01	Call From The Dark (Ooh Baby)						07:15
	02	Otis						05:20
	03	Do The Music						04:22
	04	Otis (Ending)						01:58
	05	I Must Return						06:38
	06	Eliphas Levi						11:04
	07	The Night We Died						04:13

Merci

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Release Notes
Jaro EFA 08-4120 (LP) 1984 [France]
Pathe Marconi 2403371 1985 [France]
Seventh REX III (CD) 1988 [France]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Songs
1. Call From The Dark (Ooh Ooh Baby) C.Vander,J.Dassin,R.Dassin 7:20
2. Otis C.Vander 5:20
3. Do The Music C.Vander 4:25
4. Otis (Ending) C.Vander 1:32
5. I Must Return C.Vander,J.Dassin,R.Dassin 6:32
6. Elephas Levi R.Garber 11:15
7. The Night We Died C.Vander 3:40


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Members

Christian Vander Vocals,Piano,Celeste,Keyboards & Percussion
Stella Vander Vocals
Guy Khalifa Vocals
Benoit Widemann Synthesizer
Simon Goubert Synthesizer (1,3)
Fracois Laizeau Drums,Drum Programming
Marc Eliard Bass
Phillipe Slominski Trumpet on (1,3,4)
Christian Martinez Trumpet on (1,4)
Michel Goldberg Saxophone on (1,3)
Liza Deluxe Backing Vocals
Jean Pierre Foquey Rhodes Piano on (2)
Michel Gaucher Saxophone on (2)
Freddy Opsepian Trumpet on (2)
Christian Guizen Trombone on (2)
Alex Ferrand Vocals on (3)
Jean-Luc Chevalier Guitar on (3)
Patrick Gauthier Synthesizer on (3)
Paul Bayle Saxophone on (3)
Denis LeLoup Trombone on (3,4)
Arrigo Lorenzi Soprano Sax on (3)
Maria Popkiewicz Backing Vocals on (4)
Jerome Naulay Trombone on (4)
Zaka Percussion on (4)
Michel Graillier Rhodes Piano on (5)


Camille Lievaux Back Cover Photo
Christian Vander Production
Jean-Loup Morette Assistant
Jean-Paul Fenneteau Front & Inside
Stella Vander, Francis Linon Engineers


All Music Guide Biography

Led by classically-trained drummer Christian Vander, the Paris-based Magma was, in their way, perhaps the ultimate progressive-rock group; while other artists achieved greater commercial success and critical acclaim, Magma typified the many ambitions and excesses of the genre which won it as many detractors as fans, even going so far as to invent their own lyrical and musical language in order to bring their unique vision to life.

The son of a jazz pianist, Vander initially followed in his father's footsteps, modeling his technique on the work of John Coltrane alum Elvin Jones and starting his career with a number of jazz and R&B outfits. While in Paris in 1969, however, he was struck by a vision of earth's spiritual and ecological future which so disturbed him that he decided to explore his fears by musical means, assembling Magma with the aid of wife and vocalist Stella, singer Klaus Blasquiz, and fusion bassists Francis Moze and Jannick Top.

As outlined on the group's eponymous 1970 double-album debut, Vander's tale -- projected to be told over the course of ten LPs -- pitted earth against a rival planet named Kobaia.
Over the course of 1971's 1001 Centigrade and 1973's Mekanik Destructiw Kommandoh (recorded with a choir), the story -- much of it told in native Kobaian -- unfolded to depict an earth so uninhabitable that its citizens must flee to the nearby planet, where years of conflict culminated in the achievement of cosmic harmony and a reconciliation with the deity Ptah.

Chart success was not orthcoming, and after a few early tours of the U.S. and Britain Magma spent the middle years of the decade almost exclusively in France, where they launched records including 1974's Kohntarkosz and the next year's Live. After the commercial failure of 1976's Udu Wadu and 1977's Edits, Magma essentially disbanded, although the group lived on in various forms, as alumni founded a number of loosely-affiliated splinter groups to carry on Vander's work in subsequent years, including Art Zoyd, Univers Zero, Ensemble Nimbus, Happy Family and Ruins.
In 1983, Vander himself resurfaced with the acoustic project Offering, but later returned to more grandiose designs with Les Voix de Magma, an attempt to resurrect his early material for a new generation of listeners.
--Jason Ankeny,




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yuri Jossa's Biography

MAGMA was a French group led by composer / percussionist / pianist Christian Vander, formed in the early 1970's.
MAGMA's music is difficult to describe; it is ethereal and yet violent, ethnic and yet very European; it combines musical elements from composers such as Carl Orff, Bela Bartok and Richard Wagner with other influences such as the music of John Coltrane, Jazz and European folk music.
Christian Vander's visionary music, operatic vocalizations and choruses were sung in a special language: Kobaian; a complete idiom with its own phonetics and vocabulary, created by Vander to express the intensity of the music.

MAGMA's music have influenced and inspired a whole generation of musicians such as Belgium's UNIVERS ZERO and other groups around the world, to create music that combines elements of 20th century classical, jazz and rock music with modern instrumentation and electric / electronic instruments. This music is often categorized as "Zeuhl" music.

Yuri Jossa









MAGMA / CHRISTIAN VANDER
Lineup History and Discography

Compiled by Peter Thelen 1993
3rd Update & Expansion 1995


PREFACE: This listing includes all the Magma, Christian Vander, CV Trio
and Offering albums and singles, as well as (for the benefit of
live tape collectors) all of the lineup changes throughout Magma's
classic period (1970-1982). At the end I've included some other
related projects that involved Vander's participation.

THANKS: To all those who helped: Paul Mummery, Naotsugu Ito, Minsu Jang,
Steve Feigenbaum, Francis Grosse, Bernard Gueffier, and anyone
else I've forgotten...Merci!

******************************************************************************

1969 MAGMA Earliest Formation

From CRUCIFERIUS LOBENZ--> Christian Vander (drs)
From CHINESE-------------> Jean Jacques Ferry (gtr) ---> Split
From CHINESE-------------> Eric Grimbert (gtr) --------> Split
From ZORGONES------------> Francis Moze (keys) --------> Natl.Service
From ZORGONES------------> Lucien Zabuski (voc)
From ZORGONES------------> Laurent Thibault (bs)

******************************************************************************

1969 MAGMA First Lineup circa spring 1969

Christian Vander (drs,voc)
Lucien Zabuski (voc) -----> Solo "ZABU"
Laurent Thibault (bs)
American Pianist---------> Eddy Rabbin (keys)
From OMEGA PLUS----------> Claude Engel (gtr)
??-----------------------> Guy Marco (trumpet)
??-----------------------> Rene Morizur (saxes)
??-----------------------> Rene Garber (bass clarinet)

******************************************************************************

1969 MAGMA Lineup circa 8/69

Christian Vander (drs,voc)
Laurent Thibault (bs)
Eddy Rabbin (keys) ---------------> Split
Claude Engel (gtr)
Guy Marco (trumpet) -------> JOHNNY HALLYDAY
Rene Morizur (saxes) ------> JOHNNY HALLYDAY
Rene Garber (bass clarinet)
From BLUES CONVENTION----> Klaus Blasquiz (voc)

******************************************************************************

1969 MAGMA Lineup circa 10/69

Christian Vander (drs,voc)
Laurent Thibault (bs) ---> Production/Lights
Claude Engel (gtr)
Rene Garber (bass clarinet) ------> Split
Klaus Blasquiz (voc)
From MAL WALDRON---------> Francois Cahen (keys)
From R&B groups----------> Paco Charlery (trumpet)
From jazz groups---------> Richard Raux (sax/flute)
From jazz groups --------> Jacky Vidal (contrabass) ---------> Split

******************************************************************************

1970 MAGMA Lineup from 1/70 - 8/70

Christian Vander (drs,voc)
Claude Engel (gtr)
Klaus Blasquiz (voc)
Francois Cahen (keys)
Paco Charlery (trumpet) ----------> To DAYDE
Richard Raux (sax/flute)----------> Split
From National Service----> Francis Moze (bass)
??-----------------------> Teddy Lasry (clarinet)

NOTES: This is the lineup that recorded the first album 4/70

******************************************************************************

1970 MAGMA - "MAGMA" Seventh REX IV/V (CD)

1. Kobaia C.Vander 10:09
2. Aina C.Vander 6:15
3. Malaria C.Vander 4:20
4. Sohia T.Lasry 7:41
5. Sckxyss F.Cahen 2:47
6. Aurae C.Vander 10:52
7. Thaud Zaia C.Engel 7:00
8. Nau Ektila L.Thibault 12:55
9. Stoah C.Vander 8:08
10. Muh C.Vander 11:17

Christian Vander Drums & Vocals
Claude Engel Guitars,Flute,Vocals
Francis Moze Electric Bass, Contrabass
Francois Cahen Piano
Teddy Lasry Soprano Sax,Flute
Richard Raux Alto and Tenor Sax,Flute
Alain Charlery 'paco' Trumpet,Percussion
Klaus Basquiz Vocals

Claude Martelot Engineer
Laurent Thibault Production
Lee Hallyday Production supervision
Louis Haig Sarkissian Stage Manager
M.J.Petit Makeup
Marcel Engel Technical Assistant
Roger Roche Engineer

NOTES: This is a 2CD set.

******************************************************************************

1970 MAGMA - "Kobaia"/"Muh" Phillips 6009-59 (Single)

NOTES: Single versions from first album

******************************************************************************

1970 MAGMA Lineup changes circa 10/70

Christian Vander (drs,voc)
Claude Engel (gtr)
Klaus Blasquiz (voc)
Francois Cahen (keys)
Francis Moze (bass)
Teddy Lasry (clarinet)
From PERCEPTION----------> Jeff Seffer (saxes)

NOTES: During this period Vander, Moze, Cahen, Lasry and Engel
formed a side group called TRANSITION, doing mostly cover
material. No recordings exist.

******************************************************************************

1971 MAGMA Lineup circa early '71

Christian Vander (drs,voc)
Claude Engel (gtr) -------------> To DAYDE
Klaus Blasquiz (voc)
Francois Cahen (keys)
Francis Moze (bass)
Teddy Lasry (clarinet)
Jeff Seffer (saxes)
From EDDY MITCHELL-------> Louis Toesca (trumpet)
??-----------------------> Y.Youati (?)---------------> moved to Israel

NOTES: This is essentially the lineup that recorded "1001 Centigrades"
and much of the material on "The Unnamables". C.Engel is not
featured on "1001", Y.Youati (?) is featured on neither.

******************************************************************************

1971 MAGMA - "1001ш CENTIGRADES" Seventh REX VI (CD)

1. Riah Sahiltaahk C.Vander 21:51
2. "Iss" Lansei Doia T.Lasry 11:46
3. Ki Iahl O Liahk F.Cahen 8:20

Klaus Basquiz Vocals & Percussion
Francois Cahen Piano,Electric Piano
Francis Moze Electric Bass
Christian Vander Drums,Percussion,Vocals
Teddy Lasry Clarinet,Sax,Flute,Vocals
Jeff Seffer Sax,Bass Clarinet
Louis Toesca Trumpet

Dominique Blanc-Frankard Engineer
Louis Sarkissian Manager
Roland Hilda Production

******************************************************************************

1971 MAGMA - "Hamtaahk"/"Tendei Kobah" Phillips 6009-145 (Single)

NOTES: Second single released about same time as "1001 C" LP

******************************************************************************

1971 VARIOUS ARTISTS - "PUISSANCE 13+2" Musea FGBG 4087AR

2. Mekanik Kommandoh C.Vander 6:00

Klaus Basquiz Lead Vocals & Percussion
Francois Cahen Electric Piano
Francis Moze Electric Bass
Christian Vander Drums,Vocals
Teddy Lasry Sax
Jeff Seffer Sax
Louis Toesca Trumpet

NOTES: Various artists compilation (2LP/1CD) on Laurent Thibault's
"Theleme" label. Magma contributes one live track, which is
probably the earliest recorded version of Mekanik Kommandoh.

******************************************************************************

1971 UNIVERIA ZEKT - "THE UNNAMABLES" Musea FGBG 4086.AR (CD)

1. You Speak and Speak Colegram Lasry 2:10
2. Altcheringa Cahen,Zabu 3:27
3. Clementine Lasry 3:00
4. Something's Cast A Spell Lasry,Ledissez 4:16
5. Ourania Vander 4:23
6. Africa Anteria Vander 11:30
7. Undia Vander 4:47

Christian Vander Drums,Percussion,Voice on (6)
Klaus Blasquiz Vocals on (4,7),Percussion
Francois Cahen Pianos
Francis Moze Bass,Organ
Teddy Lasry Saxes,Flute,Organ
Jeff Seffer Saxes
Tito Puentes Trumpet
Claude Engel Electric & Acoustic Guitar
Zabu Vocals on (2)
Lionel Ledissez Vocals on (4)

NOTES: This album was intended to be a new persons introduction
to the Magma 'sound'. Lionel Ledissez was vocalist w/ERGO SUM

******************************************************************************

1971 MAGMA Lineup changes circa late '71

Christian Vander (drs,voc)
Klaus Blasquiz (voc)
Francois Cahen (keys)
Francis Moze (bass)
Teddy Lasry (clarinet)
Jeff Seffer (saxes)
Louis Toesca (trumpet)
From ARKHAM--------------> Jean-Luc Manderlier (keys)
From ARKHAM--------------> Daniel Denis (drs) --------> To NECRONOMICON

NOTES: ARKHAM was the opening band on Magma's Belgian 71 tour,
after which Vander drafted two of that band's members.
The double-keyboards experiment went well, but the double-
drums didn't. Denis split to form NECRONOMICON which after
some time evolved into UNIVERS ZERO.

******************************************************************************

1972 MAGMA Lineup in early '72

Christian Vander (drs,voc)
Klaus Blasquiz (voc)
Francois Cahen (keys) -----------> To ZAO
Francis Moze (bass) -------------> To GONG
Teddy Lasry (clarinet) ----------> To L.PETIT GERARD
Jeff Seffer (saxes) -------------> To PERCEPTION, then ZAO
Louis Toesca (trumpet) ----------> Split ?
Jean-Luc Manderlier (keys)

******************************************************************************

1972 MAGMA Lineup changes in late '72

Christian Vander (drs,voc)
Klaus Blasquiz (voc)
Jean-Luc Manderlier (keys)
Alumni-------------------> Rene Garber (winds)
From B.WILLEN------------> Michel Graillier (keys) ----> To TARTEMPION
??-----------------------> Jean-Pierre Lambert (bass)
Lights-------------------> Stella Vander (voc)

NOTES: "Gamma Anteria" on "Inedits" was taken from this period.

******************************************************************************

1972 MAGMA - "Mekanik Kommandoh"/"Klaus Kombalad" Phillips 6009-185 (Single)

NOTES: Third single. Non-LP

******************************************************************************

1973 MAGMA Lineup changes circa 1/73

Christian Vander (drs,voc)
Klaus Blasquiz (voc)
Jean-Luc Manderlier (keys)
Rene Garber (bass clarinet)
Jean-Pierre Lambert (bass) ---------> Split
Stella Vander (voc)
From jazz groups---------> Mark Fosset (gtr) -----------> M.FOSSET TRIO
COEUR MAGIQUE/ALICE------> Claude Olmos (gtr)
TEMPEST (Fr)-------------> Gerald Bikialko -------------> POUIN FINAL

NOTES: This lineup, minus Fosset, Olmos & Bikialko, recorded
"Mekanik Kommandoh" (Fosset quit before, Olmos joined after)

******************************************************************************

1973 MAGMA - "MEKANIK KOMMANDOH" Seventh REX VIZ (CD) First Release: 1989

1. Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh C.Vander 38:47

Christian Vander Drums,Vocals,Organ,Percussion
Jean Pierre Lambert Bass
Klaus Basquiz Vocals,Percussion
Jean Luc Manderlier Piano,Organ
Rene Garber Bass Clarinet,Vocals
Stella Vander Vocals,Choir Leader
Choirs De La Stochhaus Choir

Georges Besnier Graphics
Jean Paul Fennetal Urval Sleeve Design ?

******************************************************************************

1973 MAGMA Lineup changes circa 3/73

Christian Vander (drs,voc)
Klaus Blasquiz (voc)
Jean-Luc Manderlier (keys) -------> Split
Rene Garber (bass clarinet)
Stella Vander (voc)
Claude Olmos (gtr)
From TROC----------------> Janik Top (bass)
L.PETIT GERARD-----------> Teddy Lasry (sax/flute)

NOTES: This is the lineup that recorded "Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh"

******************************************************************************

1973 MAGMA - "MEKANIK DESTRUKTIW KOMMANDOH" Seventh REX VII (CD)

1. Hortz Fur Dehn Stekehn West C.Vander 9:36
2. Ima Suri Dondai C.Vander 4:30
3. Kobaia Is De Hundin C.Vander 3:33
4. Da Zeuhl Wortz Mekanik C.Vander 7:30
5. Nebehr Gudahtt C.Vander 6:03
6. Mekanik Kommandoh C.Vander 4:09
7. Kreuhn Kohrmahn Iss De Hundin C.Vander 3:13
8. M.D.K. - Alt.Version (*) C.Vander 34:35

Christian Vander Drums,Vocals,Organ,Percussion
Jannik Top Bass
Klaus Basquiz Vocals,Percussion
Jean Luc Manderlier Piano,Organ
Rene Garber Bass Clarinet,Vocals
Claude Olmos Guitar
Stella Vander Vocals
Muriel Streisfield Vocals
Evelyne Razymovski Vocals
Michele Saulnier Vocals
Doris Reinhardt Vocals
Teddy Lasry Brass, Flute

Eddie Sprigg Engineer
Gilbert Engineer
Gilles Salle Engineer
Giorgio Gomelsky Producer
Loulou Sarkissian Stage Manager
Simon Heyworth Engineer
Steve Michell Engineer
Tom Rabstener Engineer

NOTES: (*) Available on early versions of the Seventh CD only.
"MDK" (CD) was also released on A&M in Japan.

******************************************************************************

1973 MAGMA Lineup circa 5/73

Christian Vander (drs,voc)
Klaus Blasquiz (voc)
Rene Garber (bass clarinet)
Stella Vander (voc)
Claude Olmos (gtr)
Janik Top (bass)
From TARTEMPION----------> Michel Graillier (keys)
Teddy Lasry (sax/flute) --------> Solo
ELEVENTH HOUSE-----------> Randy Brecker (brass) ----------> Solo etc.
ELEVENTH HOUSE-----------> Michael Brecker ----------------> Solo etc.

NOTES: This was the lineup for the U.S.Tour. The Breckers & Lasry
split immediately after the tour. A Garber/Vander album
"Dehrstun/Stundehr" recorded in this period but never released.

******************************************************************************

1973 MAGMA Lineup throughout last half of '73

Christian Vander (drs,voc)
Klaus Blasquiz (voc)
Rene Garber (bass clarinet) -------> Split
Stella Vander (voc)
Claude Olmos (gtr)
Janik Top (bass)
Michel Graillier (keys)

NOTES: Most of the material on "Inedits" recorded during this period
by this lineup.

******************************************************************************

1974 MAGMA - "BRUSSELS '74" Spiral 001~2 (CD)

1. Kohntark (Including Om Zanka) Vander 23:31
2. Sowiloi Vander 13:48
3. Drum Solo Vander 23:31
4. Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh Vander 34:58
5. Theusz Hamtaahk Vander 24:20
6. Gamma Anteria Vander 7:39

*** No Lineup Information ***

NOTES: This is a Japanese bootleg 2-CD set, 300 copies pressed.
Recording date: Feb.14, 1974. Likely lineup as noted below.

******************************************************************************

1974 MAGMA Lineup circa 3/74

Christian Vander (drs,voc)
Klaus Blasquiz (voc)
Stella Vander (voc)
Claude Olmos (gtr)
Janik Top (bass)
Michel Graillier (keys)
Alumni-------------------> Gerald Bikialko (keys)

NOTES: "Wurdah Itah" (Tristan et Yseult Soundtrack) recorded during
this period. Graillier, Olmos & Bikialko not involved.

******************************************************************************

1974 CHRISTIAN VANDER - "WURDAH ITAH" Seventh REX IX (CD)

1. Malawelakaahm Vander 3:37
2. Bradia Da Zimehn Iegah Vander 2:17
3. Maneh Fur Da Zess Vander 1:37
4. Fur Dihhel Kobaia Vander 4:55
5. Blum Tendiwa Vander 3:25
6. Wohldunt Miem Deweless Vander 3:31
7. Wainsaht !!! Vander 2:29
8. Wlasik Steuhn Kobaia Vander 2:47
9. Sehnnteht Dros Wurdah Sums Vander 3:25
10. C'est La Vie Qui Les A Menes La Vander 5:00
11. Ek Sun Da Zess Vander 2:16
12. De Zeuhl Undazir Vander 2:41

Klotz Zaspiaahk Vocals,Percussion
Tauhd Zaia Vocals
Wahrgenuhr Reugehlem Esteh Bass
Zabehn Strain De Geustaah Piano,Keyboards,Drums,Vocals

NOTES: The original release (LP) was "Tristan et Yseult -
Musique Originale du Christian Vander" (Soundtrack)

******************************************************************************

1974 MAGMA Lineup circa 6/74 & subsequent changes

Christian Vander (drs,voc)
Klaus Blasquiz (voc)
Stella Vander (voc)
Claude Olmos (gtr) --------> Split
Janik Top (bass) ----------> SOLO/SPEED LIMIT
Michel Graillier (keys) ---> Split
Gerald Bikialko (keys) ----> To POUIN FINAL


NOTES: This (minus Claude Olmos) is the lineup that recorded
"Kohntarkosz" - British guitarist Brian Godding (ex-BLOSSOM
TOES) brought in for the sessions, Olmos split shortly after.
(C.Olmos may be featured on "Kohntarkosz - Version 2")

******************************************************************************

1974 MAGMA - "KOHNTARKOSZ" Seventh REX VIII (CD)

1. Kohntarkosz (Part I) C.Vander 15:22
2. Kohntarkosz (Part II) C.Vander 15:55
3. Ork Alarm J.Top 5:28
4. Kohntarkosz - Ver.2 (*) C.Vander 29:50
5. Coltrane Sundia C.Vander 4:11

Christian Vander Drums,Vocals,Piano,Percussion
Jannick Top Bass,Cello,Vocals,Piano
Klaus Basquiz Vocals,Percussion
Gerard Bikialo Pianos,Yamaha Organ
Michel Graillier Pianos,Clavinet
Stella Vander Vocals
Brian Godding Guitar

"Loulou" Sarkissian "Mekanik" Stage Manager
Fabio Nicoli Design & Art Direction
Giorgio Gomelsky Producer
Malcolm Robertson Photography
Simon Heyworth Engineer

NOTES: (*) Available on early versions of the Seventh CD only.
"Kohntarkosz" (CD) was also released on A&M in Japan.

******************************************************************************

1974 MAGMA - "Mekanik Machine"/"Kohntarkosz" Vertigo 6061-800 (Single)

NOTES: Fourth single. Mekanik Machine Non-LP.
Also released as A&M AMS 7119

******************************************************************************

1974 MAGMA Lineup circa 9/74

Christian Vander (drs,voc)
Klaus Blasquiz (voc)
Stella Vander (voc)
From RHESUS O------------> Jean-Pierre Asseline (keys)
??-----------------------> Benoit Widemann (keys)
From MOERLEN/FEDEROW-----> Gabriel Federow (guitar)
From VISITORS------------> Didier Lockwood (violin)
From VISITORS------------> Francis Lockwood (keys) ----------> Split
??-----------------------> J.Yvres (??) ---------------------> Split

NOTES: Francis Lockwood was briefly a member during the early part
of this period; things didn't work out, and he was subsequently
replaced by Jean-Pierre Asseline.

******************************************************************************

1975 MAGMA Lineup 1/75 - 8/75

Christian Vander (drs,voc)
Klaus Blasquiz (voc)
Stella Vander (voc)
Jean-Pierre Asseline (keys)
Benoit Widemann (keys)
Gabriel Federow (guitar)
Didier Lockwood (violin)
From CRUCIFERIUS---------> Bernard Paganotti (bass)

NOTES: This is the lineup that toured the UK in 1/75-2/75, and also
recorded the "Live" album in Paris, 6/75. J.P.Asseline left
after this period.

******************************************************************************

1975 MAGMA - "LIVE (HHAI)" Seventh REX XI (CD)

1. Kohntark (Part 1) C.Vander 15:44
2. Kohntark (Part 2) C.Vander 16:16
3. Emehnteht-Re (CD only) C.Vander 8:07
4. Hhai C.Vander 8:41
5. Kobah C.Vander 6:23
6. Lihns C.Vander 5:51
7. Da Zeuhl Wortz Mekanik (CD Only) C.Vander 6:25
8. Mekanik Zain C.Vander 19:17

Christian Vander Drums
Klaus Basquiz Vocals
Stella Vander Vocals
Bernard Paganotti Bass
Gabriel Federow Guitar
Didier Lockwood Violin
Benoit Widemann Keyboards
Jean Pierre Asseline Keyboards

Christian Vander Inside Design
Frank Owens Engineer
Georges Besner Inside Design
Giorgio Gomelski Production
Klaus Basquiz Ideograms & Cover Design (?)

NOTES: Tracks 3 and 7 were not on the original (vinyl) release.
This is a 2CD set. A U.S. CD release on Tomato exists (1CD)
but sound quality is poor and does not feature extra tracks.

******************************************************************************

1975 MAGMA - "Hhai"/"Lihns" RCA Utopia 42538 (Promo Single)

NOTES: Taken from "LIVE" LP

******************************************************************************

1975 MAGMA Lineup changes 9/75

Christian Vander (drs,voc)
Klaus Blasquiz (voc)
Stella Vander (voc)
Benoit Widemann (keys)
Gabriel Federow (guitar)
Didier Lockwood (violin)
Bernard Paganotti (bass)
From HELDON--------------> Patrick Gauthier (keys)


******************************************************************************

1975 MAGMA - "THEATRE DU TAUR - TOULOUSE 1975" AKT IV (CD) First Rel.1994

1. Kohntarkosz 32:29
2. Hhai 11:18
3. Kobaia 11:49
4. Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh 38:15

Klaus Blasquiz Vocals & Percussion
Stella Vander Vocals
Didier Lockwood Violin
Gabriel Federow Guitar
Benoit Widemann Keyboards
Patrick Gauthier Keyboards
Bernard Paganotti Bass
Christian Vander Drums

NOTES: Recording Date: September 27, 1975. This is a 2CD set.

******************************************************************************

1976 MAGMA - "THEUSZ HAMTAAHK" Kisses Deluxe KISS 11 (CD) Released 1992

1. Kohntarkosz Vander 33:32
2. Theusz Hamtaahk Vander 33:34


Christian Vander Drums & Vocals
Klaus Basquiz Vocals & Percussion
Bernard Paganotti Bass
Benoit Widemann Keyboards
Patrick Gauthier Keyboards
Gabriel Federow Guitar
Didier Lockwood Violin
Stella Vander Vocals

NOTES: This release may be unauthorized. Part One of a live show
recorded March 2, 1976 in Reims.

******************************************************************************

1976 MAGMA - "MEKANIK ZEUHL WORTZ" Kisses Deluxe KISS 39 (CD) Released 1994

1. Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh Vander 42:00
2. De Futura Hiroshima Top 25:00
3. Emehnteht - Ptah Vander 27:00

Christian Vander Drums & Vocals
Klaus Blasquiz Vocals & Percussion
Bernard Paganotti Bass
Benoit Widemann Keyboards
Patrick Gauthier Keyboards
Gabriel Federow Guitar
Didier Lockwood Violin
Stella Vander Vocals

NOTES: This release may be unauthorized. Part Two of a live show
recorded March 2, 1976 in Reims. 2CD set.

******************************************************************************

1976 MAGMA Lineup 3/76 through 9/76 (Band Splitup)

Christian Vander (drs,voc)
Klaus Blasquiz (voc)
Stella Vander (voc)-----------> ?
Benoit Widemann (keys)
Gabriel Federow (guitar) -----> Split 3/76
Didier Lockwood (violin) -----> SURYA / ZAO
Bernard Paganotti (bass) -----> To WEIDORJE
Patrick Gauthier (keys) ------> To WEIDORJE
??--------------------> Lisa Deluxe (voc) ------------> ?

NOTES: By mid-76 Paganotti & Gauthier were already planning their
split to WEIDORJE, while touring with Magma. Consequently
much of "Udu Wudu" was recorded with Janik Top on Bass and
Michel Graillier on keys, though these guys - as far as I
can figure, were not part of the touring band at this time.

******************************************************************************

1976 MAGMA - "UDU WUDU" Seventh REX XII (CD)

1. Udu Wudu C.Vander 4:10
2. Weidorje B.Paganotti,K.Blasquiz 4:30
3. Troller Tanz (Ghost Dance) C.Vander 4:30
4. Soleil D'Ork (Ork's Sun) J.Top 3:50
5. Zombies (Ghost Dance) C.Vander 4:10
6. De Futura J.Top 18:00
7. Ementeht Re (extrait no.2) (*) C.Vander 3:12

Janik Top Bass (1,3-6),Fret Cello,Bass Synth,
Keyboards
Christian Vander Drums,Percussion,Keyboards,Vocals
Bernard Paganotti Bass & Vocals (2)
Klaus Basquiz Vocals & Percussion
Michel Graillier Piano on (1)
Stella Vander Vocals (1)
Lucille Cullaz Vocals (1)
Lisa Deluxe Vocals (1)
Catherine Szpira Vocals (1)
Pierre Dutour Trumpets on (1)
Alain Hatot Saxes and Flute
Patrick Gauthier Piano and Synthesizer on (2)

NOTES: At the time "Udu Wudu" was released, Magma had pretty much
disbanded. Side One was pieced together from the band's
final sessions; Side two features only Vander & Top.
Track #7 was not on the original (vinyl) release.
Charly (UK) and Tomato (USA) CDs exist, but are poor
quality transfers from vinyl.

******************************************************************************

1976 MAGMA Ist lineup after Reformation circa 11/76

Christian Vander (drs,voc)
Klaus Blasquiz (voc)
Benoit Widemann (keys)
Alumni----------------> Jean-Pierre Asseline (keys)---> Split by 1/77
Alumni----------------> Gabriel Federow (guitar) -----> Split by 1/77
Alumni----------------> Janik Top (bass) -------------> Split by 1/77

******************************************************************************

1977 MAGMA - "INEDITS" Tapioca TP 10.001 (LP)

1. Sowiloh + KMX - E XII - Opus 3 Vander,Top 13:45
2. KMX - BXII - Opus 7 Top 6:13
3. Om Zanka Vander 5:30
4. Gamma Vander 4:00
5. Terrien Si Je T'ai Convoque Vander 4:10
6. Gamma Anteria Vander 7:45

Gerard Bikialko Keyboards (1,2,4,6)
Micky Grailler Keyboards (1,2,4)
Benoit Widemann Keyboards (3)
Francois Cahen Keyboards (5)
Jean Luc Manderlier Keyboards (5,6)
Francis Moze Bass (5)
Jean-Pierre Lambert Bass (6)
Janik Top Bass (1,2,4)
Bernard Paganotti Bass (3)
Claude Olmos Guitar (1,4)
Marc Fosset Guitar (6)
Gabriel Federow Guitar (3)
Didier Lockwood Violin (3)
Klaus Basquiz Vocals & Percussion
Rene Garber Vocals,Bass Clarinet (5,6)
Teddy Lasry Saxes (5)
Jeff Seffer Saxes (5)
Louis Toesca Trumpet (5)
Christian Vander Drums

NOTES: Live recordings spanning several years with varying lineups.

******************************************************************************

1977 MAGMA Lineup circa 1/77

Christian Vander (drs,voc)
Klaus Blasquiz (voc)
Benoit Widemann (keys)
From VOYAGE-----------> Guy Delacroix (bass)
From WELCOME----------> Jean De Antoni (guitar)
From TRYPTIQUE--------> Clement Bailly (drs)
??--------------------> Florence Bertaux (voc) ---------> Split

******************************************************************************

1977 MAGMA Lineup by Mid-77

Christian Vander (drs,voc)
Klaus Blasquiz (voc)
Benoit Widemann (keys)
Guy Delacroix (bass)
Jean De Antoni (guitar) -----> ALPHA RALPHA
Clement Bailly (drs) -----------> To AURORE
Alumni-----------------> Stella Vander (voc)
Alumni-----------------> Lisa Deluxe (voc)

NOTES: De Antoni & Bailly split before the recording of "Attahk".
De Antoni left for Alpha Ralpha and Villa Borghese.

******************************************************************************

1977 MAGMA - "ATTAHK" Seventh REX XIII (CD)

1. The Last Seven Minutes C.Vander 7:00
2. Spiritual (Negro Song) C.Vander 3:17
3. Rind-e (Eastern Song) C.Vander 3:07
4. Liriik Necronomicus Kahnt C.Vander 4:59
5. Maahnt (Wizard's Fight vs.The Devil) C.Vander 5:29
6. Dondai (To An Eternal Love) C.Vander 7:59
7. Nono C.Vander 6:17

Dehrstun (Christian Vander) Vocals,Drums,Percussion,Piano,Rhodes,
Chamberlin
Stundehr (Rene Garber) Bass Clarinet,Vocals (?)
Ourgon (Guy Delacroix) Earth Bass
Gorgo (Guy Delacroix) Air Bass
Klotz (Klaus Blasquiz) Vocals & Percussion
Kahal (Benoit Widemann) Grand Piano,Rhodes,Mini-Moog & Oberheim
Thaud (Stella Vander) Vocals
Sihnn (Liza Deluxe) Vocals
Tony Russo Trumpet
Jacques Bolognesi Trombone

Laurent Thibault Production, Engineering
Michel Marie Assistant

NOTES: For the recording sessions, Guy Delacroix was both Ourgon
and Gorgo, but Jean-Luc Chevalier became Gorgo by the time
touring began. Also note that (for the first time) CV is the
lead vocalist and KB is a backing vocalist.

******************************************************************************

1978 MAGMA - "Last Seven Minutes"/"Spiritual" Arabella 11484 (Promo Single)

NOTES: Taken from "ATTAHK" LP

******************************************************************************

1978 MAGMA Lineup circa 1/78

Christian Vander (drs,voc)
Klaus Blasquiz (voc)
Benoit Widemann (keys) -----> Solo & Sessions
Guy Delacroix (bass)
Stella Vander (voc)
Lisa Deluxe (voc)
Alumni-----------------> Rene Garber (bass clar)

NOTES: This is the lineup that recorded "Attahk"

******************************************************************************

1978 MAGMA Lineup circa Mid-78 thru Late-78 (second Hiatus)

Christian Vander (drs,voc) -----> To ALIEN
Klaus Blasquiz (voc) -----------> Sessions
Guy Delacroix (bass) -----------> Split
Stella Vander (voc)
Lisa Deluxe (voc)
Rene Garber (bass clar) --------> Split
From ZIG ZAG-----------> Jean-Luc Chevalier (bass,Guitar)
From ZOU---------------> Andre Herve (keys)
From ZOU---------------> Maria Popkiewicz (voc)

NOTES: Magma went in hiatus from around 11/78 thru late-spring '79.
No recording or gigs in this period (if you find any, please
let me know!!)

******************************************************************************

1979 MAGMA Lineup circa Mid-79 (after reformation)

From ALIEN-------------> Christian Vander (drs,voc)
Stella Vander (voc)
Lisa Deluxe (voc)
Jean-Luc Chevalier (bass) --------> SOLO
Andre Herve (keys) ---------------> Split
Maria Popkiewicz (voc)
From ALIEN-------------> Benoit Widemann (keys)
From ZOU---------------> Micheal Herve (bass)
Alumni-----------------> Jean De Antoni (guitar) ----------> Split
??---------------------> O.Angeles (?)


******************************************************************************

1979 MAGMA Lineup changes Late-'79

Christian Vander (drs,voc,keys)
Stella Vander (voc)
Lisa Deluxe (voc)
Maria Popkiewicz (voc)
Benoit Widemann (keys)
Micheal Herve (bass)
O.Angeles (?)
From ALIEN-------------> Jean-Michel Kajdan (gtr)
From ALIEN-------------> Francis Lockwood (keys)
From ALIEN-------------> Dominique Bertram (bass)


******************************************************************************

1980 MAGMA More Lineup changes circa 1/80

Christian Vander (drs,voc,keys)
Stella Vander (voc)
Lisa Deluxe (voc)
Maria Popkiewicz (voc)
Benoit Widemann (keys)
Micheal Herve (bass)-------> SHUB NIGGURATH
O.Angeles (?)--------------> Split
Jean-Michel Kajdan (gtr)
Francis Lockwood (keys)
Dominique Bertram (bass)
Alumni-----------------> Jean-Luc Chevalier (gtr)
Alumni-----------------> Klaus Blasquiz (voc)

NOTES: This was the touring lineup leading up to the "Retrospektiw"
concerts in mid-80, which regrouped current members of Magma
with ex-members for three shows in June in Paris (see below)

******************************************************************************

1980 MAGMA - "RETROSPEKTIW III" Seventh Rex XV (CD)

1. Retrovision C.Vander 18:13
2. Hhai (version integrale) C.Vander 13:23
3. "La" Dawotsin C.Vander 4:10

Christian Vander Drums, Piano on (3),Vocals on (2)
Rene Garber 1st Lieutenant
Stella Vander Vocals
Liza Deluxe Vocals
Maria Popkiewicz Vocals
Guy Khalifa Vocals (1,3)
Didier Lockwood Violin
Jean Luc Chevalier Guitar (1,2), Bass on (3)
Benoit Widemann Keyboards
Bernard Paganotti Bass (2,3)
Jean Pierre Foquey Fender Piano (1,2)
Francois Laizeau Percussion (1,2)
Dominique Bertram Bass (1)

Alain Francais Engineer

NOTES: Live recordings from a series of Magma reunion shows in Paris,
June 9, 10 & 11, 1980.

******************************************************************************

1981 MAGMA - "RETROSPEKTIW I - II" Seventh Rex XVI/XVII (CD)

1. Theusz Hamtaahk C.Vander 36:05
2. Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh C.Vander 40:04

Klaus Blasquiz Vocals (1,2)
Stella Vander Vocals (1,2)
Liza Deluxe Vocals (1,2)
Claire Laborde Vocals (2)
Maria Popkiewicz Vocals (2)
Didier Lockwood Violin (1,2)
Gabriel Federow Guitar (1,2)
Jean-Luc Chevalier Guitar (2)
Patrick Gauthier Keyboards (1,2)
Benoit Widemann Keyboards (1,2)
Bernard Paganotti Bass (1,2)
Christian Vander Drums,Keyboards,Vocals (1,2)

NOTES: Live recordings from a series of Magma reunion shows in Paris,
June 9, 10 & 11, 1980. This is a 2CD set.
In addition, the following players participated in the June
Retrospective concerts, but are not featured on either of
these recordings:
Teddy Lasry
Claude Engel
Francis Moze
Yochk'o Seffer
Francois Cahen
Louis Toesca

******************************************************************************

1981 MAGMA - "Retrovision"/"La Davoisin" RCA DB 8678 (Single)

NOTES: Extracts from "RETROSPECTIVE III" LP

******************************************************************************

1980 MAGMA Lineup - after reunion, late '80 thru early '81

Christian Vander (drs,voc,keys)
Stella Vander (voc)
Lisa Deluxe (voc)
Maria Popkiewicz (voc)
Rene Garber (bs.clar)
Benoit Widemann (keys)
Jean-Michel Kajdan (gtr)
Jean-Pierre Foquey (keys)
Guy Khalifa (voc)
Francis Laizeau (perc) -------> NEFFESH MUSIC
Francis Lockwood (keys) ------> SYLVAIN MARC
Dominique Bertram (bass)
Jean-Luc Chevalier (gtr)
Jazz Groups------------> Marc Eliard (bass)
P.CATHERINE------------> Janik Top (bass) -------------> Split
HAMSA MUSIC------------> Richard Raux (winds) ---------> SYLVAIN MARC
ALIEN------------------> Arrigo Lorenzi (winds)
Sessions---------------> Alain Guillard (winds,horns)
Sessions---------------> Yvon Guillard (horns)
ALICE------------------> Doudou Weiss (?)

NOTES: Immediately after Retrospective concerts the following
people split: Klaus Blasquiz, Bernard Paganotti, Teddy Lasry,
Yochk'o Seffer, Francois Cahen, Claude Engel, Francis Moze,
Didier Lockwood, Gabriel Federow, Louis Toesca, Claire Laborde,
and Patrick Gauthier.
The above lineup is essentially who remained, plus some
new musicians on bass, winds and horns.

******************************************************************************

1981 MAGMA Lineup changes Mid-81

Christian Vander (drs,voc,keys)
Stella Vander (voc)
Lisa Deluxe (voc)
Maria Popkiewicz (voc)
Rene Garber (bs.clar)
Benoit Widemann (keys)
Jean-Michel Kajdan (gtr) ------> F.LOCKWOOD
Jean-Pierre Foquey (keys)
Guy Khalifa (voc) -------------> Split
Dominique Bertram (bass)
Jean-Luc Chevalier (gtr)
Marc Eliard (bass)
Arrigo Lorenzi (winds)
Alain Guillard (winds,horns)
Yvon Guillard (horns)
Doudou Weiss (?) ---------------> Split
PAGA-------------------> Patrick Gauthier (keys)

NOTES: "Fusion" (Lockwood,Widemann,Vander,Top) side-project
recorded during this period. Also, Rene Garber did a solo
album "Heart Music" during this time that remains unreleased.

******************************************************************************

1982 MAGMA Lineup early '82

Christian Vander (drs,voc,keys)
Stella Vander (voc)
Lisa Deluxe (voc)
Maria Popkiewicz (voc)
Rene Garber (bs.clar)
Benoit Widemann (keys) -------> A.RENAUD/SOLO
Jean-Pierre Foquey (keys)
Dominique Bertram (bass)
Jean-Luc Chevalier (gtr)
Marc Eliard (bass)
Arrigo Lorenzi (winds)
Alain Guillard (winds,horns)
Yvon Guillard (horns)
Patrick Gauthier (keys) ------> Split
??---------------------> Francois Kokelaere (perc)
ESCOUDE/CULLAZ---------> A.Cullaz (?)


******************************************************************************

1982 VARIOUS ARTISTS - "ENNEADE" Musea FGBG 4005 (CD)

1. You?! C.Vander 3:56

Francois Laizeau Drums
Marc Eliard Bass
Jean-Luc Chevalier Guitar
Benoit Widemann Keyboards
Jean-Pierre Fouquey E.Piano
Michel Gaucher Sax
Freddy Opsepian Trumpet
Christian Guizen Trombone
Guy Khalifa Vocals
Maria Popkiewicz Vocals
Liza Deluxe Vocals
Stella Vander Vocals


NOTES: Recorded during the early sessions for "Merci", this track
appeared on the compilation "Enneade" which sought to prove
the importance of Magma's contribution to French rock through
other artists they have influenced. Other featured artists
include Eskaton, Troll, Xalph, Francois Cahen, Y.Seffer,
Eider Stellaire, Shub Niggurath, Paga, Univers Zero, Altais,
Farben, Musique Noise.
Incidentally, this is the only Magma track I know of where
Christian Vander does not play or sing. This compilation was
first released on LP in 1987, then reissued on CD with three
bonus tracks in 1990.

******************************************************************************

1982 MAGMA Lineup mid-'82

Christian Vander (drs,voc,keys)
Stella Vander (voc)
Lisa Deluxe (voc)
Maria Popkiewicz (voc) ------> Split mid-82
Rene Garber (bs.clar) -------> Split end-82
Jean-Pierre Foquey (keys)
Dominique Bertram (bass)
Jean-Luc Chevalier (gtr)
Marc Eliard (bass)
Arrigo Lorenzi (winds) -------> Split
Alain Guillard (winds) -------> PAGA/TROLL
Yvon Guillard (horns) --------> PAGA/TROLL
Francois Kokelaere (perc)
A.Cullaz (?)
??---------------------> Simon Goubert (keys)
??---------------------> Christian Martinez (trumpet)
ORNICAR JAZZ BAND------> Denis Leloup (trombone) ------> ANTOINE HERVE
??---------------------> Freddy Opsepian (trumpet) ----> ANTOINE HERVE
JACQUES HIGELIN--------> Michel Gaucher (sax) ---------> Split
NEFFESH MUSIC----------> Francis Laizeau (perc) -------> ANTOINE HERVE
Alumni-----------------> Guy Khalifa (voc)
Alumni-----------------> Michel Graillier (keys)

NOTES: During this period recording of Merci began. This probably
represents several lineup changes, as A & Y Guillard are
featured nowhere on "Merci", but a lot of session musicians
were used who weren't part of the regular lineup. During the
82-84 period there was a constant high rate of turnover.

******************************************************************************

1983 MAGMA Lineup early-mid '83

Christian Vander (drs,voc,keys)
Stella Vander (voc)
Lisa Deluxe (voc)
Jean-Pierre Foquey (keys)
Dominique Bertram (bass)
Jean-Luc Chevalier (gtr) -----> DROMADAIRE
Marc Eliard (bass) -----------> DROMADAIRE
Francois Kokelaere (perc) ----> Split mid-83
A.Cullaz (?) -----------------> SOLO
Simon Goubert (keys)
Christian Martinez (trumpet)--> Split briefly
Guy Khalifa (voc)
Michel Graillier (keys)-------> Split
SOLO-------------------> Sylvain Marc (bass?) ---------> Split
Alumni-----------------> Patrick Gauthier (keys)-------> PAGA
P.M.GONG---------------> Pierre Moerlen (drs) ---------> P.M.GONG

NOTES: Some recording for "Merci". Pierre Moerlen's tenure with
Magma was a very short period in '83.

******************************************************************************

1983 MAGMA Lineup circa late '83 to mid-'84

Christian Vander (drs,voc,keys)
Stella Vander (voc)
Lisa Deluxe (voc)
Jean-Pierre Foquey (keys)-----> DAN AR BRAS
Dominique Bertram (bass) -----> SOLO
Simon Goubert (keys)
Christian Martinez (trumpet)--> TRYPTIQUE ORCH
Guy Khalifa (voc)
ANTOINE HERVE----------> Denis Leloup (trombone) ------> TRYPTIQUE ORCH
ANTOINE HERVE----------> Freddy Opsepian (trumpet) ----> D.BERTRAM
ANTOINE HERVE?---------> Michel Gaucher (sax) ---------> D.BERTRAM
ANTOINE HERVE----------> Francis Laizeau (perc) -------> Sessions
Slight Return----------> Rene Garber (bs.clar) --------> Split
??---------------------> J.Marc Jafet (bass)
??---------------------> M.Dupont (?)------------------> ??
??---------------------> Alex Ferrand (voc)------------> ??
SYLVAIN MARC-----------> Steve Sheehan (perc)----------> Split

NOTES: Final sessions for "Merci", plus a couple German tours.

******************************************************************************

1984 MAGMA - "MERCI" Seventh REX III (CD)

1. Call From The Dark (Ooh Ooh Baby) C.Vander,J.& R.Dassin 7:20
2. Otis C.Vander 5:20
3. Do The Music C.Vander 4:25
4. Otis (Ending) C.Vander 1:32
5. I Must Return C.Vander,J.& R.Dassin 6:32
6. Elephas Levi R.Garber 11:15
7. The Night We Died C.Vander 3:40

Christian Vander Vocals,Piano,Celeste,Keyboards,
Percussion
Stella Vander Vocals
Guy Khalifa Vocals
Benoit Widemann Synthesizer
Simon Goubert Synthesizer (1,3)
Fracois Laizeau Drums,Drum Programming
Marc Eliard Bass
Phillipe Slominski Trumpet on (1,3,4)
Christian Martinez Trumpet on (1,4)
Michel Goldberg Saxophone on (1,3)
Liza Deluxe Backing Vocals
Jean Pierre Foquey Rhodes Piano on (2)
Michel Gaucher Saxophone on (2)
Freddy Opsepian Trumpet on (2)
Christian Guizen Trombone on (2)
Alex Ferrand Vocals on (3)
Jean-Luc Chevalier Guitar on (3)
Patrick Gauthier Synthesizer on (3)
Paul Bayle Saxophone on (3)
Denis LeLoup Trombone on (3,4)
Arrigo Lorenzi Soprano Sax on (3)
Maria Popkiewicz Backing Vocals on (4)
Jerome Naulay Trombone on (4)
Zaka Percussion on (4)
Michel Graillier Rhodes Piano on (5)

Camille Lievaux Back Cover Photo
Christian Vander Production
Jean-Loup Morette Assistant
Jean-Paul Fenneteau Front & Inside
Stella Vander, Francis Linon Engineers

******************************************************************************

1984 MAGMA Lineup circa late '84 to early '85

Christian Vander (drs,voc,keys)
Stella Vander (voc)
Lisa Deluxe (voc)
DAN AR BRAS-----------> Jean-Pierre Foquey (keys)
Simon Goubert (keys)
Guy Khalifa (voc)
J.Marc Jafet (bass)
Alumni----------------> Guy Delacroix (bass)
Alumni----------------> Jean-Luc Chevalier (gtr)
Briefly---------------> Claude Salmieri (drs)-------> PAGA
Briefly---------------> Francis Moze (bass?)--------> Split
EIDER STELLAIRE-------> Michel Le Bars (drs)--------> EIDER STELLAIRE
??--------------------> Pierre Marcault (perc)------> URBAN SAX
POTEMKINE-------------> Remy Sarrazin (bass)--------> FATON BLOOM
??--------------------> Frederic Briet (c-bass)-----> Split

NOTES: By this point the lineup is changing too frequently to keep
track of, people coming and going all the time around the
core of CV, SV, Lisa Deluxe, Simon Goubert & Guy Khalifa.
This is also the period when "Offering" comes into being.

******************************************************************************

1985 MAGMA - "Ooh, Ooh, Baby"/"Otis" Pathe Marconi 2006697 (Single)

NOTES: From "MERCI". Also released as Jaro 4195.

******************************************************************************

1985 MAGMA - "MYTHES ET LEGENDES, VOL.1" Seventh REX XIV (CD)

1. Kobaia C.Vander 6:09
2. Stoah (extraits) C.Vander 4:42
3. Riah Sahiltaahk (extraits) C.Vander 6:44
4. Klaus Kohmbalad C.Vander (?) 3:27
5. Theusz Hamtaahk - 1st Mvmt.(extraits C.Vander (?) 8:39
6. Wurdah Itah - 2nd Mvmt.(extraits) C.Vander 3:08
7. M.D.K. - 3rd Mvmt.(extraits) C.Vander 7:41

*** No Lineup Information ***

NOTES: This album features short extracts from previously recorded
longer pieces, and some early singles, with French narration
between the songs.

******************************************************************************

1986 CHRISTIAN VANDER - "OFFERING: PART 1/PART 2" Jaro 4129/30 (CD)

1. Offering (Part One) Vander 7:57
2. Earth Vander 10:29
3. Joia Vander 18:00
4. C'est Pour Nous Vander 8:05
5. Love In The Darkness Vander 10:39
6. Tilim M'Dohm Vander 2:34
7. Mazur Kujiawiaki Oberek Milosz Magin 4:56
8. Solitude Vander 4:07
9. Uguma Ma Melimeh Gingeh Vander 3:44

Christian Vander Lead Vocals,Piano,Rhodes,Drums,Bells
Stella Vander Lead Vocals,Maracas & Bells
Guy Khalifa Vocals,Flute,Rhodes,Piano
Simon Goubert Rhodes & Piano
Pierre Marcault Percussion
J.Marc Jafet Bass (2)
Marc Delouya Drums (2)
C.Martinez Trumpet
J.Bolognesi Trombone

Boris Selke Back Cover Photo
Frances Linon Engineer
J.Luc Gerards Technical Assistance

******************************************************************************

1988 CHRISTIAN VANDER - "TO LOVE" Seventh A III (CD)

1. Salut Vander 0:34
2. Love Is Vander 14:17
3. Sands Vander 3:13
4. To Love Vander 6:17
5. River Vander 5:28
6. You Glory The One Vander 4:33
7. XMC Vander 3:04

Christian Vander Piano,Vocals,Fender DX7,Drums on (7)
Stella Vander Vocals and Harmonics on (4)

Christian Vander Production, Cover Design
Francis Linon Engineer
Laurence Corouge Photo

******************************************************************************

1990 CHRISTIAN VANDER - "OFFERING III-IV" Seventh AV-AVI (CD)

1. Another Day C. Vander 44:03
2. Ehn Deiss C. Vander 5:10
3. Offering (2) C. Vander 2:07

Christian Vander Vocals,Drums,Percussion,Piano,Flute
Stella Vander Vocals, Percussion
Guy Khalifa Vocals, Flute
Isabelle Feuillebois Vocals
Emmanuel Borghi Piano on (1)
Phillipe Dardelle Contra-Bass on (1)
Jean Claude Buire Drums on (1)
Pierre Michel Sivadier Keyboards on (1)
Alex Ferrand Vocals on (2)
Simon Goubert Vocals, Electric Piano on (2)
Pierre Marcault Percussion on (2)
Frederic Briet Contra-Bass on (2)

Da Zess Untehr Zerebrahl.. Production
Francis Linon Engineer
Hubert Jeannin Photo
Jean Paul Fenneteau Photo

******************************************************************************

1990 CHRISTIAN VANDER TRIO - "JOUR APRES JOUR" Seventh A IV (CD)

1. Day After Day Christian Vander 7:33
2. Dear Mac Michel Graillier 27:09
3. Chim Chim Cheree R.M. & R.B.Sherman 5:18
4. Like Sonny John Coltrane 6:47

Emmanuel Borghi Keyboards
Philippe Dardelle Bass
Christian Vander Drums

Francis Linon Engineer

******************************************************************************

1992 MAGMA - "LES VOIX" AKT I (CD)

1. Emehnteht-Re C.Vander 3:39
2. C'Est Pour Nous C.Vander 7:56
3. Zess (extrait) C.Vander 17:18
4. Wurdah Itah C.Vander 15:46

Stella Vander Vocals
Addie Deat Vocals
Julie Vander Vocals
Benedicte Ragu Vocals
Isabelle Feuillebois Vocals
Jean Christophe Gamet Vocals
Alex Ferrand Vocals
Jean Francois Deat Vocals
Pierre Michel Sivadier Keyboards
Simon Goubert Piano,Keyboards
Philippe Dardelle Contrabass
Christian Vander Vocals,Piano,Drums

Francisco Juan Guerrero Engineer

******************************************************************************

1993 CHRISTIAN VANDER - "LES VOYAGES DE CHRISTOPHE COLOMB" AKT III (CD)

1. La Ville De Palos C.Vander 11:37
2. Voyages En La Mer Oceane C.Vander 15:29
3. L'Utopie C.Vander 10:20
4. L'Orage Mystique C.Vander 4:15

Christian Vander Synthesizers & Voice
Stella Vander Keyboard Programming

NOTES: Recorded live in 1992. soundtrack material for live theater.

******************************************************************************

1993 CHRISTIAN VANDER - "OFFERING: A FIIEH" Seventh A-IX (CD)

1. Hymne Kobaien 4:30
2. Cosmos 5:20
3. A Fiieh 10:26
4. La Marche Celeste 5:28
5. Magnifi 3:43
6. Purificatem (Accord Des Instruments) 4:17
7. Purificatem 26:20

Christian Vander Keyboards,Piano,Glockenspiel,Vocals,
Percussion
Stella Vander Vocals
Isabelle Feullebois Vocals
Emmanuel Borghi Piano (2,3)
Pierre Michel Sivadier Keyboards
Pierre Marcault Percussion (2,3)
Marc Delouya Percussion (2,3),Drums (6,7)
Jean-Claude Buire Percussion (2,3)
Julie Vander Vocals (4)
Benedicte Ragu Vocals (4)
Addie Deat Vocals (4)
Jean Christophe Gamet Vocals (4)
Philippe Dardelle Contrabass (4,6,7)
Ogun Percussion (6,7)

******************************************************************************

1993 CHRISTIAN VANDER TRIO - "65!" Seventh A X (CD)

1. 65! [June 11th] 6:14
2. Brazilia 10:35
3. The Coaster 5:54
4. Giant Steps 2:46
5. Lonnie's Lament 15:48
6. Tensions 7:57
7. Skunckadelic's 8:56
8. Doktor Pitt 5:19
9. 65! [June 15th] 8:21

Emmanuel Borghi Keyboards
Philippe Dardelle Bass
Christian Vander Drums

NOTES: Recorded live to 2-track, June 10th-15th 1993

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1995 CHRISTIAN VANDER - "A TOUS LES ENFANTS..." Seventh A XIV (CD)

1. Coucou 0:05
2. Au Premier Coup Entendez-Vous! 0:16
3. Hymne Aux Enfants - Zoland 4:52
4. Au Deuxieme Coup Appretez Vous! 0:17
5. Regarde 0:32
6. J'ai Du Bon Tabac 2:40
7. Les Oies Sauvages 2:12
8. Mr. Vent 3:37
9. Au Troisieme Coup Amenez-Vous! 1:03
10. Le Ballet Des Sorcieres 4:10
11. Il Est Sept Heures Reveillez Vous! 0:11
12. Ronde De Nuit 8:22
13. Aujourd'hui C'est Fete 1:37
14. Il Est Noel 5:00
15. Chanson Pour Paques 0:56
16. Chanson Des Oeufs 3:15
17. La Memoire De L'eau 2:16
18. A La Claire Fontaine 2:49
19. Le Marchand De Sable 1:37
20. Dodo L'enfant Do 8:35

Christian Vander Piano,Keyboards,Vocals,Spoken Voices
Stella Vander Vocals,Keyboards,Programming,Spoken Voices
Isabelle Feullebois Vocals
Julie Vander Vocals
Elodie Goergelin Children's Vocals
Fleur Goergelin Children's Vocals
Maud Sacquet Children's Vocals
Fabio Christiny Children's Vocals
Gary Dumont Children's Vocals
Kevin Dumont Children's Vocals
Marcus Linon Children's Vocals
Ivan Waroquet Children's Vocals
Pierre-Michel Sivadier Keyboards on (20)
Lydia Domancich Keyboards on (20)
Philippe Dardelle Contrabass on (20)

NOTES: This is an album of children's songs, accompanied by an
elaborate CD-sized 44-page hardbound libretto

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Unrelated Projects featuring Christian Vander
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1973 "FIESTA IN DRUMS" Palm 003 (LP)

1. Fiesta In Drums Vander,Raholison 10:56
2. Suite Exotique (4 parts) Vander 7:45
3. Suite Exotique Raholison 19:35

Christian Vander Drums - Left
Frank Raholison Drums - Right

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1973 "CHRISTIAN VANDER ET LES TROIS JEFS" Palm 006 (LP)

1. Colchique Dans Les Pres Cocknenpot Arr.Catoire,Gilson 6:40
2. Joie Gilson 7:50
3. Tromba 1ere Partie Vander 7:40
4. Tromba 2eme Partie (solo) Vander 20:00

Christian Vander Drums
Jeff Saeffer Winds
Jef Gilson Piano
Jef Catoire Bass

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1973 VANDER TOP BLASQUIZ GARBER - "SONS DOCUMENT 1973" AKT II (CD) Rel.1993

1. Neneh (Kehr) Vander,Top,Blasquiz,Garber 70:06

Klaus Blasquiz Vocals,Percussion
Rene Garber "Stundehr" Vocals,Percussion,Bass Clarinet
Jannik Top Vocals,Percussion,Organ
Christian Vander Vocals,Drums,Percussion

NOTES: This is a purely improvised recording, recorded ath the
Manor in '73 the night before MDK was recorded.

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1981 LOCKWOOD TOP VANDER WIDEMANN - "FUSION" WMD 702015 (CD)

1. GHK Go To Miles Lockwood,Top,Vander,Widemann 23:56
2. Overdrive Lockwood,Top,Vander,Widemann 4:58
3. 767 ZX Lockwood,Top,Vander,Widemann 6:47
4. Reliefs Lockwood,Top,Vander,Widemann 8:12

Didier Lockwood Violin
Jannick Top Bass
Christian Vander Drums
Benoit Widemann Fender Rhodes,Minimoog,Prophet 5,etc.

Christian Rose Photos
Elaine Cattaneo Art Direction
J.B.Ple, B.Widemann Engineers

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Magma ?
Get a rough idea of what Magma would be! :)
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Written by Peter T. Thelen(ptlk@netcom.com).
Used by Permission.

Now Available: More Detailed Article On Magma by Peter Thelen
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Several centuries in the future, when society as we know it today has decayed into chaos, a group of earth people seeking a new start flee to the distant planet Kobaia, to start a new civilization. Magma is a concept band whose albums explain the origins and development of the new civilization on Kobaia, all in the new language of that planet. As might be expected, the music from Kobaia is very unlike what we are accustomed to on earth, as is their language. Magma's music is very strange and beautiful, but does take some time to get accustomed to.

Led by drummer Christian Vander, the group has gone through many personnel changes throughout the years, and the alumni list reads like a who's who of french musicians: Klaus Blasquiz, Guy Khalifa, Jannik Top, Bernard Paganotti, Michael Herve, Rene Garber, Didier Lockwood, Francis Moze, Benoit Widemann, Jeff Seffer, Francois Cahen, Teddy Lasry... the list goes on and on.

The first album is a double, and traces the story from it's origins on earth through the first months on the new planet. Musically it shows the band's roots, a spirited jazz-rock style not far from Soft Machine of the same period. The second 1001 Centigrades explores further in the same general musical territory. The following year they released The Unammables under the pseudonym "Univeria Zekt" - on a different label, which quickly justified legal action on the part of their record compant, resulting in the album being pulled from store shelves, creating an instant rarity. MDK is very different from anything they had done before, a very repetitive modal type of music, dark and gothic, with the power of a full choir backing them. Wurdah Itah was the soundtrack to the film "Tristan Et Yseult", and carries on similarly to MDK, but with a leaner lineup, basically as a 4 piece. Kohntarkosz moves into new realms, with a more ethereal majestic approach, a soothing album with one 32 minute track split between two sides of the album, with two shorter tracks rounding the album out. The live album presents material from their all of their albums to date, including a full live version of "Kohntarkosz"; This is definitely the best album to start with, as it mixes instrumental and vocal material, louder and quieter tracks, and gives a good retrospective of the band in what most consider their finest period. Udu Wudu delivers a much harder edged, more grotesque sound, in a period when the band was fragmented.

Inedits is a live album of performances from throughout their career, and while the sound quality is not as great as the double-live, the performances are excellent, and it documents some interim lineups of the band that are not recorded elsewhere. Attahk was the first album which overtly offered strong evidence of John Coltrane's influence on the band, a much jazzier album than any of it's predecessors, and in general a more fluid approach, akin to Kohntarkosz. After a long and grueling tour, the band went into hiatus, working on solo albums and spinoff projects. Around 1980 the band reformed and toured, which resulted in the Retrospektiw albums the following year; These albums contained mostly reworked versions of their older material.

By Merci, the lineup had nearly completely changed, and the sound had moved even further towards the Coltrane inspired jazz only hinted at in Attahk. This is probably the least appreciated of their albums, as it's the first that is in no way connected to Theusz Hamtaahk (the kobaian history) and features songs sung in french and english. It's not my favorite either. Mythes et Legendes is a compilation of early singles and scaled down versions of longer tracks, with spoken introductions (in french) presumably explaining the story behind them. the Offering projects are more jazzy than anything before them, but not commercial sounding like Merci; the lyrics are now essentially scat, and the music is much lighter than before, mostly piano, acoustic bass, occasional flute and drums.

Where To Start ? Live, no question about it, this is the best introduction to their music. After you get used to it and decide you want more, then go for Kohntarkosz, Attahk, Udu-Wudu, and Mekanik.



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Written by Michael Feathers(feathers@gate.net)
Used by Permission.
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............ when I see people mention "operatic vocals" it usually turns me off because I'm no great fan of vocals. However, there is *much* more to Magma. If you are into instrumentals, Magma is it. In my opinion, they we one of the most musically mature progressive rock groups ever. Christian Vander is a spectacular drummer and everyone else is top-notch.

Magma are known for incredible driving rhythm and prominent bass work. The music also has a strong dark majestic quality. The composition is wonderful. If this is what music sounds like three centuries from now, then freeze me alive and wake me then!

Very powerful stuff. On the live album, there is one 20 minute epic 'Kohntarkosz' which builds up to an *absolutely* terrifying climax. You thought Yes built up 'Close To The Edge'? You think King Crimson built up 'Starless'?

You've heard nothing yet. Just when you think it can't get any more tense, they give it another twist.

I can't recommend them highly enough, but all disclaimers apply. You probably won't get it until the tenth listen.









The Zeuhl School
'The Extended Family of Magma'


Written by Peter T. Thelen(ptlk@netcom.com).
This article originally appeared on Expose, Fall 1995.
Used by Permission.
When considering the legacy of Magma - which continues to this day, one must recognize the huge wake they left behind: Many of France's best musicians were once members, or associates of members, or somehow were touched by their influence. Thus, their pervasive effect on the French Jazz- Rock scene cannot be understated. After Magma it would never quite be quite the same again. In this piece I will attempt to cover (albeit briefly) some of the many spin-offs, feeders, side projects, and solo works by many of Vander's former and current associates. This overview is not intended to be exhaustive and complete - instead it is intended to establish some of the relationships between certain formations and musicians who carried the zeuhl spirit forward, and give some information regarding them.
Magma's personnel roster was always in a state of flux. It can be easily established that no two albums feature the same lineup - always someone leaving or joining. One of the first members to leave the group was bassist Laurent Thibault - even before the first album was recorded, he had excused himself to concentrate on production and lights. Eventually he moved on to starting his own record label (Theleme) and producing other bands. It wasn't until the late seventies until Thibault finally released an album under his own name, a blend of ethereal flowing progressive rock with a female chorus, eventually becoming more sinister and chaotic as it progressed, with certain elements of Magma still very much in evidence.

Hungarian born reedsman Yochk'o "Jeff" Seffer, who had played with Vander in other formations prior to Magma, joined the lineup in time for their second album. Previously, Seffer had played with the jazz unit Perception, whom he would rejoin again only a year and a half later after leaving Magma. But Seffer would leave his mark on the Magma sound, and Magma would leave its mark on him. Altogether, Perception would release three albums between `71 and `74, all worthy of investigation. Perhaps better known is Seffer's formation with keyboardist Francois Cahen, who also left Magma about the same time: Zao recorded a total of five albums between `73 and `77 (although Seffer was not involved in the fifth) and the lineup included stellar musicians like bassist Joel Dugrenot, drummer Jean-My Truong, vocalist Mauricia Platon, and bassist Gerard Prevost. Zao's reissues have been well documented in the pages of Expos , in fact a detailed review of their second album "Osiris" can be found elsewhere in this issue. And, of course, last year Zao reformed with Seffer and Cahen last year to record a brand new album "Akhenaton". Yet another band which Seffer was involved with in the mid- seventies - and which roughly paralleled Zao, was Speed Limit, a band led by drummer George Jinda, and also featuring Joel Dugrenot and then Magma bassist Jannick Top. Speed limit would record two albums, both self-titled, in `75 and `76. Both are very difficult to find, but well worth the search. By the end of the seventies, Seffer would be directing most of his energy to his solo project Neffesh Music, with a sound which involved much of what he had accumulated in Zao, Speed Limit, and other bands, but also with avant-garde neo-classical and folk-music influences from his native Hungary. Four Neffesh Music albums were recorded, but only three have been released; the third, "Ghilgoul" from `79, has just been reissued by Musea, and all come highly recommended. Through the eighties and nineties, Seffer has remained busy, releasing several solo albums, as well as periodic reformations of Zao. The eponymous release by his nineties jazz quartet Mestari was reviewed in issue #6. He has, no doubt been one of the most prolific ex-members of Magma.
During and after Zao, Francois Cahen has released several piano based albums, although his solo work tends to reflect a bit less of the Magma essence than that of his cohorts. His playing style is very lyrical and original, with more of a purely jazz style. One of his best known recordings is perhaps "Faton- Bloom", recorded with ex-Gong saxophonist Didier "Bloomdido" Malherbe.

Backing up for a moment to the early days of Magma, flautist/saxophonist Teddy Lasry, who remained with the band up through early `72 - long enough to record two albums - and compose one track on each, split the band around the same time as Seffer and Cahen. After playing in other bands and doing session work, as well as returning to Magma in time for the recording of the third album, he began releasing a string of highly regarded and very original solo albums in the mid-seventies. Of these I have heard only two - "E=Mc2" and "Seven Stones" - both outstanding. Others have received varying recommendations. Regrettably, to date none of these have been reissued. Maybe a future suggestion for Seventh or Musea.

In 1972, Magma undertook a tour of Belgium, with a young band called Arkham as the opening act, playing a Soft Machine styled original music. At the end of the tour Christian Vander asked two of the members to join Magma - keyboardist Jean-Luc Manderlier and drummer Daniel Denis. Though Manderlier would stay on through their next album MDK, Denis left after only a few gigs, and started a new band which would eventually become Univers Zero, creating a most intense and sinister style of chamber rock, who's legacy of five albums should be known to all.

Bassist Jannick Top, who came to Magma in time for the third album from a band called Troc, played with several other bands (including the aforementioned Speed Limit) and did quite a bit of session work as well. His unique, thunderous bass style became part of the sound that defined Magma in the post-MDK period. Top stuck around long enough to record three albums with the band, split for a while, and then return to be a major contributor to "Udu Wudu." During his time away, he formed the Utopic Sporadic Orchestra (also featuring ex-Magma saxophonist Richard Raux), which sadly never released an album, but a Jannick Top single "Utopia Viva"/"Epithocanthropus Erectus II" was released during that period. He also did quite a bit of session work, and can be found playing on albums by Nyl, Andre Ceccarelli, Dayde, J.L.Bucchi, Omataxalia, and others. Since his final departure from Magma in early `77, Top has been doing regular session work and soundtracks - and recently produced a couple soundtrack albums with ex- Transit Express keyboardist Serge Perathoner. The one titled "Music Film Scoring" contains some heavily zeuhl influenced pieces that would be of interest to any Magma fan.

Magma's 1976 graduating class produced a number of spin-offs worthy of note. First and foremost is the seven-piece band formed by bassist Bernard Paganotti and keyboardist Patrick Gauthier, also involving names like Michel Ettori and Jean-Philippe Goude, among others. Paganotti, who had been Top's replacement, joining Magma in mid-'75 , has a similar bass style - perhaps a bit more punchy and fluid, and he brought this with him to Weidorje, a band with a sound very close to Magma itself, the chief difference being the vocal approach. Although Weidorje was together and gigging for nearly four years, they only managed to produce one eponymous album in `78, which stands as testament to the compositional prowess and spirited musicianship of this lineup. In fact a full album's worth of material had been written for a proposed second album, but remained unrecorded (as live tapes from their latter days will reveal). Most of these compositions would find their way onto the solo albums of Weidorje's members after the band split in late `79, but a couple that didn't were included as bonus tracks on Musea's CD reissue of the album.

After Weidorje, Jean-Philippe Goude would be the first ex-member to release a solo album, the highly regarded "Drones" in 1980, which involved most of the Weidorje lineup. The sound is very much in the same vein, but as might be expected, is a bit more keyboard oriented (a full review of the CD reissue is in issue no.4). Next to release an album was Patrick Gauthier, with his incredible "Bebe Godzilla", again employing many of his former Weidorje and Magma colleagues, as well as his earlier bandmates from Heldon (a full review of this album is featured in issue no.6). Both Goude and Gauthier have remained active to this day, Goude moving more in a neo-classical direction, while Gauthier has moved closer to jazz.

The last standard-bearer of Weidorje was Paganotti himself, whose new band Paga would include two Weidorje compositions ("Mitchinoku" and "Une Parcelle D'Urantia") on their first, self-titled album from `85. This album would also feature Gauthier, Goude, and other ex-Weidorje members Alain Guillard, Yvon Guillard, and Kirt Rust - in short, a Weidorje reunion. For the second Paga album in `88 "Haunted", the sound would move a bit more in a rock-fusion direction, while still employing a solid zeuhl underpinning. Ex- Magma lead vocalist Klaus Blasquiz became a full member of Paga for this and all subsequent projects. A third album "Gnosis", moves their sound into more acoustic based realms (see review of "Gnosis" in issue no.3). All three Paga albums are highly recommended.

Also from the class of `76 was violinist Didier Lockwood, who has been involved in numerous projects since leaving Magma's touring lineup. His first - and most zeuhl influenced project was Surya, with his brother Francis (keys) and also featuring Sylvain Marc on bass, drummer Jean-My Truong and second keyboardist Luc Plouton. Marc and My-Truong create a solid zeuhl bottom end while Plouton and the Lockwood brothers evoke a powerful and highly melodic fusion, with violin soaring over all. Some may be reminded of Ponty, yet the sound here is more punchy and animated, perhaps less emotional than Ponty. Since then, Lockwood has released numerous albums under his own name, moving gradually into a more lite-jazz sound. He also participated in numerous other projects, including Fusion (more on this later), Clearlight, Pandemonium, Uzeb, Philip Catherine, and Pierre Moerlen's Gong, and was also a member of Zao for the album "Kawana".

Lastly from the `76 graduating class was keyboardist Jean-Pol Asseline, who joined shortly after the release of Kohntarkosz and is featured only on Magma's "Live" album (and other live albums from that period). Of interest here is the group Rhesus O, which Asseline was a member of before joining Magma. With a sound close to early Magma, the album also featured early Magma alumni Richard Raux, Alain Hatot, and Francis Moze, as well as Bernard Paganotti. After his tenure, Asseline has more or less disappeared from music.

Although he stayed on board to record one more album with Magma, keyboardist Benoit Widemann kicked off his solo career during a period when the band had temporarily broken up (around "Udu Wudu") with his solo debut "Stress". He continued as a member of Magma (though dropped out of the lineup periodically to do session work and gig with other bands) while a second solo album "Tsunami" was released in `79. Unlike the first, this was more of a full band with woodwinds and keyboards fronting a fresh and novel jazz-rock sound, with folk, neo-classical and Caribbean influences. On a few tracks he goes full solo, which breaks up the album nicely. It was summer `81 when Widemann teamed up with Vander, Top and Didier Lockwood to record their one-off project Fusion, a Magma side-project that explored more conventional fusion styles, offering each musician plenty of room for soloing - very unlike what they had done in Magma. Still, this is a strong album and well worth attention. Widemann would record one more solo record "3" in 1984, another winner, at least as strong as "Tsunami". "Fusion" has seen CD release, but sadly none of the Widemann solo catalog has been reissued (rumor has it that Musea has secured the rights to the first two, but when they will come out is anybody's guess).
Before the "Attahk" album, in `77, there was a whole new surge of activity in the Magma camp. Bassist Guy Delacroix - from Alan Stivell's group, replaced Jannick Top, yet by the time the band hit the road Delacroix was joined by a second bassist Jean-Luc Chevalier. Delacroix' activity outside of Magma has been limited mainly to session work on albums by Francois Breant, Benoit Widemann, Dan Ar Bras and others, and had left Magma by the beginning of `79. Chevalier, who had previously been a member of Zig-Zag, remained with the band until `83, eventually switching to guitar. In 1984 he released his first album with his band Dromadaire, a powerful zeuhl-tinged jazz outing also featuring Jean "Popov" Chevalier (drums, sax, clarinet), Marc Eliard (bass) and Pascal Vandenbulcke (flute), who had split by the second album "Tibet", leaving the group as a trio. Chevalier has continued to release albums through the eighties and nineties, each being further removed from the zeuhl sound, moving in a more purely jazz direction. His latest "Le Km5 a Bangui" is reviewed elsewhere in this issue.

Delacroix' replacement in Magma, Michael Herve, came from a group called Zou, along with keyboardist Andre Herve and vocalist Maria Popkiewicz. The latter stayed on for some time, but the Herve brothers were gone in less than a year. Michael would join another brother Jean-Luc for the first (cassette) album with his new six-piece band Shub Niggurath, a dark and experimental avant-garde formation, like a noisy and industrial answer to Univers Zero. Shub would go on to release an LP, another cassette, and a CD, but all without Michael's participation. Nonetheless, these albums are spirited and challenging, and definitely worthy of investigation.

No overview of the zeuhl school would be complete without the mention of the group Alien, a band which, at various times in the late seventies involved many members of Magma, including Vander himself, but left no recorded evidence from this period. Magma's next bassist Dominique Bertram would be an ex- member of Alien, and was also a member of Yochk'o Seffer's Neffesh Music, and a member of Zao beginning in the mid-eighties, and is featured on the latest album "Akhenaton". He's also credited with numerous sessions, as well as a solo album featuring appearances by several other Magma members. Also from Alien was guitarist Jean-Michel Kajdan, who has also played with Francis and Didier Lockwood, Sylvain Marc, and released several albums under his own name.




One band that was heavily influenced by the Magma sound in the early eighties was Troll, which featured drummer Michael Altmayer, violist Nathalie Basset, and bassist/guitarist Jean-Pascal Boffo. During their prime period (81-84), they had no releases, and the only evidence from that period are two live demo cassettes. In the mid-eighties Boffo left to launch his solo career, taking some of the original Troll repertoire with him. A new, studio version of Troll was put together by Altmayer and Basset in 1986, and an album was recorded with the participation of many ex-members of Magma, including Stella Vander, Klaus Blasquiz, Bernard Paganotti, Francis Moze, and Alain and Yvon Guillard. An album (LP) was recorded, and released by Musea in `88. This album contains several outstanding tracks (plus a few that are not so spectacular), and is another worthy of interest.
In addition to those projects by the Magma alumni, there are countless other artists and bands who have absorbed some of their influence, without actually sharing membership. Some, such as Eskaton, Xaal, and Honeyelk have produced a music that is very close in style, yet incorporating certain elements that set them apart. Others, like Jean-Paul Prat, Serge Bringolf, Potemkine, and Rahmann, that operate in the jazz space just outside the Magma orbit, but have obviously been touched by their influence, combined with other equally unique influences. Indeed, this extended family of musicians and bands could go on to include half of the musicians in France!

In closing, it should be evident that we've just scratched the surface here. To do a truly comprehensive article covering all of the projects by ex-members of Magma and various related projects, as well as all of the bands influenced by Magma and the variations on the zeuhl sound, it would take a huge volume that space does not permit. This should offer some key starting points for the intrepid explorer. It might be added that many folks who have found the music of Magma a bit too harrowing initially have come to it over time via the spin- off groups. In fact, the music of Paga, Zao, Widemann, Gauthier and others tends to be a bit more accessible, in a jazz-rock sort of way. For starters, one may want to check out the Musea CD compilation Enneade, which features one track by Magma (from the "Merci" period, don't expect MDK), as well as tracks by Troll, Xalph, Paga, Yochk'o Seffer, Eskaton, Eider Stellaire, Francois Cahen, Univers Zero and others, and offers a good introduction to the "Magma" sound.[END]














1001x Centigrades

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Release Notes
Philips 9101-286 (LP) 1971 [France] - silver cover
Philips 6397-031 (LP) 1971 [France] - volcano cover
Seventh REX VI (CD) 1988 [France]

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Songs
1. Riah Sahiltaahk C.Vander 21:51
2. "Iss" Lansei Doia T.Lasry 11:46
3. Ki Iahl O Liahk F.Cahen 8:20


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Members
Klaus Blasquiz Vocals & Percussion
Francois Cahen Piano,Electric Piano
Francis Moze Electric Bass
Christian Vander Drums,Percussion,Vocals
Teddy Lasry Clarinet,Sax,Flute,Vocals
Jeff Seffer Sax,Bass Clarinet
Louis Toesca Trumpet


Dominique Blanc-Frankard Engineer
Louis Sarkissian Manager
Roland Hilda Production ?






Magma (aka Kobaia)

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Release Notes
Philips 63595 1/2 (2LP) 1970 [France]
Seventh REX IV/V (CD) 1988 [France]

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Songs
1. Kobaia C.Vander 10:09
2. Aina C.Vander 6:15
3. Malaria C.Vander 4:20

4. Sohia T.Lasry 7:41
5. Sckxyss F.Cahen 2:47
6. Aurae C.Vander 10:52

7. Thaud Zaia C.Engel 7:00
8. Nau Ektila L.Thibault 12:55

9. Stoah C.Vander 8:08
10. Muh C.Vander 11:17


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Members
Christian Vander Drums & Vocals
Claude Engel Guitars,Flute,Vocals
Francis Moze Electric Bass, Contrabass
Francois Cahen Piano
Teddy Lasry Soprano Sax,Flute
Richard Raux Alto and Tenor Sax,Flute
Alain Charlery 'paco' Trumpet,Percussion
Klaus Blasquiz Vocals

Claude Martelot Engineer
Laurent Thibault Production
Lee Hallyday Production supervision
Louis Haig Sarkissian Stage Manager
M.J.Petit Makeup
Marcel Engel Technical Assistant
Roger Roche Engineer








An Article From Batterie Magazine (Oct 1995)


Original Article by Ferid Bannour
Transcription & English Translation by Jerome Schmidt(schmidt@plg.u-nancy.fr)


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John Coltrane is great and Vander is his son. It's beeen twenty-five years that Magma appeared in the Universe. It's with his leader and creator that we celebrate this "jubil=E9". Christian Vander, an extra-ordinary drummer and singer, is most of all a great musician, a composer who fights for life.



Batterie Magazine(B.M.) : Magma is said to be born in Turin, 1969...

Christian Vander(C.V.) : I went there just after the death of John Coltrane and I was living here for eighteen months, in dire straits. One morning, in spring, I endured a sort of revelation : I had to go back to Paris, without any reason to do so. That was the beginning. During the summer, I toured on the "Cete d'Opale" with Laurent Thibault ; there, we founded the story of Magma.


B.M. : Why and how was Magma born ?

C.V.: At this period, there existed a lethargical movement. Someone had to start, somewhere, from zero. I was listening very often to John Coltrane at that time and in fact I listen to him still nowadays. His music was not totally understandable and is perhaps still not.



B.M. : Was your musical background totally made of jazz ?

C.V. : Yes, really. And the music of Magma has been wrongly assimilated to pop or progressive music. Magma was not perhaps on the fringes but it was different. I've learnt to listen to all kind of music - and Coltrane in fact had lead the way. It's important to be attentive to other sorts of culture but without changing them. I would not pick up a folklore somewhere and interprete it in my own way. The question is to be the echo of what we hear.


B.M. : How such a music was brought to life and how did people meet to create this yet-unheard type of music ?

C.V. : This may be named chance but in fact there's no hazard. There were at that time musicians who wanted to go further in the musical territory, but they were not the ones everyone thought of : many musicians were angry because they could not jam with the stars ; one day, I organized a reunion in Paris and that was a total disaster. So I decided to convoke musicians from other parts of the coutry such as Claude Engel from Tours or Francis Moze from Bordeaux - and who had never played bass. We thought "A vie, e mort et apres". I do hope that nowadays each of them follows his way. I can say that during twenty-five years I have followed this sentence.


B.M. : In the elaboration of Magma's music, what are the importances of work, research and spontaneity ?

C.V. : For me, this is quite a natural way : I stand up, go to the piano and there, it comes. I've continued to work that way. of course, if i spend many hours in front of the piano, I always find something, but it's the daily music, a music that is in no way connected with the one which comes from our deep-inside ; we are just receptors to this music.


B.M. : The "kobaian", this tongue initiated by Magma, came that way ?

C.V. : Absolutely ; words came from nowhere : the first word I sang was "Kobaia". And I composed this song on a guitar, which is an instrument I had never played with before ; so, I sang "Kobaia" which means "eternal".


B.M. : And the myth of Kobaia came...

C.V. : Yes, practically at the same time. The name of Magma appeared later : one night, the group was expected to play at the "Rock&Roll Circus" but we had no name. We had been answered : "No name, no playing". So I went and sat in the next bar and I began to search for a name. Three years before, I was in a group with Bernard Paganotti and I had composed a song named "Nogma". The sound came : "Magma" ; I returned to the club and I announced this name.


B.M. : This group with Paga can be cosidered as the basis of Magma ?

C.V. : Yes, that was the first try. That was called "Chinese" and we were playing famous soul-music songs. but we were also composers and we used to sing in another language made of spanish, italian and strange sounds. Maybe it can be considered as the birth of the kobaian - but I had to wait to my return from Italy to make it all clear.


B.M. : The logo of Magma, this famous "griffe"(note : sorry, can't translate it), has been very important for the fame of the band. Where did it come from ?

C.V. : I didn't create that - I don't claim to innovate - but I'm very eager to be able to accept all the innovations. This logo seems to be a symbol of fire and sun. I had imagined it as a kind of chest-plate of an egyptian inspiration which would have covered all the body. But the sister of Laurent Thibault imagined it as a medal.


B.M. : At the beginning, how was the group judged ?

C.V. : Something sure is that the public reacted. Some had been very impressed while others had felt that as a sort of agression. It's true that at that lethargical time, Magma was really something different. But that was the purpose : it was time to awake - and this is my permanent aim.


B.M. : Progressively, the band turned into a more radical approach of music...

C.V. : Of course. At the beginning, my influences were very present : I was listening to musicians such as Pharoah Sanders. The ambiances created by these percussionnists were really fascinating and they could be echoed in Magma. After, the number of musicians was reduced, the sound moved. At the beginning, everyone composed but quickly I was the only composer. I have to reanalyze my music with the time and I think that I didn't want anyone to get familiar with my music : at the time, some were playing the same three notes for two hours-that was cool. But I had to be realist and had to awake.


B.M. : The sound of the group changed in the following years. For instance you abandonned the horns...

C.V. : In fact, it's very difficult to play with horns : you're on stage without having the time to repeat. It's much better to have four persons on stage who are really "inside the music" than twenty who are not really coordinated. Adding players is nice-to-see but it weakens the music. The whole orchestra must play as a single man- or you play in a trio.


B.M. : Quickly, Magma has been reproached to be aggressive and I remember that on the "1001o C" 's cover, you had mentionned "war drums"...

C.V. : At the beginning, I think it was made to differentiate ourselves from the other bands. We used to have black clothes which was not the current fashion. Everyone had flowers on their clothes but I, I prefered to see flowers in the country. And I had a kind of agressivity because I was ill at ease as many others, and i had to say it. I was simply discovering humanity's drama... Since I was a child, I had always listened to people who had this deep inside located shout, this "OM". At the beginning, it was Ray Charles and then after, John Coltrane ; I had understood his daily pain, I felt concerned without knowing why.


B.M. : On one hand, there had been a strong reject of the band such as rumours saying that the band was fascist , but on the other hand a great number of people identified themselves in your music. I remember having seen 2CV (note: a very popular french car) with the logo of Magma painted on it and driven by people who were dressed in black.

C.V. : Very often, the public has only seen the external side of Magma, its dark image. But, there was some fun in Magma and we were not playing only dark music. Many groups tried to imitate Magma but their appearances were falsified and they this wrong image to the public.


B.M. : But you have often been provoking when claiming that "MAGMA was the best band in the Universe" and when denouncing the surrounding musical vacuity.

C.V. : Time went by and I had no surprises when listening to other bands. I would like to see a flower merchant in each street ; that's the same for music : in Magma, we were always trying to go beyond our possibilities. We had the feeling that we were wasting our energy because what was surrounding us was simply chaos. It's a pity but it's the same thing nowadays, except a few groups that are diluated and isolated. I was always astonished by Magma and never by the others. To find new ideas I should have gone to clubs to listen to musicians, to "exchange our musical strength" ; but in fact I was listening to John Coltrane, which is not logical. That's the same thing nowadays.


B.M. : Most of the musicians who played in Magma were previously unknown. Did you discover them or did they came themselves ?

C.V. : Many musicians came to enter the band and I used to make a selection. In general, I used to accept musicians who had a real will to play with us. I tried to work with well-known musicians but the first they did was to criticize the music. So I only recruited new musicians who were searching for something new, something different. And there are many musicians of this type - we could have formed many others.


B.M. : Was the music very written ?

C.V. : I used to compose the melody line for each instrument and for the singer. Piano, bass, horns..., all was composed. But when the music had been played many times and had been assimilated, any new idea was welcome. Some musicians did contribute to the elaboration of our music. I was saying to the band's members "You're on stage, now you can express yourselves". No need to quote who was following my advice because when anyone listens to Magma, he distinguishes who evolves freely in the band. That's what I was doing when I was on the drums. I was playing Magma's music, I was at its service but I was permanently improvising.


B.M. : After "Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh", the band reached its maturity. But "Kohntarkosz", the following album, explored totally new musical realms?

C.V. : It's a pretty sad story but things have to be said. A man called Mike Oldfield did steal my music - to be more precise, extracts from "Mekanik" and "La Dawotsin". When we recorded "Mekanik Kommandoh" in 1972, Oldfield was waiting for recording "Tubular bells", which is in fact an extract from my music. I played this music for him, without guessing that he would steal it for him. When I saw the film "The Exorcist", like a "good boy" I found its music fantastic. Of course it was : that was the music I used to play. I didn't make the relation between the two musics at once. But, one day one of Magma's member told me "Mike oldfield, he's the guy who was there when we composed Mekanik Kommandoh". In fact, he hasn't composed something else in the same vein because he had not the end of the music. Since this film, many film scores were composed that way - which is typically magma's one - and I couldn't play my music because I could have been accused of copying the others. That really drove me crazy. At this time, i had composed the following music of "Mekanik kommandoh" but, as I couldn't play it, I had to explore new harmonic realms, which were a little bit too complicated for my capacities - unless Mekanik - and that was "Kohntarkosz".


B.M. : There existed different eras for Magma. With "Attahk", you said you wanted to play rock or punk music...

C.V. : I've never said such an absurdity. People need bearings, references. I can't stop them. Many talk about the seventies, but what does it mean ? nothing. I've never followed a certain fashion because fashions are already outfashionned. Why asking me if Magma is ended ? It's a continuity, a suite. It does evolve like in a "spiral".


B.M. : How did you move to "Attahk" and then to Offering ?

C.V. : At that time, musicians were complicating the music. I had to return to sources to create a very simple musical basis, without any melody. For "Attahk", the band was more or less dissolved and in the recording studio I was alone with a couple of mercenaries.


B.M. : A rumour says that for "Attahk" you did write everything for each player...

C.V. : I wrote everything from A to Z. I'm gonna tell you something very significant : at a moment I told the bassist that his playing was wrong - when he was alone to play music ; I had the feeling that the bass was not assuming its function while there was no drums. He replied that it was nice that way. So I let him play but when I listen to this passage nowadays, I think that he was wrong : I can't understand how this guy could have thought he was playing the right way - but he himself will continue to listen to it for the rest of his life. So, shall I. That's the problem : in "Attahk" I had to do everything, I had to sing which is something I only used to do at home to compose.


B.M. : But, on stage you used to sing a song entitled "HHAI" ?

C.V. : Yes, but just at the beginning of the concert because singing is impossble while I'm on drums. In the "Bobino's Concert", it's evident that it's very difficult to sing and to drum simultaneously. Now either I sing either I play. It's with Offering that I developped my singing capacities. "Attahk" did open the way to the musics of Offering. These were musics that I had always played but that I played just for me. When I returned to jazz at the Riverbop (note : a parisian club), Jacqueline Ferrarri, the owner of the club, suggested to play all the musics I was keeping inside me. We had to find a name. Offering was a good name because there was the notion of gift.


B.M. : Music began to be more acoustic...

C.V. : As at the beginning of Magma. Because Magma was an acoustic band. Of course we had problems to find a balance between acoustic and electric : we'd been the first in France to play on Fender Pianos. I have always been attracted by acoustic music. To have the same sensations with electric instruments, you have to be a real artist. Jannick Top, for example, really masters his instrument : when listening to him, I can hear choirs, horns... He had a new approach on the bass but unfortunately no one followed his way.


B.M. : You declared that Magma could have been a band without any drums but in fact, your personnality as a drummer was overpowering the other individualities.

C.V. : I don't know why and I'm sad of that. For me, I was just helping the music of Magma : I was the drummer as others were the pianists, the bassists or the singers. I've never tried to be considered as a leader. I've always been considered as the drummer of Magma and not as the main composer, what I really became. There was no leader but an entity "Magma". Decisions have always been taken collectively. Do you know that I had been fired from Magma ?


B.M. : At the time of the first band ?

C.V. : Yes, I remember that we were in a truck. Faton and Teddy Lasry announced me that I was not following the spirit of the band, that I was not well-integrated. Loulou Sarkissian and I really laughed for quite a while. I thought : "Magma will continue but I'll form another zeuhl-band tomorrow". The following night we played together and they never told me that again. But I can say that I've been fired from Magma !


B.M. : Your way of drumming was very particular, very different of what the others did at that time...

C.V. : I was in fact very far from rock-drummers. I was following Elvin Jones and, even in jazz, no one was playing like him. I had listened Elvin Jones since I was eleven and I had worked on "My Favorite things". When I was playing the syncops, people were hearing it as wrong : it was different and thru Magma, people discovered Elvin Jones. When we were playing jazz at the Riverbop, we told the public - which was Magma's one - to listen to the themes we were playing in their original version, which were much better than ours. Progressively, they discovered Coltrane and perhaps that they forgot Magma. That's quite normal... During the whole first period of Magma, I've never told about John Coltrane although I was thinking of him all the time, he was everpresent in my music. I was thinking that when listening to Magma, people could understand the unsaid. But that wasn't so easy.


B.M. : Why did you return to jazz ?

C.V. : Essentially because of Jacqueline Ferrari, the owner of the Riverbop, who has always told me to do so. At the beginning, I haven't found the idea very good but progressively, playing in a club and being in direct contact with the public made me really feel good.


B.M. : Is it thru Coltrane that you discovered Elvin, or is it the contrary ?

C.V. : I used to listen to Coltrane before he played with Elvin. My mother made me discover him. We used to listen very often the LP of Miles Davis entitled "Cookin'" (with "Airegin", "Tune up", "When the lights are low") where John plays very beautiful choruses : there's something different in his manner of playing saxophone. It's the same thing with Elvin. Bobby Jaspar, who was playing with him in Belgium, presented Elvin to my mother as a future great drummer. One or two years after, Elvin began to play with John.


B.M. : You were born in a familly of musicians ?

C.V. : I don't know my father, in fact, who was someone fantastic, according to my mother. She married the pianist Maurice Vander who so became my father-in-law and who gave me a well-known name . I went to jazz clubs as I was really young and there were very often jazz musicians at home.


B.M. : Do you remember your first drum kit ?

C.V. : Yes, Chet Baker gave it to me. He had seen that I was alwys playing with my hands with him, following the rhythm. One evening, as I was eleven, he drove me to "le Chat qui Pache" (note : a famous jazz club in Paris), told me to wait for him and he came back with a brand new drum kit, offering it to me. It was his drummer's one and, fortunately for him, he had hired it. Two years after, I was sued for having stolen this drum kit.


B.M. : Did you learn to drum in a classical way ?

C.V. : At the beginning, i had a teacher but he died a little later. So I went to the consevatory of my neighborhood where the teacher told me that he couldn't integrate me at the middle of the year ; he showed me students that had been there for two years but I found that they didn't know much because I had yet worked very hard. Then, I tried to work with Agostini but I soon gave it up : I have never learnt the technical aspects of drums because what interested me was the freedom of my wrists ; my wrists have to act without being worried by the rest of my body. It's a problem of dialog not a problem of technical plans : someone who re-plays the same chorus many times just listens to himself and if he previews where to play his phrasing, it's already too late. Of course no one can't always improvise phrasing that seems to be written. I don't claim to do so but Elvin does. He permanently plays different phrasings and it's magic, never played at the same moment. It's free. That is the way I see things and that's why I looked for liberty.


B.M. : The link between the body and the instrument is important ?

C.V. : You've got to know well your body, that's all. I understood that you don't have to beat very hard the drum kit ; I would have liked to be told that but I discovered it. In Elvin's drumming manner, from a tone to another, there exists a great "plain" (sic). That made me discover a kobaian word : doweless. The great drummers don't beat the drum kit but it's the touch which is important. That's the same for other instruments. You've got to restrain yourself : so, the sound has a total amplitude.


B.M. : Why haven't you recorded drum-choruses ?

C.V. : Because drummers as Elvin did so : I don't understand what would be the interest of mine. I've searched for the perfect chorus, for myself, that I've developped on stage since 1972. I've developped around ten choruses and maybe we'll publish it or its summary.


B.M. : Haven't you thought of just playing drums ?

C.V. : For me, drums are an instrument who helps the solist. I can't listen to drums for hours but a saxophone, yes.


B.M. : What do you think of these drummers who play in a very technical and demonstrative way ?

C.V. : Just ask them what they think of themselves...The ones who learnt drums in schools have wasted their time because when they want to play in clubs, they've got to erase all the "cliches" they've been taught. Some teachers have not moved and they are unable to play a music which is alive. That's their choice. What you're taught in schools are things that have been discovered progressively, in an artistic way ; the students just assimilate it in a single year.


B.M. : How do you hear the drums in the Trio ?

C.V. : As the wind, as a cool blow. Something very difficult to communicate. The three instruments form an homogeneous movement whose tempo is indicated neither by the drums nor by the bass but by the whole sound. You've got to follow this tempo but you must appear like playing with it. And the touch is the key-element.


B.M. : In Offering, you're the composer, in the Trio you play John Coltrane's music...

C.V. : For me, jazz is really a music created by the blacks of America and it causes jazz to be so difficult to understand. But it's interesting to try to play it even if I think that jazz is inaccessible for the whites. Offering is my own colour ; in Offering, I really feel free and I can't play more rightly.


B.M. : And Fusion ? Was it a band created for a single album ?

C.V. : No, we made a couple of concerts at the Riverbop. The album has been recorded six months later. But certain parts where Didier and Benoit had played have been re-played in studio : that created major changes. We had played the rhythmics 'live' on soft themes but these themes have been replayed in a strict way - the rhythmics should have been replayed too. This was the problem with this album but it was a very interesting experience. I tried to play binary music, something that I had never done before. I had always played more or less a "ternairisant binary music" (sic)- as Dejohnette. You've got to be ternary if you don't want to play like a robot or if you don't want to be replaced by a rhythm-box. I know drummers that have worked on binary rhythm and who now come to the studio with their rhythm-box.


B.M. : Magma is a worldwide-known band and everyone knows its name. Why ?

C.V. : Because we went towards the public. When the medias evoke the seventies, they speak of France Gall or Sylvie Vartan (note : two famous popular french singers). Magma has imposed itself. The plot is evident : when you stand up and say something, you're considered as fascist and if you say nothing, you're the slave of the medias that decide who can play music or no. Magma has never followed these rules. For the 20th anniversary of the death of John Coltrane , not a single extract has been shown on telly even if there exists many films from his Antibes concert of 1965 ; that is something different from all the blood that we can see on TV and which afraids children. The television divides nations, families and generations. No one has the time to think : they watch at this screen, go out and kill the first man they see ; they are educated by the violence. A twenty-years-old man don't know that nowadays, there are ten times more agressions than when he was born. It's possible to eliminate violence and I'm noy afraid to say that the television is a murderer who introduces himself in each house ; I want to make a CD who would be named "Murderer" (note : in french, "Assassin"). People don't realize that they become prisonners of this black screen which presents to them only one side of reality. We've got to react. Eveything is in my music : I didn't know why I was screaming but it was instinctual. You become violent because what surrounds you doesn't let you to act and speak freely. Magma came that way because I hadn't understood that the earth was a prison camp and that outside there existed an unreachable world we can't attain. If we try to escape, if we try to show to the others the reality of the world, we are outcasts, we don't exist any longer. We are really crushed day by day by an invisible force ; that's why Magma exists, why Offering exists, why I still continue.


B.M. : What are your future plans ?

C.V. : With Offering, I hope to soon record "the Swans and the Crows" (note : Seventh plans "Les Cygnes et les Corbeaux" for autumn 1996). With Magma, I'll record "Zess", a music that many people are waiting for. I feel I'm ready to do it. An extract has already been published but the final version is more calm, more deep. For the electric side of Magma, I want to do a disk where I would only play with machines. Ther would be preprogrammed parts with which I would play, a sort of duel between myself and the machines. It will be a monophonic disk because music comes from the inside and not in stereo ; I do hope and think that people will be sent into raptures when listening to it. The title will be "MAGMA AETERNA".









The World Of Magma


Original Article by Peter T. Thelen
This article originally appeared on Expose, Fall 1995


Imagine a world, many centuries into the future, when society as we know it has decayed into chaos and degradation, void of spiritual guidance. The colonization of space is well underway, and space travel has become commonplace. It is in this setting that a handful of enlightened Earth people seeking a better existence finance the construction of a private spacecraft and leave the planet in search of a new world where a new, more spiritually guided civilization can be reborn. They finally find that new home after a long and hazardous journey on the distant planet Kobaia, where the party settles and begins anew.

Magma is a concept band whose albums explain the origins and development of the new civilization on Kobaia, and their interactions with the people of Earth and other planets. All of their lyrics are sung in the language of the new civilization, `Kobaian'. As one might expect, the music from Kobaia several hundred years from now is very unlike what we are accustomed to on twentieth century planet Earth. Magma's music is very strange, beautiful, and ultimately rewarding, but it does require an open mind on the part of the listener. It is music that must be experienced fully with body, heart and soul; not simply a cerebral performance of some kind of space opera by clever musicians, but a full blown spiritual experience with the music acting as the connecting vehicle between performer and listener.

Led by drummer Christian Vander, Magma began in the final months of the sixties in France, pretty much apart from the underground music scene of the times. In fact most of the original members had worked in other rock and jazz groups before, although without much notoriety. The band has since gone through an almost constant stream of personnel changes, but the alumni list looks like a who's-who of top caliber French musicians: Klaus Blasquiz, Guy Khalifa, Claude Engel, Jannick Top, Bernard Paganotti, Patrick Gauthier, Francis Moze, Rene Garber, Jean-Luc Manderlier, Benoit Widemann, Didier Lockwood, Teddy Lasry, Yochk'o Seffer, Michel Herve, Florence Berteaux, Daniel Denis, Clement Bailly...and the list goes on. All the while, the one constant is Vander and his vision - although the contributions of the other musicians to the execution of this vision cannot be downplayed. The creation of the development of the original concept and the Kobaian language was in fact a group effort. Some players were more influential than others, but with each change in personnel came a slight change in the sound of the band.

The first album, a 2LP set simply titled Magma, is where the story begins. The first disc concerns itself with the departure and journey to Kobaia, arrival at their destination, the long and patient process of building a new society according to their vision, and their process of learning how to live in harmony with their new surroundings, while attaining a high degree of technological advancement. The second disc involves the rescue of a foreign spaceship which gets into orbital difficulties over Kobaia - this ship turns out to be manned by a crew from Earth. The visitors tell of the continued degeneration and disasters that have afflicted Earth, and at the same time are impressed with the progress that the Kobaians have made, their philosophy and societal organization, and how they have learned to live as one at peace with their surroundings. The Earthmen request that the Kobaians visit Earth and attempt to propagate their philosophy in order to save society from its certain destruction. After some deliberation, a small party agrees to accompany the stranded visitors on their journey home.

1001 Centigrades, the second Magma album from 1971, begins with the arrival of the Kobaian party back on Earth, and the seemingly friendly welcome they receive. The Earth people listen to the stories of the establishment and growth of Kobaian civilization, to their philosophy, and ideas for the betterment of life on Earth through purification and spiritual enlightenment. But after airing these ideas at a meeting with the Earth authorities, the Kobaian party is promptly imprisoned and their spacecraft is impounded. But a message is sent to Kobaia, and a rescue effort is begun. The Kobaian rescue party offers the Earth authorities the choice of releasing the imprisoned Kobaians, or face certain destruction by the Kobaian's ultimate weapon. The imprisoned Kobaians are promptly released, and although they vow never to return, their visit is to be remembered by the few they came in contact with for a long period of time, their ideas preserved and passed on for future generations.

One of these people who remembered the essence of the Kobaians' visit was a man named Nebehr Gudahtt, a spiritualist who is the subject of the third Magma album, Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh, recorded in 1973. His message to the people of Earth is that their only salvation from an ultimate and certain doom is through self purification and communion with the divine spirit of the supreme being, the Kreuhn Kohrman. With this album we are introduced to the story of the Theusz Hamtaahk (literal translation: Time of Hatred) concerning the period of time on Earth between the Kobaian visit and the celestial march for enlightenment led by Nebehr Gudahtt which concludes this album. At first Gudahtt's message is rejected, and the people march against him, but as they march they begin to question their very existence and purpose. One by one, they begin to see his truth, slowly reaching enlightenment, and begin to march with him instead of against him.

MDK is the third movement of the Theusz Hamtaahk, which leads one to the question - where are the first and second movements? Originally, the Theusz Hamtaahk was ambitiously planned to be three cycles of three movements each (nine movements total), but the idea was apparently abandoned after MDK - at least further movements beyond that point were not identified as such. The second movement appeared the following year as the soundtrack to the Yvan Lagrange film "Tristan et Yseult", recorded by a scaled down 4-piece version of the band and officially listed as a Christian Vander solo record. In fact its CD re-release is credited to Magma and restores its proper title Wurdah Itah (translates to: Dead Earth). The first movement of Theusz Hamtaahk, a full length thirty-five minute opus, was performed regularly live, but was not released on record until the 1980 live album Retrospektiw I-II.

With their fourth album Kohntarkosz, Magma began what is presumed to be the first movement of the second cycle of the Theusz Hamtaahk, the story of Ementeht-Re. Here the story gets a bit more cryptic, intentionally so, as by this time Magma's music is taking on a more spiritual and purely musical nature, where vocals seem to be more an element of the music than a vehicle for delivering lyrics. Kohntarkosz is a man who discovers an old Egyptian tomb of an ancient master, murdered before reaching his aim, which was immortality. When he enters the tomb, he has a vision of Ementeht-Re, and all of his secrets are then revealed to Kohntarkosz.

The story goes on. A presumed second movement of Ementeht-Re was never recorded in one piece, but is scattered randomly across the next two albums Magma Live (the tracks "Hhai" and "Ementeht-Re") and Udu Wudu (the tracks "Zombies", "Soleil D'Ork" and "De Futura"). At this point the story becomes increasingly unclear. Other tracks like "Om Zanka" and "Gamma Anteria" (from the live album Inedits) and "Ptah" (from the unauthorized live Mekanik Zeuhl Wortz) seem to tie into the general concept as well, but Vander has offered few clues as to where the story goes after Kohntarkosz. Magma's 1978 album Attahk appears to have a theme also, but it seems to be unique unto itself and not tied in with any of the previous records. Again, Vander offers few clues. This also marks the last studio album which is sung exclusively in the Kobaian language.

And thus the Kobaian story closes. Magma's next studio effort Merci in `84 is sung in French and English, with a couple obligatory tracks in Kobaian, yet it seems very clear from the music and the overall direction that the band is moving in, that the Theusz Hamtaahk and the whole seventies concept of Magma is something they were trying hard to put behind them. This would also be Magma's final studio release. Within months, Christian Vander's new band Offering was born, moving further and deeper into the more acoustic Coltrane- inspired Jazz directions than Magma had ever dared to travel before. One senses the liberation that Offering provided, allowing Vander to explore new avenues that were unsuited to the seventies Magma style. Christian's Jazz Trio was also born in this period also, plus numerous solo projects, all of which very much deserve to be heard.

Clearly, the seventies version of Magma was one of the most influential of all French bands, equaled only by Gong and Ange. They have left a legacy of music that defies any of the standard and convenient classifications of rock, operating instead in a realm of their own creation. It waits to be discovered by new converts, and continually rediscovered by older fans alike. Kobaia iss de hundin!





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Eric Lumbleau 13-July-2001 Simples

For the uninitiated, a first exposure to Magma can feel like the musical equivalent of receiving a hysterically impassioned Zoroastrian sermon. There's no doubting the strength of their convictions, but the source of their passions can initially seem resolutely obscure. Take the time to rearrange your mental furniture and let it seep into your bones; however, and it suddenly becomes shockingly clear. Under the leadership of drummer/vocalist/chief conceptualist Christian Vander, Magma so thoroughly reinvented the wheel aligned between jazz and rock that any preconceived critical strategy for appraising their aesthetic is rendered woefully inadequate to the task, akin to demonstrating the grandeur of the Sistine Chapel with the use of stick figures.
Masterfully segueing between the cathartically doomy and triumphantly celebratory, this five-track EP, compiling early singles tracks from 1971-1974, is a virtual object lesson in the evocation of pathos, drama and histrionic emotionality, their invented Kobian language providing a pure expressive vehicle for their escalating frenzy unencumbered by any graspable narrative thrust. Instead, the narrative is externalized in the form of a complete mythology Magma have constructed around themselves, Kobian being the language of an advanced future race of humans living in an anarcho-utopian paradise on another planet, having fled this desperately corrupted one years before and now having returned to instruct us on the madness of our ways.

Marrying Orff-ian bombast to furiously dense jazz rock and tying it up in intricate knots of Kobian vocalese, this foundation forms a springboard for primary vocalist Klaus Blasquiz's achingly soulful vocals, as he soars in and around a concussive maelstrom of maniacal dexterity that peaks on the blistering "Hamtaak" and "Mekanik Machine", and leaves me in a sweaty and spent heap, having bounded all over my room in wild-eyed derangement.

As close as any music has come, in my estimation, to religious ecstasy, this institution of French music, spear-headers of an entire genre of music known as Zeuhl, are screaming for the same widespread cultural reassessment afforded a group such as Can, and like Can, the plethora of brain-damagingly brilliant bands they've influenced both past (Weidorje, Eskaton, Honeyelk) and present (Ruins, Koenjihyakkei, Bondage Fruit) are a testament to their continued significance. Baptize yourself in this and change your life forever.

(Originally published in Alternative Press #130, p.101; reprinted by permission)


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Rob Walker 26-Feb-2001 Magma: The Classic Years

Magma

Magma's earliest incarnation found its musical roots in the experimental electric jazz scene of the late 1960's. Their debut double album, featuring a lineup of keyboards, guitar, bass and drums, augmented by a trio of horn players, straddles the fuzzy line between progressive jazz-tinged rock and the exploratory jazz of the day. While it is at times reminiscent of Soft Machine or early Chicago, and at other times suggestive of Sun Ra or McCoy Tyner, this recording stakes out some relatively unique musical ground, which on ensuing albums will be expoited to incredible ends. Though Christian Vander's compositional peak was still several years away, both his skill and direction are quite evident here. The jazz element of the music manifests itself less through overt improvisation, despite the jazz background of the band, and more through the increased harmonic vocabulary and timbral variety Vander draws upon in his pieces. Hints of the voice-as-instrument concept, which grew to such prominence in later works, can be found here, along with the first examples of Klaus Blasquiz's manic high-pitched screaming fits. One of Vander's real strengths as a composer is his ability to poignantly portray the emotional contours of the lyrics or the story with his music. On Magma he effectively captures the different experiences of Kobaia's founders, mingling ominous and aggressive pieces with more hopeful and ethereal atmospheres. The structural elements Vander uses to convey these emotions, combined with the indecipherable Kobaian lyrics, give the music of Magma the characteristic other-worldly feel which came to define the Zeuhl sound.

1001° Centigrades

Magma's second album continues in the experimental jazz-rock direction defined by the first. A few small lineup changes - the replacement of two horn players and the loss of guitarist Claude Engel - combined with Francois Cahen's introduction of electric piano to the group's sound, help push the band into an even more exploratory mode. The album consists of three long tracks which not only develop many of the musical concepts originated on the first album, but also delve into new compositional ideas. Vander's side long contribution, "Riah Sahiltaahk", introduces his penchant for phrase repetition as both a lyrical and a musical device, and his use of syncopation and instrumental counterpoint as a means to counteract the potential monotony of prolonged repetition. While the piece may bear a cursory resemblance to his work on the first album, structurally it has more in common with Vander's future compositions, emphasizing abrupt thematic transitions and an unassuming rhythmic diversity and complexity. The other two tracks, penned by Cahen and reedman Teddy Lasry, reveal a slightly more traditional jazz sensibility, as well as a more flowing compositional style, which Vander would incorporate into his own style in ensuing years.

Univeria Zekt - The Unnamables

A Magma album in disguise, The Unnamables was designed to ease listeners into the musical world of Magma. Recorded by essentially the same lineup as on 1001 Centigrades, the album basically reiterates the stylistic development shown through Magma's first two albums, while abandoning the science fiction concept of the Kobaian story. Three tracks from Lasry and one from Cahen on the first half of the album approximate the accessibility of the more well-known jazz-rock of the time. Vander's pieces on the second half of the album, however, begin to explore similar musical ground to that found on 1001 Centigrades. There is nothing here that is unique in the development of Magma's sound or style, but The Unnamables does contain some worthwhile and engaging music from the first phase of Magma's existence.

Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh

With the almost complete overhaul of Magma's lineup in 1972 came a similarly drastic shift in musical style and direction. Two of the groups main jazzmen, Cahen and Jeff Seffer, departed to form Zao, and with them went virtually all traces of jazz from Magma's sound. Vander's first album length composition instead focuses heavily on vocals as the main melodic "instrument" and repetition as the primary structural device. Eight vocalists are utilized to weave layers of repetitive motifs with their powerful and insistent chanting. The other instruments are relegated to mere supporting roles, providing an incessant rhythmic drive and occasional harmonic and countermelodic figures to compliment the vocals. Vander's drumming is exceptional, subtly avoiding the spotlight while providing enough rhythmic variation and complexity to keep the melodic repetition from becoming overbearing. His drumming style has changed as well to fit the music; the jazzy feel and snare offbeats are less prominent, replaced by an often heavy downbeat emphasis evoking the marching theme of the lyrical narrative. The cumulative effect is both mechanical and dynamic; machine-like in the repetition yet always driving forward and developing towards the dramatic finale.

Mekanik Kommandoh

Recorded several months before the album Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh, but not released until 1989, Mekanik Kommandoh is an interesting early version of this Vander composition. While the actual notes are virtually unchanged, the arrangement differs in several significant ways. The piece begins with a cacophonous piano introduction underneath Klaus Blasquiz's dynamic recitation, before the drums and bass join in for the familiar opening theme. With no guitar or horns in the ensemble, organ and piano are the only non-rhythm instruments to accompany the vocals, resulting in decreased timbral variety and less instrumental counterpoint. Thus the piece maintains a rawer, less refined feel that actually may instill it with more emotional impact. Instead of the chaotic, disintegrating ending of the other recording, this slightly curtailed version concludes simply with the peaceful beauty of the choral coda.

Wurdah Itah

Originally released as a film soundtrack credited solely to Christian Vander, Wurdah Itah was recorded by a quartet extracted from the 1974 lineup; one of the smallest incarnations of Magma ever. Aside from Jannik Top's bass, Vander plays all the instruments and carries his share of the vocals. Though indexed into 12 sections, the music flows together into one seamless piece that is similar in both style and effect to "Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh." The same dark, ominous, and somewhat mechanical atmosphere permeates the music and betrays the emotional context of the incomprehensible lyrics. Vander's improving compositional hand continues to stress vocals and repetition, but with some important developments. In the continuing evolution of vocals as the main instrument, Wurdah Itah sees the first appearance of wordless vocals; use of the voice for its sound alone, devoid of any lyrical message. Additionally, the incessant chanting of "Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh" is mostly gone, and with it some of the repetitiveness in the vocal melodies. What repetition remains, however, is subject to much more variation. Layers of motifs, stated both by the voices and the piano, move through different rhythmic and harmonic settings, lending a new complexity to the music which would be greatly expanded on the ensuing album.

Kohntarkosz

For the recording of Kohntarkosz, the Wurdah Itah quartet was augmented with two keyboardists and a guitarist, giving the band a much more flexible lineup. With Vander and Jannik Top also contributing keyboards, the band is able to create some of the most intricate and dynamic music ever recorded under Magma's name. Vander unquestionably reaches his compositional peak here, fulfilling the musical goals he'd been exploring since the first album. The epic title track, split in half over both sides of the album, is the embodiment of everything that makes Magma's music so remarkable. Melodically sublime and harmonically unfathomable, the music is dark and intensely fierce while maintaining a sense of ethereal beauty and haunting mystery. The simple three note ascending motif, which serves as the unifying element of the piece, is supported by countless harmonic and rhythmic variations, allowing the most repetitive element of the music to also be the driving force in the development of the composition. The voice continues to evolve as the primary melodic instrument, here avoiding lyrical content and simply singing syllables a majority of the time. The emphasis is now clearly on the music as the main vehicle for the Kobaian narrative, the specific details of which have understandably become much more enigmatic. The two short companion pieces on this album, closing out each side as a sort of coda, presumably each highlight some element of this story. On "Ork Alarm" Jannik Top uses his cello combined with dramatic vocals to create a dark and frantic mood which rises to a furious climax. Contrasting that is Vander's "Coltrane Sundia," which closes out the album with a beautifully peaceful acoustic piano and guitar theme.

Live (Hhai)

1975 saw several personnel changes in Magma's lineup, but the instrumentation which recorded the brilliant Kohntarkosz remained virtually unchanged, only adding Didier Lockwood on violin. This ensemble recorded what is generally considered Magma's strongest, most diverse, and most impressive album. The double live record contains versions of six of Magma's most appealing works, infused with even more drama, emotion, and dynamics than the studio material. An awe-inspiring full-length rendition of "Kohntark" opens the album, following the studio version closely but opening up in the second part for a frenzied violin solo from Lockwood and a short bass solo from Bernard Paganotti. The piece culminates with a rousing choral climax replacing the slower, darker conclusion to the studio recording. A new track, "Hhai," follows, featuring a bright, optimistic repeating electric piano figure which accompanies the melody, stated through Klaus Blasquiz's inspiring vocal gymnastics and Lockwood's supple violin. The piece opens up for some electric piano soloing and builds to another dramatic vocal conclusion. Vander significantly rearranged the opening track from Magma's first album, "Kobaia," to construct the next piece. With a prominent bass line and syncopated electric piano chords, "Kobah" has a flowing, laid-back funk feel to it, incorporating some tight violin and guitar fills. "Lihns" is another new track, a peaceful, celestial, hymn-like piece with gentle vocals lilting over a delicate electric piano figure. The album closes with the second half of a "Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh" performance, beginning with a short, violent bass solo and a soaring violin solo before proceeding into the dramatic finale. This live version omits the closing choral coda. The Seventh CD release of Live also includes two extra tracks. "Da Zeuhl Wortz Mekanik" immediately precedes the "Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh" excerpt, effectively capturing about two-thirds of the full piece. "Emehnteht-Re" is another new track which begins with a haunting choral melody, leading into a rhythmically augmented variation accompanied by a repetitive violin, bass, and high-hat groove.

Theatre Du Taur

Recorded in Toulouse roughly three months after the concerts from which Live were taken, this two CD set was released for the first time in 1994 on Christian Vander's AKT label. The band is identical to the lineup on Live except for the replacement of keyboardist Jean Pierre Asseline with Patrick Gauthier. This concert features fantastic performances of "Kohntarkosz," "Hhai," "Kobaia," and "Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh," with slightly different arrangements from the Live album. "Kobaia" is extended to nearly twice its earlier length to make room for a Gabriel Federow guitar solo. "Hhai" is also extended a few minutes, and "Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh" is presented in its entirety, not abridged as on Live. A bright soundboard recording, the sound quality is excellent, and does justice to these wonderful performances.

Theusz Hamtaahk

This unauthorized release contains the first half of a live concert from March 1976. The band's lineup is identical to that of the Theatre Du Taur show, but the performance reveals, among other things, the prominence to which Bernard Paganotti's bass had grown during the 6 months since the Toulouse concert. Both in his extended fuzz bass solos and his monstrous presence during ensemble parts, Paganotti gives the music a much heavier feel than it previously had. This disc features two of Magma's epic pieces, "Kohntarkosz" and the yet-to-be officially released "Theusz Hamtaahk." The rendition of "Kohntarkosz" is similar to previous live versions, but opens up a bit more to feature a synthesizer solo in addition to the usual bass and violin solos. "Theusz Hamtaahk" stylistically dates from the Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh/Wurdah Itah period, and in fact begins with a slower version of the opening two sections of "Wurdah Itah." The repetitive keyboard figure from "Wurdah Itah" is maintained while the dark vocal melodies of "Theusz Hamtaahk" take over, exploring a somewhat similar musical terrain.

Mekanik Zeuhl Wortz

A two CD set, this contains the second half of the concert begun on Theusz Hamtaahk. The first disc features a stunning and powerful rendition of "Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh," which unfortunately fades out several minutes before the end of the piece is reached. Still, this is in the running for the best version ever released. Paganotti's heavy bass gives the piece a relentless momentum, and his overwhelming solo continues for more than 11 minutes before giving way to Didier Lockwood's violin. The second disc contains lengthy versions of "De Futura Hiroshima," a Jannik Top piece to appear on Udu Wudu, and "Emehnteht-Ptah," an extended Christian Vander drum solo. While 25 minutes of drum soloing may get a bit tiresome, this is a welcome inclusion as the only Vander drum feature ever released. The sound quality on both Theusz Hamtaahk and Mekanik Zeuhl Wortz is quite good, especially considering the age and the source of the recordings.

Udu Wudu

Here, Christian Vander strives to incorporate the various past styles of Magma into a single composite sound. Thus, one can hear elements of the early spirited jazz-rock mingling with the mechanical drive of the Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh period and the vocal-heavy, complex arrangements of the most recent works. A core group of Vander, Jannik Top, and Klaus Blasquiz is joined by several other musicians on various tracks. The first half of the album contains five short pieces; three composed by Vander and one each from Top and Bernard Paganotti. Overall the music is extremely dark and foreboding, with a heavy bass presence and prominent use of the synthesizer. Paganotti's contribution, "Weidorje," features the insistent, repetitive bass riffing and chant-like melodies that his later group of the same name would come to embody. The second half of the album features Top's 18 minute piece "De Futura," a truly frightening, doomy vision. Two heavy bass themes alternate through several variations, joined by a sinister synthesizer, Vander's furious drumming and Blasquiz's vocals for a frantic accelerando to the diabolic ending.

Inedits

Released in 1977, Inedits contains live excerpts from six unreleased pieces, recorded over several years during the early to mid '70s. The recordings capture some of the Magma lineups not represented on the studio albums, and the edits tend to focus on the solo or instrumental sections of the pieces. The first two tracks, from 1974, feature some heavy fuzz bass jamming from Jannik Top, as well as a Claude Olmos guitar solo. The middle two tracks also hail from 1974/75, and highlight the electric piano; Benoit Widemann's nimble soloing on "Om Zanka," and the funky Rhodes riffing of Gerard Bikialko and Micky Grailler along with another Claude Olmos solo on "Gamma." The final two tracks present some earlier material; an avant-garde sounding excerpt from the 1001 Centigrades era, and a very "MDK"-ish snippet from the 1973 Mekanik Kommandoh lineup. It's a shame one can't hear the full pieces these tracks were extracted from, but this is still an extremely interesting and strong collection of live material.

Attahk

While Attahk continues in the same general musical direction set by Udu Wudu, the moods and emotions evoked on this album are decidedly more upbeat and positive. At times funky and at times jazzy, Vander's music on Attahk is thoroughly energetic and maintains a strong spiritual quality. A noticeable gospel influence has crept into the vocals, which are among the most acrobatic and dynamic on any Magma album. The seven pieces explore several stylistic variations on the Magma sound, all the while conveying a somewhat uncharacteristically hopeful and optimistic sentiment. Though the lyrics are still in Kobaian, the pieces don't seem to directly relate to any of the previous elements of the Kobaian concept. Attahk proves to be a very strong and engaging album, the last of Magma's studio efforts to fulfill the potential of Vander's musical vision.

Retrospektiw III

In June of 1980, various Magma alumni gathered in Paris for a series of reunion concerts. The two Retrospektiw albums that resulted present some of the best performances from those shows, covering several of Magma's classic pieces and live favorites. Retrospektiw III contains three tracks, two of them previously unreleased. "Retrovision" is an 18 minute extravaganza featuring Bernard Paganotti's thick bass, an energetic guitar solo from Jean-Luc Chevalier, and a healthy dose of the gospel-influenced vocal style originated on Attahk. Compositionally it comes from a similar musical mold as the material on Udu Wudu, and even briefly quotes a section from "De Futura." The version of "Hhai" found here is the longest one on record, clocking in at over 13 minutes. It's highlight is a blistering, back and forth violin/synthesizer duel showing off the soloing chops of Didier Lockwood and Benoit Widemann. The closing track is the short and beautiful "La Dawotsin"; a solo electric piano/voice piece performed by Vander.

Retrospektiw I - II

The second album culled from the 1980 reunion concerts is a double, and features breathtaking performances of two of Magma's epic live pieces. The first official release of "Theusz Hamtaahk" is a welcome inclusion. This version begins slow and deliberate, gradually picking up momentum through the repetitive instrumental middle section. Agitated vocal and synthesizer melodies build to several peaks during the finale before bringing the piece to a resolute ending. The rendition of "Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh" captured here is perhaps the most powerful one ever released. The use of synthesizer on this version is unique and extremely alluring. Bernard Paganotti's bass solo towards the end of the piece is short and rather avant-garde, quite different from the type he used to play in the mid '70s. It leads into a spectacular long violin solo from Lockwood that is perhaps one of his finest moments with Magma.

Concert - Bobino 1981

The latest release on Vander's AKT label is a two CD set featuring live material from 1981. The band at this point was fairly versatile, with multi-keyboards and horns joining the multi-vocal, bass and drum lineup. Thus the song renditions presented here are generally full and lush, and bear some resemblance to the sound of late '70s fusion groups like Return To Forever. The selection of pieces on this set, though, is sort of a mixed bag. The version of "Hhai" is as strong as the one on Retrospektiw III, and features guitarist Jean-Luc Chevalier trading furious solos with Benoit Widemann on synth. Chevalier also contributes outstanding solos on an extended "Retrovision" as well as on the highlight of the set, a 30 minute previously unreleased "Zess." This Vander composition is in the classic Magma style, beginning with a long, mysterious choral incantation and concluding with a slow, dramatic crescendo to the finale of the piece. Aside from a very fusionish "Zain," the remaining tracks are rather weak, and tend more towards the style of Magma's next studio album, Merci.

Merci

With a seven year hiatus since Magma's previous studio album, Merci finds Vander pushing a completely new sound for the band. The influence of early '80s pop music is fairly strong here; gated drums, synth bass and dance rhythms abound. More traditional song structures are employed by Vander, and the Kobaian language is gone, with French and English lyrics taking its place. The vocals and harmonies are still often reminiscent of '70s Magma, but the gospel twist which was introduced on Attahk has become much more pronounced. Rene Garber's 11 minute track "Elephas Levi" comes the closest to evoking the spirit of classic Magma, but lacks the fire and emotion of the earlier works.

Mythes Et Legendes, Vol.1

Released in 1985, Mythes Et Legendes, Vol. 1 is essentially a condensed overview of the Kobaian story. It features extracts from several early compositions tracing the narrative up through the end of the first cycle, "Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh." The pieces are interspersed with spoken interludes, in French, which serve to fill in other parts of the story and connect the musical segments. While most of the music is taken from the studio albums, there are two excerpts here which cannot be found on any other albums. The short piece "Klaus Kohmbalad" is an extension of the serene theme heard fading out at the end of Vander's "Riah Sahiltaahk" on 1001 Centigrades. Also included are eight minutes of excerpts from a presumably early live performance of "Theusz Hamtaahk," a somewhat different and more upbeat arrangement than later versions.

Les Voix

Les Voix was the debut release on Christian Vander's AKT label, created in order to make available various live Magma recordings currently gathering dust in Vander's archives. This was a bit of an odd one to start with, considering it hails from a 1992 concert which featured an almost exclusively vocal lineup and no electric instruments. The performance, however, is stunning, and this rather delicate lineup still imbues the music with Magma's characteristic emotional intensity. The CD opens with "Emehnteht-Re," a mysterious, ethereal piece performed by a choral octet accompanied by a lone piano. The cheerful second track, "C'est Pour Nous," comes from one of Vander's Offering albums, and gives him a chance to show off his vocal skills. The final pair of tracks, each around 16-17 minutes long, present excerpts from two of Magma's longer pieces, "Zess" and "Wurdah Itah." These haunting acoustic versions are deceptively restrained, revealing an expressiveness and power equal to any of Magma's electric lineups. Recorded straight to digital at the concert, the sound quality on this disc is superb.

(Originally published in Exposй #8, p. 8-10,13; Edited for Gnosis 1/20/01)

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Peter Thelen 20-Jan-2001 Les Voix

Les Voix is the first release on Christian Vander's AKT label, recorded at the Douarnenez concert, August 2, 1992. The lineup at this point featured Christian (vocals, piano and drums), Simon Goubert (piano, keys), Pierre Michel Sivadier (keys), Philippe Dardelle (contrabass), and in keeping with the title ("The Voices"), Stella Vander and seven other vocalists grace this show with a constant flow of high energy choral work. As might be expected from this mostly acoustic lineup, the musical style here is more in keeping with the recent Offering albums than the early Magma of the 70's; drums are used only sparingly. The album's four tracks include three from the vintage years: 'Emehnteht Re', 'Zess' and a sixteen minute version of 'Wurdah Itah'; in each case the chorus has been used to implement the parts originally done by guitars and synthesizer. The end result is nothing short of stunning. The recording quality is superb, it's easy to forget this is a live one!
(Originally published in Exposй #1, p. 7, Edited for Gnosis 1/19/01)


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An Article From Melody Maker (Mar 11th, 1974)


Original Article by Steve Lake
Transcription by Minsu Jang (cats@gw2.hyundai.co.kr)



Used without permission of the original writer. If this is illegal, please notify me.






It was five years ago that, in the face of local apathy, Christian Vander set about forming Magma. Vander, initially a jazz drummer, and one with a pedigree as long as your arm, had become scornful of the abilities of his jazz improvising contemporaries.

He could find no one that shared his passion for the musical and spiritual path adopted by the late John Coltrane, and, somewhat disillusioned, he ultimately abandoned the jazz scene and took whatever commercial gigs were available.

Thus it was that at one point in 1969, Christian found himself laying down a half-hearted off-beat behind Arthur Conley on a tour of Italy.

On returning to France, he found that a number of French rock groups had sprung into existence, possibly motivated by the lack of visiting talent. Amongst these bands were Triangle and Martin Circus, unknown over here, but for a while fantastically successful in France.

"The audience were on their knees before these bands," recalls Vander, "and everyone was telling me that they were tremendous. I knew differently. There was nothing there at all."

So Vander decided that he'd alter the listening habits of France by forming his own band.

His dream was to realize this by playing music that was spiritually as well as physically satisfying.

The problem was finding the right musicians. There were initially no virtuoso jazz players that were prepared to attempt Christian's experiment, so Vander looked instead for people who were not necessarily great players, but who had character and imagination and energy.

Surprisingly, the first musicians that wanted to play with him were the horn players from Johnny Halliday's band, who were honking and riffing themselves to sleep every night, playing music in which they had neither faith nor interest.

Thus it was that the first inception of Magma was by Vander's own admission, "Musically atrocious."

A twelve-piece band, it incorporated the Halliday fornt-line, a free jazz double bass player, Laurent Thibault on electric bass, who was later to produce the first album ("a lovely guy, but he couldn't play in time"), Eddy Rabbin on keyboards, the excellent Claude Engel on guitar, and Rene Garber on vocals.

Rene, who rejoined the band last year as a contrabass clarinettist, suffered from an inability to sing in tune, and has since returned to music college to study pipe organ.

But from shaky beginnings, Magma gradually took off, having picked up Klaus Blasquiz at a demo studio, when Garber had failed to turn up for the recording.

Vander had decided that the band shouldn't sing in French as the language is weak sounding one, and as he couldn't speak any other language, he invented his own, full of gutteral noises, and strange Teutonic syllables, perhaps instinctively reflecting Vander's own background, for his roots are not in France, but rather in Poland and the Baltic forests - his grandfather was a nomadic gypsy violinist.

But to make the new language functional, Vander sketched out a kind of outer-space morality play, a continuing rock cantata entitled "Theusz Hamtaahk," being a multiple-part story of relationships between Earth and an imaginary Earth-colonised planet named Kobaia.

Using this unlikely plot, Vander has created a sci-fic microcosm that bulges with all manner of contradictions and controversies, using the theme to propose all manner of arguable points.

Among these, that tyrants are, or can be, guides for civilazation, and that wisdom and enlightenment can only be achieved via punishment.

Strong stuff, and the recorded tales of Kobaia so far center around damnation than salvation, with multiple cyclic disasters much in evidence.

To date they've been three Magma albums: "Magma"(French Phillips 63595.001/2 - a double album), "1001 Degrees Centigrades"(French Phillips 6397.031), and "Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh" (A&M SP-4397).

Of these, only A&M record is widely available in this country, although the first two may be obtained from better import shops.

It has to be emphasized. however, that it's not just in lyric content that Magma are a force apart from the rest of rock.

Musically, they're more far-reaching than any other band I can think of, and they absorb influences from literally every music form, taking in elements of Bartok, Stockhausen, Carl Orff, Wagner, Coltrane, Ellington, fragments of European folk musics, oriental drones, yet all the time retaining rock'n'roll vitality, with explosive use of dynamics.

They breeze effortlessly through crippling time changes, yet without sounding overtly "intellectual" or "tricky." Indeed, at recent English Magma gigs, idiot dancers have been observed happily getting it on in 7/4 and 9/4, something unthinkable at, say, a Soft Machine concert.

And speaking of the Softs, it's interesting to recall that their "Third" was hailed as a masterpiece of invigorating invention, and we were told that the band's "crucial importance in the future of popular music cannot be denied."

That's as maybe, but it's fascinating to observe that Magma's first album is exactly contemporary with "Third", and in compositional and instrumental terms, it far outstrips the Softs' record, although the two bands at this period shared a certain unity in their use of horns.

The principal reed player on all of Magma's recordings has been Teddy Lasry, who's no longer with the group, but is far too important to leave out of any history. Lasry's departure has not been one of choice, but the saxist/flautist is only partially-sighted and cannot take the strain of life on the road. Nontheless, lasry helped shape the direction of the band, and contributed saveral compositions, notably "Sohia" and "Iss Lansei Doia", to Magma's repertoire. Lasry still performs with the band occasionally in France, where the group play six-hour long sets, a somewhat daunting prospect, since the two-hour concerts they've given in England have proved to be the ultimate sensory overload.

Even now, Magma continues its unstoppable path through Britain leaving behind a string of standing ovations, and a legion of new believers.

Magma's self-styled "Zeuhl Music" is like nothing else ever heard by English audiences, and yet it's met with an open, positive response almost everywhere the band has played.

Christian Vander has been drumming for more years than he cares to remember, but it looks as though his time is finally at hand.






An Article From Option (Jan/Feb 1988)


Original Article by Dana J. Lawrence
Transcription by Marcelo Spindola Bacha (dronsz@if.ufrj.br)



By the time of the interview, Vander was playing with Offering, between Offering I/II and II/IV.




Christian's overall concept is now governed by what he calls ZEUHL, which I had mistakenly believed was the name of yet another spinoff. He calls ZEUHL music the "supreme accomplishment of my dream inside my dreams". Part of ZEUHL music was the development of the "Theusz Hamtaahk" series of compositions, which many consider to be Vander's masterworks. Included here is music such as Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh, Kohntarkosz, "Ementeth-Re", "Ptah", "Soi Soi", "Hhai", and the riveting yet unrecorded "Zess". Christian does plan to record "Zess" in his "integral version, which is the first piece composed as ZEUHL music." These pieces are and were phenomenally influential.

"These pieces got developed slowly," recall Vander. "Before starting to play Mekanik with the group, I was working on it for one year and a half, on my own. It's while playing it with the group that I found the definitive shape. After I did the first Magma double album, made of songs composed in 1969, I immediately started to get in more obsessional music, without knowing if I was going into something. I stayed on the piano for almost two months, playing on a D on the bottom of the keyboard, then I add, rerecording on our old revox, a few other D's, medium and sharp.

"I was looking for an 'OM,' unconsciously, and it was only after two months that a first chord appeared, resounding in the D; the a few chords that made a melody. It became, at this moment, the central melody of Mekanik. It is actually in the middle of Mekanik. Then I had to compose the beginning and the end. It was really original, I never heard this kind of music before. I intended to stay for years on that way. I knew it was 'fresh' and that there were a lot of possibilities inside.


"Unfortunately or fortunately, while we were recording in England in the beginning of 1973, we were playing Mekanik's main melody all the time, with Stundehr (Rene Garber). In the studio there was an English musician called Mike Oldfield. He only remembered this melody and it became a part of Tubular Bells, and was the music of the movie The Exorcist. Then this sound of music became usual for almost all the fantastic or horror movies. I could not go on using it. People could imagine I was copying Mike Oldfield, that's why I stopped suddenly and started Kohntarkosz."

(...) [stuff about "Joia"]
- I'll add this part when I get the whole article. - Minsu

Lately Offering has expanded its musical vocabulary even further. In concert they have been playing songs such as "Opus" by McCoy Tyner, "Ole" by John Coltrane, the Deer Hunter movie theme, old Frank Sinatra covers (!), Coltrane's "Out of This World," their own "Another Day" (which incorporates excerpts of Coltrane's "A Love Supreme" and "Om," along with Pharoah Sanders' "Upper and Lower Egypt"), and a new major composition, "The Swans and the Crows." This piece is still undergoing change; only a part of it ("The Swans") has been publically played. As Christian explains, "The 'Swans and the Crows' is a piece for Offering. It is a proposition for Offering to develop the eternal story.

Vander says, "For me the whole story begins today. I'm going to be able to realize at last the Kobaian adventure on three different levels, to clarify the situation between Magma, Offering and ZEUHL music. Proportionally it's certain that it's gonna be less ZEUHL records than Magma or Offering records. After a while, things will get transparent. It always was my idea. It's becoming reality now, so good... the mind has to be ready for it."









Mythes Et Legendes : Kobaian Myths




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Magma's works are basically the narrations of Kobaian myths which are Christian Vander's creation. Some of the descriptions on the Kobaian myths can be found on Magma album sleeves and in interviews with C. Vander. In this page, you can read some of them.

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KOBAIA

Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh

Emehnteht-Re




KOBAIA






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The following myth is as written on the inner sleeve of the album Magma(aka Kobaia). This is the start of the whole story... departing from the Earth...
Written by Christian Vander
Translation by Betsy Draine
Source : Ork Alarm!
Used without Permission


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Earth,
This concerns you,
Your systems crush and your revolts assassinate: actually, you destroy what you
don't understand.
We know that you too will be destroyed. Our music witnesses to the Beauty that you want to ignore, and to our hatred of your accursed evolution.
Beyond space and time, a planet, KOBAIA, awaits us.
We have known this world since the day we opened our eyes, millions of years ago.
If only all those suffocating down here could follow us. Only the hypocrite has no hopes!
Earth!
You are now only oblivion.


KOBAIA
All the singing and vocals are in Kobaian, our own language. The music is expressive enough so that you can follow, for yourself, the thread of the voyage.





THE VOYAGE

KOBAIA :
Call to all on Earth who are weary of the conditions afflicted on them, to leave with us for Kobaia.
The ship is in view.
- recitation of the commandments of Kobaia.
- evocation of the splendour of Kobaia.
Procession toward the ship.
- the emigrants' aggressive thoughts toward the Earth, expressed by the guitar.
Entering the ship.


AINA :
Beginning of the voyage. Nostalgic thoughts of the passengers, who have cut all ties with the past.
The joy of the departure dissoves all sorrows, as the voyage continues.
One arrives in view of the stop-over planet Malaria; the ship leader.


MALARIA :
The Earth stains the sky with a pale gleam. The Kobaians spit out to the Earth their rancour and their spite, recalling its horrors and injustices.
Isn't it said that all wrongs are paid for eventually?


SOHIA :
Night has fallen on Malaria. Day rises softly. We must set out again.

SCKXYSS :
The ship takes off.
Rain of meteors.
The ship reaches outer space, in sight of Kobaia.

AURAE :
The ship turns in orbit toward Kobaia.
The passengers witness the dawn, and discover the planet, marvelling.
The ship lands: we are forever KOBAIA.




THE DISCOVERY OF KOBAIA
THAUD ZAIA :
One of us is in love. Only he knows with what or with whom, only he knows how...

NAU EKTILA :
Nature seems to consider us intruders. We exhort her with our songs to open herself and to reveal her marvels.
She accepts with benevolence.
- We participate, with others, in a giant ballet of monsters.
- Under the suns, we give free reign to our joy.
Then twilight falls.


STOAH :
Time has passed. Life on Kobaia flowers in Happiness and Beauty.
Earth has learned of our existence; she is boiling over. The Kobaians sense they must gather togather. One of them reveals to the others the problems posed by Earth, and their solution.
The Kobaians set to work with fury: the results will be conclusive.

MUH :
We return to Earth in order to expose the splendour of Kobaia, which is only Beauty, Happiness, Wisdom.
We again invite those who wish to follow us, and to that end we recount to the Earth its own story.
Alas, the only response is the threat of the destruction of Kobaia.
We reveal that we possess STOAH.
We set out again for Kobaia.
The clamour of Earth dies away.





Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh





--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The following myth is as written on the inner sleeve of the album M.D.K.
Judgement of Human race, Celestial March and Achievement of the State Of Grace... Let's hear them hymning the voice of the Spirit of Universe. BTW, this is rather a story told by Christian, not just a plain myth.

Written by Christian Vander
Source : Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh (A&M)
Used without Permission
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


M.D.K., written in all humility, is the story of Nebehr Gudahtt, a man who one day tells the Earth people that in order to save themselves from ultimate doom, to purify their minds and so to have access to Ultimate Existence, they must sacrifice their lives on Earth. But his message is far from being understood...

"Earthmen, you cursed race!
If I have called you here it is only because you deserve it.
My divine and oh so cerebral conscience compells me to it.
Your perfidious and coarse deeds greatly displeased me.
The penalties which will be inflicted upon you
Shall exceed the bounds of Understaning,
For you see:
In your incommensurable pride and your unfathomable ignorance
You have dared with impunity to defy me,
to challenge me, to provoke me,
and to unleash in all its immensity my frightful and destructive wrath,
bringing upon yourself your own inexorable punishment.

Oh inexhaustible Faith,
deign to rest your devine Sight
on a heart so sensitive and fair.
Support this supreme act:
Those who in their sensitive pride
have dared to doubt Eternal Wisdom
must be punished.
Forces of the Universe,
mete out your incoercible anger!
Infernal Creatures from the endlessness of Time
open the Gates Of Darkness so that Light should be no more!
Unfirl upon mankind your silent incandescent legions
that they may crush the earth, wipe-out the crowds and erase space,
and that in this inextinguishable apocalypse
ashes should burn forever,
and all the blood of all the universes should mingle with
this immesurable, putrid chaos - your last shroud.
And from it, before Angels Of Darkness take it beyond all infinities,
a solitary tear will fall;
the tear of your remorse and of your suffering,
a tear so pure and clear,
that in it you will see your final destiny-
Purification,
State Of Grace,
Faith and Magnificence,
Mansuetude,
Absolute Wisdom, Infinite Wisdom."

The Earth people think of him as a relentless tyrant and they decide to do away with him, to march against him, to destroy him. They gather themselves togather and start a long march singing worrior-like chants. But lost inside of this mass only one thought is apparent in their minds - their reason for marching. And so little by little, the march turns into an awakening of their consciousness. As humans what is their destiny on Earth? What is the purpose of their existence? Where are they going? This is why the piece starts off with very violent themes, later interspersed with lighter, aerified ones which represent the voice of of their consciences governed by the Spirit of the Universe. It is a nagging, relentless voice telling them of the wrongness of their enterprise, and of course for a while they try to silence it. The voice says "Do not march against this man. But march with him. He is not a tyrant, he is a guide." But the Universe has not as yet acted upon them enough and they continue their brutal march. But little by little and by employing all kinds of strategems, the Spirit of the Universe begins to get through to at least one of them, and the sudden faith that pervades him gives him the strength and the courage to call out to the others:

"I have seen the Angel of Light and he smiled at me. He smiled at me, he smiled at me, the Angel of Light."

And the others surprised, question him:
"The Angel of Light smiled at you?"

And he answers growing conviction:
"He smiled at me, the Angel of Light."

And the others again ask him:
"He smiled at you, the Angel of Light?"

And he answers:
"He smiled at me, he smiled at me."

And so it goes on.

Then, a few of the others also begin to see the Angel of Light and start repeating:
"He smiled, the Angel of Light, he smiled."

But those who had not as yet been touched ask again:
"The Angel of Light smiled at you?"

And the answer comes back:
"Yes, he smiled at us and showed us the way."

And the others ask:
"But what did he say?"

The Voice of Concience acted upon by the Universe answers, and this time, feeling the need for understanding deep inside them, they are ready and prepared to hear its message.

"The tyrant is not a tyrant but a guide and he is right. For the Kreun Kohrman has created you in the Image of his infinite Goodness and has entrusted you with a fraction of his Divine Nature so that you may accomplish yourselves. Instead you have only sought to live, to survive, without thinking of your spiritual fullfilment."

All the marchers has now received the message of Wisdom. "This is our only solution. We must march with him. We must march for the Universe."

Conscience raises its Voice once more, completely wiping-out their still human, or rather, inhuman spirit, so that they may become totally aware of their mutation into immaterial beings and feel their newly found devotion to the Universe, those that help them to find Ultimate Purty, those that lead to the State of Grace. And they are taken into the whirlwind of the Universe. From now on they belong to the Universe and they are ready to hear its Commandments which all the Voices of the Universe recite:

HORTZ FUR DEHN STEKEHN WEST
HORTZ SI WEHR DUNT DA HERTZ
HORTZ DA FELT DOS FUNKER
HORTZ ZEBEHN DE GEUSTAAH
HORTZ WIRT TLAIT UTS MITLAIT
HORTZ WIRT TLAIT UTS MITLAIT
HORTZ WIRT TLAIT UTS MITLAIT
HORTZ WIRT TLAIT UTS MITLAIT
HORTZ FUR DEHN STEKEHN WEST
HORTZ DA FELT DOS FUNKER
HORTZ ZEBEHN DE GEUSTAAH
HORTZ WLASIK KOBAIA


------------------ End of Side 1 & Start of Side 2 ----------------------

Now they can chant the exersizing hymns which take one to the State of Grace - the Supreme State. Eternity is nearing and they can feel it.

Nebehr Gudahtt, the Guide they wanted to destroy, speaks:

"If my concience is more developed than yours and my degree of spirtuality higher I still carry in me flaws and blemishes which could be passed on to my descendants. I am, like you, an imperfect being and I must, like you, disappear, for doomed is the Earth race. I was a poor soul embued with endless sadness, and like you, I walked in darkness. But I devoted all my Earth-life so that this day may come. In this I have put all my faith and all my soul. What happiness to be enlightened by the Divine Light of the Kreuhn Kohrman! With you, and like you, I shall fade away into the Universe like a bubble under the soft warmth of the sun, and my being will become a fragment of Infinity."
After these words he disappears into the crowd and sings the hymns of exorcism which will lead to his and their purification.

The Universe guides him into the Celestial March - the one from which there is no return. And Immutable Fate now completes its work.

They do not feel their dying. Angels and seraphins bow to them in respect and for their human perception this is such a strong sensation they simply faint into space.

The State of Grace is achieved.
------------------------End of Side 2----------------------------


"When a man dedicates his will to the will of the Supreme Being and gives him all he has, the Kreuhn Kohrman makes him more than just a man."

Christian Vander - Zebehn Strain De Geustaah








Emehnteht-Re





--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The following story is from Ork Alarm!, which was originally stated in the Magma Book written by Antoine de Caunes. Emehnteht-Re was originally supposed to be a main concept of the second phase of Kobaian myth, which would span three albums if it'd been materialized. Kohntarkosz was the first album of Emehnteht-Re.

Written by Antoine de Caunes
Source : Ork Alarm! #14
Used without Permission


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



The story of Emehnteht-Re can be told thus: One day a man called Kohntarkosz discovered the tomb of an ancient Egyptian grand master, who had been assassinated. The fatal blow came before he achieved the goal he had set himself, of magical immortality. He successfully lowered himself into the main vault of the tomb, and standing at the doorway he heard the songs of angels. The fate of the deceased. As he pushed on the slab covering the burial place, the dust which had accumulated over thousands of years seeped into all the pores of his skin. He experienced a complete and total vision of the life of Emehnteht-Re.

He fainted and all the experiences and investigations of Emehnteht-Re were revealed to him. When Kohntarkosz awoke he did not remember it all, except for snatches which were fragmented and so he tried to reassemble them until he had a thorough knowledge of the masters work. It took him an entire lifetime to arrive at the state where Emehnteht-Re had been, which was to receive the Egyptian God of Creation: Ptah, who was floating in space, asleep in the universe. That is to say, to appear in material form. Ptah did not actually reawaken and then continued his sleep, until someone discovered the formula once more for the reawakening. Emehnteht-Re was almost there, Kohntarkosz took his whole lifetime to attempt to do it in turn.










Mekanik Kommandoh

Written by Christian Vander




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The following lyrics are copied from inner sleeve of Mekanik Kommandoh CD. These are sung at the start of Mekanik Kommandoh version Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh by Christian Vander.
I couldn't recreate the original Kobaian characters.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

HUR
DEH ANTZIK KOHNTARKOSZ KREUHN KOHRMAHN
STOHT WURDAH MELEKAAHM
UZ, DEH ORKBAHNN KREUHN KOHRMAHN
ZEBEHN STRAIN DE GEUSTAAH WORTSIS, DA REUS STOAH

LAH WORTZ REISFUNK DEH WEHRESTEHGEUHNZUR,
UND, DEH BUNDEHR DRAKAIDA KOMMANDOH,
WUHR DI HEUL ZORTSUNG.
UTS FUR KALAIN, HIMEUHN ZEBEHN DEH REUSTIIHN,
EWEHN DEUH LANTSIN SLAKEHNDO

UN DOS WEUHLELIP DA FELTES KOMESTAAHT ?
UN DOS WEUHLELIP DOHRT MITLAITOSS ?
UN DOS WEUHLELIP HUR WAHREK KOBAIA ?

ZIN DON KAH
HURWAH DEH ZUN,
HURWAH DEH ZEBEHN,
HURWAH DEH GEUSTAH,
HURWAH DEH GLEST,
HURWAH DEH KUMPKAH,
HURWAH DEH HURWAH,
HURWAH DEH KAMKAI!

U WEUHL DOWELESS ITAH DEH STAUHI,
IDIT STROSS ISS TRAI UN, UNDOS WEUHLELIP
KOBAIA IMEHN DA FELT DOS ZANKA,
UDETS GLAO, UT STIIK REIS STIS KLOWITS
THOSZ MAGMA ARGESDRAH STOI UNDO
SIWEHN TAUH HAUD TAK SIK STAUHIWA
IS DEH RAWEN DEH STUNDIIT
EK DA HERDZORT FUH OSK,
DUTZ EUHT WEUHRDREST
DOS BUNDEHR WORTSIS GLAO,
DUNT DEH REUGHELEMOSTEH.
IS MALAWEHLEHKAAHM, DA HEURTZ,
STEHRDEK, WIRT DA FELT
DOS SIWENN DONDREST,
UWEUHL KUMPKAAH!
UWEUHL KUMPKAAH!
KOBAIA ISS DEH HUNDIN.
WEUHRLIP KOBAIA
ZIMEUHN KOBAIA
UN ZAIN KOBAIA
ORGREHGEHNN STAUHI KOBAIA.

[Same as M.D.K.]







Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh
Written by Christian Vander




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A few parts are missing, and the original Kobaian characters haven't been perfectly recreated.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

HUR
DEH ANTZIK KOHNTARKOSZ KREUHN KOHRMAHN
STOHT WURDAH MELEKAAHM
UZ, DEH ORKBAHNN KREUHN KOHRMAHN
ZEBEHN STRAIN DE GEUSTAAH WORTSIS, DA REUS STOAH

LAH WORTZ REISFUNK DEH WEHRESTEHGEUHNZUR,
UND, DEH BUNDEHR DRAKAIDA KOMMANDOH,
WUHR DI HEUL ZORTSUNG.
UTS FUR KALAIN, HIMEUHN ZEBEHN DEH REUSTIIHN,
EWEHN DEUH LANTSIN SLAKEHNDO

[missing part]

Do weri wisehndo worai
Do weri wisehndo worai
Eleweso, eleweso, eleweso, elowi sundi (8 times)

Da zeuhl wortz mekanik, da zeuhl wortz mekanik zeulwortz
Wi wi ess ess do woritsto wahn
Da zeuhl wortz mekanik, da zeuhl wortz mekanik zeulwortz
Wi wi ess ess do woritsto wahn
Iss iss ehnwol, ess ess unwehl (2 times)

Ioss da etnah werdett dos da MAGMA udets klowits (2 times)
Owile wisoi, owile wisoi
Owile risun dowe loi loi loi
Ioss da etnah werdett dos da MAGMA udets klowits
Ioss mitlait da felt dos funker uts stik reis stits klowits
Owile wisoi, owile wisoi
Owile risun dowe loi loi loi
Imehn imehn sundi, imehn slibenli
Imehn imehn sundi, imehn lohesi

Al wehr iss un ehr, al wehr iss un ehr
Al wehr iss un ehr, al wehr iss un ehr
Wi wi wi dowehrisi (4 times)
Al wehr iss un ehr, al wehr iss un ehr
Wi wi wi dowehrisi (4 times)
Al wehr iss un ehr (8 times)
O sowiloi, O sowiloi

Ioss ioss ioss doweri
Ioss ioss ioss doweri
Ioss ioss ioss doweri du, dowehri du
Do wehr do ioss ioss ioss dowehri
Ioss ioss ioss doweri
Ioss ioss ioss doweri du, dowehri du
Dowehri dii (8 times)
Dowehri
Zain zain zain zain ewhn do Slakehn zain
Slag slag slag in zain insinehratohr Geus
Ioss ioss ioss doweri
Ioss ioss ioss doweri
Ioss ioss ioss doweri du, dowehri du
Dowehri
Atuh Atuh Atuh Atuh Atuh................

Maneh dowe wowo wehritstoh ioss
Wi wi dets funker, dets funker ioss
Wi do ioss
Wi wi bradiaah Slakehndoh

Wi wi uss wi wi wi wi wi uss
Uu uu uu uu uu uu uu uu uu uu uu uu uu
Wi do wi do wi sun, sun, sun, sun sun
Uu uu uu uu uu uu uu uu uu uu uu uu uu
Uu uu uu uu uu uu uu uu uu uu uu uu uu....

Ima suri dondai, ima suri dondai
Ima suri dondai
Suri dondai
Ima suri dondai, ima suri dondai
Ima suri dondai
Suri dondai Wi.......
Ima suri dondai, ima suri dondai
Ima suri dondai
Suri dondai Wi.......
Al wehr i wehlanso, al wehr i we
Dats i, dats i, dats i
Ima suri dondai, ima suri dondai
Ima suri dondai
Suri dondai
Ima suri dondai, ima suri dondai
Ima suri dondai
I wehss ihr unt, i wehss ihr unt
I wehss ihr unt hamtai hamtai
Manehm do si, manehm do wii
Manehm do si hamtai ham ( missing part )
I wehss ihr unt, i wehss ihr unt
I wehss ihr unt hamtai hamtai
O sowiloi O sowiloi
Sun owehri wi si soia, suri dehnsin tendiwa
Owehri wi si soia, suri dehnsin tendiwa

Wi wi ess ess wi wi uss uss wi wi ess ess wi sun wi sun (12 times)
Wi wi ess ess wi wi uss uss wi wi ess ess wiwidondai (twice)
Wi wi ess ess wi wi uss uss wi wi ess ess wi sun wi sun (6 times)

Da wortz do zain dowosehndo (4 times)
Do wortz do zain (8 times)
Do wortz mitlait (8 times)

Mem woritstohm wilehndoh woworai
Wirt KREUHN KOHRMAHN udets Glao zain
Tu zain Tu zain Tu zain Tu zain....

owilehndoh do wi sun wilendoh

Re wi lowi soi, re wi lowi soi
Re wi lowi du
Ewileh wi lehns

U malawalawala wo siweli welohndai dowi weli wehnsai (twice)
Eweleh do weliwe si lehnsai, eweleh we do weliwe si lehnsai (twice)
Tu..... Tu.... Tu.... Tu....
U malawalawala wo siweli welohndai dowi weli wehnsai (twice)
Eweleh do weliwe si lehnsai, eweleh we do weliwe si lehnsai (twice)
Tu..... Tu.... Tu.... Tu....
Tu.......... Tu........ Tu............. Tu
o ewileh wi lehnso

HORTZ FUR DEHN STEHKEN WEST
HORTZ ZI WEHR DUNT DA HERTZ
HORTZ DA FELT DOS FUNKEHR
HORTZ ZEBEHN DE GEUSTAAH
HORTZ WIRT TLAIT UTS MITLAIT
HORTZ WIRT TLAIT UTS MITLAIT
HORTZ WIRT TLAIT UTS MITLAIT
HORTZ WIRT TLAIT UTS MITLAIT
HORTZ FUR DEHN STEHKEN WEST
HORTZ DA FELT DOS FUNKEHR
HORTZ ZEBEHN DE GEUSTAAH
HORTZ WLASIK KOBAIA (twice)

Fuh mehn fuhl ehndoh litaah , ehndoh litaah, ehndoh litaah (4 times)
Dowisehndo siwehn do loi, siwehn do soi, iuwahn sin doh (4 times)
Iss iss wihl iss wowosehndo (4 times)
Dowisehndo siwehn do loi, siwehn do soi, iuwahn sin doh (twice)
Iss iss wihl iss wowosehndo, iss iss wihl iss wiwidondai (twice)
Wiwidondai (8 times)

owerisi wehlo woseweh, owerisi wehlo woseweh (16 times)

Fuh mehn fuhl ehndoh litaah , ehndoh litaah, ehndoh litaah (16 times)

Fuh mehn fuhl ehndoh litaah (4 times)

Ioss owehri, oh oh rehbidoi (4 times)

eweleweh soi soi, eweleweh loi (4 times)
Ist iih dowehriso (8 times)
Ehl ehl ehl ehl ehl Wlasik KOBAIA (8 times)

Wi..................

CHORUS ZEBEHN STRAIN DE GEUSTAAH

Ziss unt etnah, ziss unt etnah, ziss unt etnah, ziss unt etnah.........
.......................................................................

Do wehlilip do watsihn do (4 times)
Ri si sundi siwehndo loi siwehndo (4 times)
odobehn Slagehn (4 times)
Eweleh wosoi eweweleh wosoi ewelehwe wosoi eweweleh wosoi
Eweleh wosoi eweweleh wosoi ewelehwe wosoi eweweleh wosoi

Ziss unt etnah, ziss unt etnah, ziss unt etnah, ziss unt etnah.........
.......................................................................

Ehl ehl ehl worist do wahn worotsai (4 times)
Maneh wehso wori ri ri ri ri ri (4 times)
Ewiweh losoi ewiweh lo doi doi doi (4 times)
Owehlo wehso wehlo wehso wehlo loi (4 times)
Wi wi wehloso elohwe wehlosoi (4 times)
Eweleh woso wori weleh woso wori (4 times)

Ehl ehl ehl worist do wahn worotsai (8 times)

Unt da zeuhl wortz mekanik, da zeuhl wortz mekanik
Da zeuhl wortz mekanik
Unt da zeuhl wortz mekanik, da zeuhl wortz mekanik

Wirt STRAIN ZEBEHN DE GEUSTAAH
Da felt do DOS HAMTAAHK
Da felt do STOHT WURDAH
Da felt NEBEHR GUDAHTT
Da felt dos KREUHN KOHRMANN
Da felt dos KREUHN KOHRMANN
Dos KREUHN KOHRMANN

Sun iwehn do wehri sun (9 times)

Hortz ewehn dehn Slakehndo
Wortz ewehn dehn Slakehndo
Walamehndohm, walo risun

DI......................................................









Kobaian - English Dictionary




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kobaian dictionary is growing...!! Now it's not long before we can really comprehend what Zebehn & co. sing! :-))

Dictate the meaning of Kobaian words!! Here are some dictations made by Magma fans. Any comments, corrections & additions will be greatly appreciated. Please contact me.

Contributions From:
Laurent (predator@MicroNet.fr)
Peter Thelen (ptlk@netcom.com)
Virgin (virgin1@virgin.fr)
Anthony "Slug of Doom" Hobbs (hobbs_a@ix.wcc.govt.nz)
Roger (roger.espel.llima@ens.fr)



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

WORD LIST
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------
Kobaian English
-------------------------------------
^emgalai apocalypse
andaksik flow
antsik ask
blum people
bradia speak
bunder pillar
da the
de of
deuhl flood
dewa tree
di the
dihhel life
dindol your
do you
doia not, step
dreiak hypocrisy
drest explosion
dros from
dun heart
dusz your
eden without
ek who
etnah heredity, outline
falt sweat
fennh blade, gold cloth
fu a, an
fur for
furwolt while
fuwest crack
geun poor
glao blood
gorkeulhzenht convulsions
hamtaahk hate
hamtai, hamatai to salute
hell, hel life
helolesz drop
hiweusz pulse
hoi one
host ?
hundin infinite
hurt first
ihwa wait
is as, like
itah earth
kalain passion
klawiehr keyboards
kobaia eternal
krematohm cremation, crematory
l^em noise
l^emworitst^em dark
lah air
lants^em ghost
lantsei to run away
lidente destiny
lihns rain
loff lose
lohessi lengthen
loi to drink
loile thirsty
lud it
luszt perfect
m^em in
Malawelekaahm incantation
maneh ensemble
mennh, meletsi smell
met on, upon, above
muss vital
nansei forever, never, ever
noszfeuhl endless
otsilennhet^e imaginary, imagination
rait, raitah burn
reugh eat
rinst^e prisoner
rogh appearance
rownah purge
runhd^e unperturbed
saaht painful
setnait breast
sewolawen silence
siri cry
slibenli wave
soia night, high
sowilei delicate
steuhn torwards
stauhi ashes
strain to tear
sun is
sunh and, be
surra pure
tendiwa soul
theusz time
tuduwan lie
ud it, that
udea fruit
umennh breathe
und^em ocean
undazir vision
unsai past
urfakt last
urwa violence
uz and
wainsaht forward
walomend^em universe (all together)
warrei why
wi where
wlasik forgive, pardon, ascension
wol from
wurdah death, dead
wurdin nothingness, nothing
zain brain
zanka sun
zess master
zeuhl celestial music
zort surly (?)
zunh sound
zur you




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

TRANSLATIONS ?!
See what the Kobaian texts mean... if you know more, please let me know!


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


THEUSZ HAMTAAHK Time Of Hatred
WURDAH ITAH Death Of Earth
WURDAH GLAO Death And Blood
IMA SURI DONDAI I've seen the Angel of Truth



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ZEUHL DISCOGRAPHY
Alphabetical Order



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This page contains the list of albums which are refered to be in the category of Zeuhl Music.
Any additions or corrections are welcomed!!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Abus Dangereux - Le Quatrieme Mouvement
( 1980 , AJ records 1001 , France )
Altais - Altais/Promenade.../Gravitation Zaro (Maxi SP)
( 1986 , 1021 , France )
Altmayer, Michel - Troll Vol. II
( 1988 , Musea FGBG 2010 , France )
Anaid - Belladonna
( 1989 , Anaid 03JM , France )
Bertram, Dominique - Chinese Paradise
( 1984 , String 33.858 , France )
Bondage Fruit - Live:1993.6.8.Pit Inn
( 1993 , Maboroshi No Sekai W 0002, Japan )
Bondage Fruit - Bondage Fruit
( 1994 , Maboroshi No Sekai ISIS-0111, Japan )
Bringolf, Serge - Strave
( 1980 , Omega OM 67016 , France )
Bringolf, Serge - Vision
( 1981 , Omega OM 67028 , France )
Bringolf, Serge - Live
( 1983 , RBO R.1383 D , France )
Bringolf, Serge - Lelila/Lelila instrumental(SP)
( 1990 , MSR 54129 , France )
Bringolf, Serge/Kessler, Siegfried - Agboville
( 1983 , Omega OM 67044 , France )
Cahen, Francois - Great Winds
( 1979 , Trema 310 069 , France )
Cahen, Francois/Lockwood, Didier - Thank You Friends
( 1978 , WEA 50489 , France )
Ceccarelli, Andre - Ceccarelli
( 1977 , Carla CAR 500 002 , France )
Coeur Magique - Wakan Tanka
( 1971 , BYG 529.018 , France )
Cortex - Troupeau Bleu
( 1975 , Esperance ESP 155 524 , France )
Cruciferius - A Nice Way Of Life
( 1970 , Egg 940 011 , France )
Dugrenot, Joel - Boomerang
( 1982 , Mantra COM 6036 , France )
Dugrenot, Joel - Mosaiques
( 1991 , Mantra COM 6037 , France )
Dun - Eros
( 1981 , Ouest Atlantique SAB 001 , France )
Eider Stellaire - Eider Stellaire
( 1981 , ?? K 001 , France )
Eider Stellaire - 3
( 1989 , Musea FGBG 2009 , France )
Eskaton - 4 Visions
(1979, ??, France)
Eskaton - Le Chant De La Terre/If(SP)
( 1979 , ?? E01 , France )
Eskaton - Ardeur
( 1980 , Musique Post-Atomique E38001 , France )
Eskaton - Fiction
( 1983 , Musique Post-Atomique E38301 , France )
Ethnic Duo - Ethnic Duo
( 1981 , Blue Morge BM 1004 , France )
Gauthier, Patrick - Bebe Godzilla
( 1981 , CY 733 612 , France )
Godding, Brian - Slaughter On Shaftesbury
( 1988 , Reckless RECK 16 , France )
Gong - Flying Teapot
( 1973 , BYG 529 027 , France )
Goude, Jean-Philippe - Drones
( 1980 , Polydor 2473 108 , France )
Happy Family - Flying Spirit Dance
( 1994 , ?? ?? , Japan )
Happy Family - Happy Family
( 1995 , Cuneiform Rune73, Japan )
Honeyelk - Stoyz Vi Dozeveloy
( 1979 , Oxygene OXY 047 , France )
Jeanneau, Francois - Ephemere
( 1977 , Owl 07 , France )
Kessler, Siegfried/Seffer, Yochk'o - Dialogue Water-Fire
( 1986 , Moshe-Naim MN O 12071 , France )
Koenji Hyakkei - Koenji Hyakkei
( 1995 , God Mountain GMCD 012 , Japan )
Lasry, Teddy - E=MC2
( 1976 , RCA FPL 10148 , France )
Lasry, Teddy - Seven Stones
( 1979 , RCA PL 37257 , France )
Lockwood Vander Top Widemann - Fusion
( 1981 , Polydor 2473 948 , France )
Lockwood, Didier - Jazz-Rock
( 1976 , Music Zag 773.001 , France )
Lockwood, Didier - Surya
( 1979 , Arcade 302801 , France )
Lockwood, Didier Quartet - Live At The Olympia Hall
( 1982 , JMS 040 , France )
Moze, Francis - Naissance
( 1982 , FM 1082 , France )
Musique Noise - Fulmines Regularies
( 1989 , Musea FGBG 2028 , France )
Nyl - Nyl
( 1976 , Urus Records 000.013 , France )
Paganotti, Bernard - Paga
( 1985 , Cream 120 , France )
Paga - Haunted
( 1988 , Bleu Citron BLC-D 004 , France )
Paga - Gnosis
( 1993 , Bleu Citron BLC-D 016 , France )
Perathoner-Top - Music Film Scoring
( 1990 , Baillemont CD 918 , France )
Perception - Perception
( 1971 , Futura Records GER.19 , France )
Perception - Mestari
( 1974 , Le Chant Du Monde LDX 74555 , France )
Perception & Friends - Perception & Friends
( 1973 , A.D.M.I. ADMI 01 , France )
Prat, Jean-Paul - Masal
( 1984 , Stand By 831 201 , France )
Rose, David - Distance Between Dreams
( 1977 , Gratte-Ciel ZL 37094 , France )
Seffer, Yochk'o - Magyar-Lo
( 1976 , Le Chant Du Monde LDX 74604 , France )
Seffer, Yochk'o - Chromophonie 1 La Diable Angelique
( 1982 , G.C.GC 2101 , France )
Seffer, Yochk'o - Chromophonie 2 Le Livre De Bahir
( 1984 , G.C.GC 2102 , France )
Seffer, Yochk'o - Adama
( 1986 , Moshe-Naim MN 12069 , France )
Seffer, Yochk'o - Prototype
( 1989 , Kid Records 590 462 , France )
Seffer, Yochk'o Neffesh Music - Delire
( 1976 , Moshe-Naim MN 12008 , France )
Seffer, Yochk'o Neffesh Music - Ima
( 1977 , Moshe-Naim MN 12010 , France )
Seffer, Yochk'o Neffesh Music - Ghilgoul
( 1978 , Garou Garou SR 116 , France )
Shub Niggurath - Les Morts Vont Vites
( 1986 , Musea FGBG 2002 , France )
Shub Niggurath - Live
( 1989 , Auricle ??, France )
Shub Niggurath - C'etaient De Tres Grands Vents
( 1991 , Musea FGBG 4042 , France )
Speed Limit - Speed Limit
( 1974 , Le Chant Du Monde LDX 74575 , France )
Speed Limit - Speed Limit
( 1975 , RCA FLP1 0101 , France )
Szajner, Bernard - Some Deaths Take Forever
( 1980 , Pathe Marconi 2C 070 14863 , France )
Thibault, Laurent - Mais On Ne Peut Pas Rever Tout Le Temps
( 1979 , Ballon Noir BAL 13009 , France )
Thollot, Jacques - Cinq Hops
( 1978 , Free Bird FLY 03 , France )
Top, Jannick - Utopia/Viva
( 1975 , Utopia 42519 , France )
Uppsala - Uppsala
( 1984 , KI Records UPPS 1114 , France )
V.A. - Puissance 13+2
( 1971 , Theleme 6641 037 , France )
V.A. - Music Is My Honey
( 1973 , Theleme 6 332 752 , France )
V.A. - Enneade
( 1987 , Musea FGBG 4005 , France )
Weidorje - Weidorje
( 1978 , Cobra COB 37.014 , France )
Widemann, Benoit - Stress
( 1977 , Ballon Noir BAL 13002 , France )
Widemann, Benoit - Tsunami
( 1979 , Ballon Noir BAL 13014 , France )
Widemann, Benoit - 3
( 1984 , CY Records 733614 , France )
Zao - Z=7L
( 1973 , Vertigo 6499 738 , France )
Zao - Osiris
( 1974 , Disjuncta 000004 , France )
Zao - Shekina
( 1975 , RCA Balance FLP1 0097 , France )
Zao - Kawana
( 1976 , RCA Balance FLP1 0178 , France )
Zao - Typhareth
( 1977 , RCA Balance PL 37121 , France )
Zao - Akhenaton
( 1994 , Musea FGBG 4116 , France )
Zorgones - Her Doktor Reich/Mon Velo Est Bleu
( 1968 , Mercury 154.658 , France )








Christian Vander interview
by Theresa Stern
Not particularly relishing it, I unwittingly became a club employee and a band manager at the same time when I arrived to interview the masters of Zeuhl music for their first New York show (July 1999) in over a quarter of a century. I had long been enamored by drummer/mastermind Christian Vander, who was/is so committed to his own mythologies which he created in the late sixties/early seventies. Even though the group originated out of France and created a new language (Kobaian) to tell their tales, they might as well have been some interstellar visitors as such.
Arriving early to the club, to meet Christian, his wife Stella (also a singer in the group) thought I was part of the club management and asked me about payment for the show. I dutifully passed the message along to the owners, who then wanted to know if I was their manager. Slipping out of this slippery slope, I was then commandeered by Stella to get mineral water for the band. Being so accommodating (not to mention a fan), I dutifully went out to a deli and lugged back a dozen bottles to the club. At the end of the rehearsal, Stella (who I had been in touch with only by phone previously) called out from the stage for me, saying that we should do our interview now. I came to say hello and it dawned on her that I was the writer she spoke to before and not a club employee. We both had a good laugh over that one (mostly her actually).

If that wasn't confusing enough, the problem then came with doing the interview herself. While Stella was gloriously bi-lingual, Christian only knew French and I only knew the Queen's English (or gibberish, to be more exact). She agreed to translate my questions but since time was tight, she said that I'd have to find someone else to translate Christian's answers. Not a problem, I thought. I ended our chat by blurting out the few words of French I remembered from high school: 'au revoir,' 'merci beaucoup' (I also remembered how to ask where the bathroom is but I didn't think that was appropriate).

Sadly, several people who seemed willing to help with this didn't come through and I was left with an interview tape gathering dust, wondering what to do. I suppose that it's appropriate that the reason an interview I had done over a year ago languished for that long because of a language problem- after all, this is a group that invented their own language.

When all hope seemed to be lost, a plea was made in the Progressive Rock newsgroup. Amazingly, we got back numerous responses to help. The kind and wonderful person who did the honors in the end was Steven Hegede, who we owe a great deal of debt, needless to say. Thanks also to Olivier Jouan, who helped to formulate some of the questions below. Also 'merci beaucoup' to Shawn Ahearn and Pascal Zelcer for helping to arrange the interview itself.

And so, without further adieu...



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


PSF: Can you talk about you musical background before Magma?

Well, honestly I didn't really know what was happening in France musically at that time. I had some idea of what was going on. But I was mostly attracted to other types of music. Especially the music of John Coltrane, which occupied me, and served as my "daily bread." It's a long story, but the music of Magma started one day because, in my opinion, it had to come out. I would call it a revelation. The music came out of me naturally, without the need to compose it. The music had a need to come out, whether it was through me or someone else.


PSF: The story behind Kobaia, was it influenced alot by science-fiction?

No, not at all. It was more of a transposition. We were looking for something new. We baptised that other world "Kobaia". But, looking back at this today, Kobaia refers to Earth.


PSF: What was the intention for inventing a new language?

The language itself came parallel with composing. Meaning that when I was composing on piano, certain sounds would appear. And, at the same time, we had words in use that we baptised as Kobaian. The first word that I ever pronounced was "Kobaia." The other words came as a result of the music, it was a natural process.


PSF: There was some talk that the whole concept was supposed to be a nine-album set?

No, I think that there is some confusion with Zess. I mentioned one day that Zess would probably fill 5 records. At the time, 5 records was equal to about 3 hours of music. So I imagined Zess to be 3 hours long. So I probably mentioned "5 albums" one day. But it wasn't about Theusz Hamtaahk but rather Zess. 45-minutes is already an LP. But it's possible that I also said 5 hours, instead of 5 hours.

PSF: For Zess?

Yes, Zess I was refering to Zess. But we never talked about 9 albums. Maybe 5 albums? I probably said 5.


PSF: By the time of Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh, things seems to be changing for the group. How did the changes in personnel change the music?

Well, we were allowed to go further musically. Jannick's (Top, bassist) sound, and spirit, allowed us to advance further and faster. Now, I'm not saying that the previous musicians were not excellent musicians. But Jannick brought along with him a sound which was musical on the one hand, but on top of that he superimposed melodies (translator note: Christian is refering to countermelodies). Jannick brough a new level to the band. And he was the bassist that we had hoped for at the time.


PSF: Was the story of Kobaia changed by the time of Kohntarkosz?

As I mentioned earlier, we had transposed the story a bit. Progressively, we were finding ourselves within the story. Anyway, we were finding that we were actually talking about the story of planet Earth. Whether the story happened here or somewhere else, it really didn't matter. We were finding sources to try to explain that which supports us. The importance was that Kontark had to be told in a profound manner. It's a story that many people look for when trying to find their meaning in life. To know our place within the world, and in a manner that is positive. It's in reference to Earth and life.


PSF: The version of Kohntarkosz that appears on the BBC release is very different. Especially the first half. I was wondering if it envolved into the final version. Or did you rework it quickly?

No, Kohntarkosz at that time was a work in progress. It wasn't finished. At the time, I was trying to finish the theme while, at the same time, we were playing a version it. The colors were somewhat there, but it wasn't finished. As soon as I finished writing the structure, we recorded it. It was ready, but not totally finished. The finale wasn't yet composed when we recorded Kohntarkosz. But it was finished at the time of "Kohntark".


PSF: Why were there many band members joining and leaving Magma?

Bands change personnel due to natural occurrences. Many musicians become exhausted by fatigue. We would do 25 concerts a month with little free time in between. Musicians would drop out due to exhaustion even when they weren't interested in changing bands. But we were fortunate to find a few musicians who had the will to continue.


PSF: Why did Magma stop in the '80's?

First of all, he were offered very little work. But at the same time, it allowed us to work on other projects. For example, during that period we started a new group called Offering. Which permitted us to create a lot of new ideas that later went back in Magma. It's two different ways of reaching the same goal. The goal of taking music further and discovering new sounds.


PSF: What inspired you to start Magma again?

We could have done it before because we were always ready. It was after a suggestion from a friend, Bernard Ivan, who proposed a tour. Thanks to him we rebuilt the band again. It had been proposed several times in the past, but nothing was solid. This time it was thanks to Bernard Ivan. But we were always ready.


PSF: It is important to reprise your older material or to play new compositions now?

It is important that we replay the older compositions for a newer generation of Magma fans. But we are going to quickly move to newer music. Hopefully.


PSF: What do you think of the bands that play Zeuhl music?

I don't know all of them. There are certainly a lot of good ideas (out there), but there are also a lot of bad ones. The idea isn't to copy our sound, but rather to feel something deeper within. But, as the founders of Zeuhl, we also have the responsibility to make the idea clearer and expressive. Once that idea is clearer and more expressive, people will be able to create something real out of it without misinterpreting the message.


PSF: How do you see the future of Magma?

I live day to day. I can't talk about things that haven't happened yet. I work so that Magma can continue. In my opinion, music and spirit co-exists together. The idea is to continue and progress.


PSF: Over the years, have you seen another band that you consider contemporaries, brothers and/or sisters?, fellow travelers?

No, I can't say that. Maybe I haven't heard anything new from Univers Zero, but their music sounds diluted on a spiritual level.

Stella Vander: No, not just about Univers Zero. Any band, really.

Christian: A brother-like band... nothing at this moment.


PSF: How about Xaal?

There were some correspondence between both bands, but very little outside of them.


PSF: I know that you're a big John Coltrane fan. Which of his records would he recommend Magma fans?

Well, there are different fans of Magma. If you're looking for a certain sort of obsessional "dance"... "My Favorite Things." It wasn't written by Coltrane, but he made it immortal. If not, Expression.











CHRISTIAN VANDER INTERVIEW
By George Allen and Robert Pearson
April 22, 1995

GA: IS THE EMBLEM FOR MAGMA MEANT TO DEPICT A BIRD OR IS IT ABSTRACT?
CV: When I created it, I never thought of a bird. I had an idea inside about a symbol or emblem, and just wrote it down on a piece of paper, sketched it. The idea at the beginning was something like the dress of the Egyptians. It was supposed to be like a piece of cloth or articulated metal sheets that would mold over the body, over the ribcage. It was to be similar to breast-plate armour, but supple, not rigid.


GA: THE NAME MAGMA, IS THAT PART OF KOBAIAN OR DOES IT REFER TO LAVA? IS IT REFLECTIVE OF THE STYLE OF THE BAND?

CV: Yes, it refers directly to lava. Back in 1966, I had written a piece and I was already in a band with Bernard Paganotti, who became a bass player. Already, I was searching for the right word. The tune I wrote back then was called Nogma. I was looking for the word Magma, but didn't know it was what I was looking for. One day the band didn't have a name at the time, and they were standing in fornt of a fairly well-known club in Paris. The club management told me if you don't have a name, you can't come and play tonight. So we went for coffee, at the shop next door. I thought deeply, you know, and the word Magma came out. At the same time, I founded Univeria Zekt. I wrote this down on the receipt from the coffee shop and kept it.


GA: DOES THE NAME MAGMA MEAN TO REFLECT THE QUALITIES OF FLEXIBILITY AND BEAT. WOULD THOSE BE CHARACTERISTICS OF YOUR MUSIC THAT YOU VALUE?

CV: At the beginning, when I found the name, the name was bigger than me at the time, but it was inside of myself at the same time. I had to learn in time; I didn't know what it meant. And I kept on practicing to be at the same level as the name. And I am still practicing, to live up to the name and the evocation of the name.


GA: ARE THERE ANY PLANS FOR A 25TH YEAR ANNIVERSARY MAGMA REUNION OR TO RECORD MORE MATERIAL UNDER THE NAME MAGMA?

CV: Yes. I even have the name of the record. I have all the titles, but I haven't focused on the music yet. When I woke up one day I wrote all the titles of the album down. If you repeat the titles in the right order, it sounds like a magic formula. It happens quite often that I dream the tunes, get up in the morning, and go to the piano, and write them down.


GA: DO SOME OF THE LYRICS COME FROM UNCONSCIOUS STATES OR DREAMS, LIKE AUTOMATIC WRITING?

CV: The music and the lyrics come up at the same time. If I am singing, and if it has to be in Kobaian, they come up in Kobaian. Sometimes there is a word that is maybe French or English and I leave it in because it is there, and it's natural. The lyrics come at the same time, parallel to the music. For pieces like Mekanik, they were not written in one shot or one session. I had to run a tape recorder to be able to capture it instantly- it goes very fast. I sing with new words that I don't know, and when I am improvising further, the same words come back, even though I don't know them. But I didn't learn them, they impose themselves on me.


RP: (REGARDING THE LYRICS) COULD YOU COMMENT ON HOW YOU FEEL THEY HEAL THE HUMAN SPIRIT, HOW HEALING THEY ARE?

CV: Because they arise naturally. I feel that somehow they must be healing.


RP: THERE WASN'T AN INTENTION TO MAKE HEALING MUSIC?

CV: No, it happened naturally. If I created a word artificially, it would be different, but the words come up instinctively. I do not want to work artificially. I want to work from instinct. I have done everything to keep the instinct fresh and alive, quick, sharp.


GA: IT'S BEEN REPORTED THAT COLTRANE'S WORK HAS HAD AN IMPACT ON YOU. DO OTHER ARTISTS, SUCH AS PHAROAH SANDERS, ARCHIE SHEPP, OR ALBERT AYLER, FOR INSTANCE, HOLD A CONTINUING INTEREST FOR YOU?

CV: I am always listening and attentive to what they do. I am open to listen to what they do. But for my work, it is still Coltrane who actually gives me the real material to work on, to be able to move on.


GA: SUN RA AND THE ARKESTRA ARE A CONTINUING SET OF MUSICIANS WHO OPERATE MUCH AS A BAND, AND THEY ALSO HAVE A MYTHIC APPROACH TO OUTER SPACE THEMES. DO YOU LISTEN TO OR LIKE SUN RA?

CV: I have not really listened to Sun Ra but every time I've heard Sun Ra I've felt that there was something, a real connection. What's funny is that before Magma the band already had a long name in mind, and it sounded very much like the whole long name of Sun Ra and the Arkestra.


RP: WHAT ARE SOME SPIRITUAL INFLUENCES THAT YOU COULD POINT TO, LIKE GURDJIEFF OR THE GOSPELS?

CV: Its difficult to answer because at different times in my life, I have tried different philosophies but I don't think that Gurdjieffs' teachings and the laws surrounding that teaching really apply today. It doesn't work for today.


RP: WHAT WORKS FOR TODAY?

CV: For example, the monks in Tibet. They pray all the time for peace and they have been doing that for a very long time and what is happening is that there are less and less of them and they are less and less heard, so my question is 'Are their prayers really working?' Today the prayers are heard less and less and the world is going down and down. I think that I understand part of the things that do not work and I plan to write a philosophical book. The book will look like a novel. I already have 800 pages written.




If you're still hungry for Magma information, check out the Magma Zeuhl site