OFF: Magma?

[Stephan Forstner]

I see Denis has already answered this pretty much as I have, but I spent all
that time typing this out so I'll send it anyway...

>>I'll second that, it's up there with Space Ritual and Magma Live (Hhai) -
>>yes I'm a Magma fan, though not a REAL Magma fan, as I only have 4 versions
>>of Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh in my library...
>>
(not counting the single version - only 5 minutes long!)

>Is this different than a Magma double-LP titled "Live", released in '75 on a
>small European label? It's still their only album I have...I like it...but
>still wonder how representative it is?

That is almost certainly the same one (Utopia records I think)- the double
CD reissue on Seventh (not the earlier single CD cut on a different label)
is subtitled Hhai though the original vinyl isn't. The 2 CD set has
additional material, BUT I have some minor annoyance with the
editing/mastering at the track boundaries, not a lot, but enough to make me
keep the vinyl around (even if not for the artwork). This release 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.

>I actually had a cassette of...oh, there goes my memory again...that '76
>studioo album...but it kicked the bucket real quick...

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.

Stephan

P.S. Has anyone heard 'Inedits' and want to describe the sound quality? It's
supposedly non-album material from low-sound-quality live tapes - and I'm
firmly in the camp that believes good/interesting/unusual content trumps bad
sound any day, so I'll likely get this no matter what - but I'd still like
to know approximately how bad the sound is!