and release sub par music, "K.A" is a very welcome exception. Of course Stella Vander is also present, but for the most part Christian Vander has reformed Magma with a new, fresh, young lineup who are still up to the task at hand! I rank it right up there with some of Magma's finest legendary albums and I'm sure that with time, "K.A" will also go down in history as being another such milestone.

The foldout CD packaging comes complete with a book of lyrics, entirely in Kobian!

So, bravo Christian! This CD is a truly essential one and an absolute must have for fans of Zeuhl music!

Average customer rating:

Fantastic work.
Nice segway into Magma
best place to start with magma

Uber Kommandoh
Magma
Manufacturer: Atom
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh
Felona E Sorona
Moonmadness
The Snow Goose

ASIN: B00022LZVO
Release Date: 2004-05-10

Tracks:

Spiritual
Udu Wudu
De Futura
Last Seven Minutes: 1971 Phase 2
Weidorje
Rinde (Eastern Song)
Maahnt (The Wizard's Fight Versus the Devil)

Tracks:

Troller Tanz (Ghost Dance)
Zombies (Ghost Dance)
Nono (1978, Phase II)
Soleil d'Ork (Ork' Sun)
Lirik Necronomicus Kant (In Which Our Heroes Ourgon and Gorgo Meet)
Dondai (To an Enternal Love)
Mekanik Zain [Live]

Album Description

Import exclusive two CD compilation for the French progressive rock act.

Album Details

A Mix of Original Recordings, Big Hits and Rarities. Includes an Eight Page Full Color Booklet with Extensive Liner Notes Packaged in a Slimline Jewel Box.

Customer Reviews:

Fantastic work........2007-06-21

As the other reviews have mentioned, this contains ÜDÜ WÜDÜ and ATTAHK in their entirety, but they're randomly jumbled onto two discs along with the track MEKANIK ZAIN (which is an awesome tune) from their 1975 live album.

It's unfortunate that this wasn't released as a double dose of the two albums on their respective discs, but it's the most affordable way to get them both. I myself made copies with the proper tracklistings.

This is a very good place to start for anyone interested in Magma. ÜDÜ WÜDÜ and ATTAHK are varied enough to give the listener an idea of what this band has to offer. The title track of ÜDÜ WÜDÜ is one of the most joyous things I've ever heard. It was the first Magma song I'd listened to and I actually didn't like it at first. Where was all of the jazz and operatic and progressive elements that I'd heard about? After I got over the initial shock I listened to it more and it became this wonderful living breathing piece of music.

Magma isn't a band for everyone but their music will be rewarding to the adventurous listener.

Nice segway into Magma.......2006-07-19

A reshuffled compilation of the last two 70's studio works by Magma (Udu Wudu and Attahk) no doubt created to offset the inferior bootleg "Spiritual" and this pays off, while hardly serving as a "best of".

The classic tracks like Ghost Dance, De Futura, Zombies are here and the results are out of this world, a fusion of the wordly and the outwordly.

Unfortunately, sorely missing are the Magma's more jazzy, deeply contemplative works that can be found on albums like Kohntarkosz and Wurdah Itah. Consider this a side dish.

I encourage sophisticated music lovers to get into Magma if you enjoy trippy stuff like Amon Duul II and Mr. Bungle, dark and foreboding works of Univers Zero and the latter King Crimson, as well as John Coltrane's masterpieces.

best place to start with magma.......2004-08-06

this 2-cd set contains the Udu Wudu and Attahk albums in their entirety (although why it is not marketed as such i can't imagine), as well as an excellent 20 minute live track from 1988. the sound is great, and the music is genius (of course). the only minor complaints i would have are first that the liner notes don't have any of the basic info such as the personnel on each track, and secondly that the tracks are mixed around for no apparent reason. they should have just made Udu Wudu the first disc, and Attahk the second with the bonus track. kind of doesn't make sense to screw around with the sequencing on a magma album, which is so much an "album" and not just a bunch of tracks thrown together, and thus relies on the intended track sequence to make it's impact. it's kind of like having a 2cd beach boys set with tracks from "pet sounds" and "smiley smile" all mixed together in no order. still, it's great music, and is the best place to start for those with an interest in this great band.

Average customer rating:

Ka - Magma Par Excellent!

Ka: Kohntarkosz Anteria
Magma
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Jazz | Styles | Music

Jazz Fusion | Jazz | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Progressive Rock | Progressive | Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00064KZK0
Release Date: 2006-10-31

Customer Reviews:

Ka - Magma Par Excellent!.......2007-06-30

I was confused as to the identity of the bamd, Magma, before I purchased this CD. Magna Carta was a 1970's semi prog but really metal band who I had heard of. But also heard of MagMa as being sort of an operatic progressive metal ensemble. This is what best describe's Christian Vander's Magma. They are still around after 40 years! and fresher than ever! The vocal choir is complex musically and beautifully done. It is reminisent of an broadway production but far more intense. Excellent spin!

Average customer rating:

F-yeah

Theatre du Taur - Toulouse 1975
Magma
Manufacturer: AKT IV
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Jazz | Styles | Music

Jazz Fusion | Jazz | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Progressive Rock | Progressive | Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music
ASIN: B0007V5WBY
Release Date: 1995-01-01

Tracks:

Kohntarkosz
Hhai
Kobaia
Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh

Customer Reviews:

F-yeah.......2007-05-21

I'll admit that i'm a fan, but what a great raw live recording. It made me love Magma all over again. If you appreciate Magma, you'll be pretty happy with this.(especially disc 2)-very cool

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Music Review

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Contents Dislodged During Shipment

Beethoven, Schumann: Die Werke für Violoncello und Klavier

Anthony Newman: Absolute Joy

Music: Heart Food

Angel Beach [Import]

5 de Mayo: Fiesta Con el Mariachi

20 Super Sucessos [Import]

Ain't No Stopping Us [Explicit Lyrics]

All the Best from France

Almost a Song

Amfibian Tales

Al-Nûbatiyya: Chants Et Tambours De Nubie

All Nite

Alicia de Larrocha 2

Another One Lost

1. Magma, For 16 Soloists
2. Cadenza, For Solo Cello
3. Nexus, For Instrumental Ensemble
4. Barcelona 216, For Instrumental Ensemble
5. Homenaje a Carmen Amaya, For 6 Percussionists