(FrenchZeuhl) Magma -1970 - Kobaia {Seventh REX IV - V, France - 1970, FLAC (tracks)

A track from this album was my first taste of Magma, via Rhino's Supernatural Fairy Tales prog rock boxed set. Unfortunately, the track they chose to represent the band was "Troller Tanz (Ghost Dance)" which, with its short length, prominent synthesizers and lack of Kobaian lyrics makes it sound pretty much like any other keyboard-heavy symphonic prog band on that boxed set. Made me wonder why the band had such a reputation as "room clearing" prog. So I ended up getting most of the other Magma albums before this one, and enjoying them more. So far, Udu Wudu is my least favorite disc from the band, but then I haven't heard the oft-maligned Merci yet.

The first half of this album is taken up by a series of short tracks, none even reaching the five minute mark. For a band whose best work stretches out over entire album sides (or even entire albums), that's not a good sign. Most of these tracks sound like an attempt to make Magma more palatable to the average prog fan, but the songs end up sounding like unfinished sketches for larger pieces (the way "Troller Tanz" changes into a different song during its fade out makes me wonder if it weren't intended as part of a longer work).

The track most fans praise from this album is the seventeen minute "De Futura", but even that one doesn't grab me much. Magma's music is often described as repetitive, by fans and foes alike, and that's also the case here. But in this song, the repetition doesn't seem to go anywhere. The bass work does manage to sound menacing through most of the song, but other than that I don't really get what the big deal is with this one.

If you're really big on synthesizers and short tracks, then this might be the Magma album for you. Otherwise, I'd recommend starting with pretty much any of the earlier albums.

review by Bob Eichler — undated — post a comment (0)

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Fragmented follow-up to the successful Live/Hhai discs. Vander relinquished some control over the group for this album, only writing about half the music. From the start, you know things are different, to which the Casio-generated, psuedo-Latin beat peppering the title track attests. Also, synthesizers are used throughout the album (with varying degrees of success), and most of the songs are short (3-4 minutes), with simpler melodies than Magma is known to use.

Perhaps the most significant aspect of the album lies in the compositions of bassist Jannick Top. "Soleil D'Ork" and especially "De Futura" perfectly capture the simultaneous joy and doom of all the best Magma music.

"Weidorje" was written by bassist Bernard Paganotti. Much use of synthesizers dates this tune, and the rather mellow, optimistic vibe (which it shares with the title track) does seem uncharacteristic of a band known for singing about the end of the world. During the course of recording, Paganotti would leave Magma to form his own band, named after this song.

"De Futura" is an 18-minute, funky tour-de-force from Jannick Top. This piece practically invents today's metal-zeuhl scene (a la groups like Happy Family and Ruins) with its crushing bass and heavy, syncopated drums. That is not to say that it's chaotic or disjunct, but there is defintely a primal aggression at work here that Magma rarely approached. Fierce and fun.

Coming after Hhai, this album is often underrated by prog afficionados, and truthfully, it is not in the higher pantheon of the band's works. It lacks the cohesion of their earlier releases, and seems to veer away from the whole Kobaian legacy. Synthesizers and shorter songs may have been concessions to the times, or may have just been a breath of fresh air for the band. Whatever the case, the album has enough to offer that Magma fans should investigate.

review by Dominique Leone — undated — post a comment (2)

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I originally shelved this roughly a week after buying it. I came back to it a couple months ago, and it has grown on me in a major way since then. Now I include it with MDK and Köhntarkösz in my personalized list of great Magma works.

The songs are mostly all short slices that convey a very individual and colorful mood, using the typical drums, bass, piano and vocals Magma formula, plus flute and a lot of synthesizer. "Üdü Wüdü" is bright, brassy and festive. "Weidorje" also has a celebratory feel, but is more solemn and more folky then "Üdü Wüdü". "Troller Tanz" and "Zombies" both have perfect Halloween melodies and impetuous, sludgy rhythms. These two are great, and maybe danceable in a Zombie, drone-like way?

"De Futura", the Top composition, is an 18 minute guttural zeuhl masterpiece; the monolithic repetitive structure and even and heavy yet increasing pace gives it a threatening atmosphere. The bass is growling and predominant, and there are some absolutely insane synths: low wicked skronkings, sci-fi hovering, sirens...almost campy.

Sometimes some of the instruments sound muffled and the sound a little dirty; I am not sure how much of that is intentional. Sometimes it adds to the sludgy, growly feel of some of the music, and sometimes it just makes the music sound less vivid. Overall this is great though, and I am glad I decided to give it a second chance. Some people complain about this release, but I think it's fantastic, due to the unmistakable Magma stamp and the variety of colorful emotions expressed here.

review by Heather Mackenzie — undated — post a comment (0)

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This album features slices of Magma as they entered the latter half of the 70s. It is probably the least of the band's studio works for that decade, and compared to the band's earlier efforts, comes off as rather scrambled, a band searching for a new direction in various personnel permutations. Still, there are some interesting moments to be found. The title-track bursts forth with festive Latin flavor, cool polyrhythms, a chorus of charming Zeuhlfraus, and an intricate horn arrangement courtesy of bassist Jannik Top. "Zombies (Ghost Dance)" is my personal favorite track here. Though the sound quality is poor (as it is throughout the album, actually) and the piece simplistic, Vander is outstanding on the batterie here, melding perfectly with the fuzz-funk of Top's bass, in a manner that is at once primal and sophisticated. I have this track on no less than 3 of my jogging tapes, and believe me, when it's playing blasted at full volume no other schlubb better be in my way. I can't quite get into Top's 17+ minute "De Futura" (perhaps Magma's simplest sidelong work, and the only one to be written by someone other than Vander) which trudges along with a bass-propelled art/horror film-type atmosphere. Anyway, this is certainly not the best place to start exploring Magma, but if you get hooked on the band, you'll own this soon enough anyway.

EAC extraction logfile from 26. October 2006, 21:41 for CD
Magma / Kobaia

Used drive : SONY DVD+-RW DW-D56A Adapter: 1 ID: 0
Read mode : Secure with NO C2, accurate stream, disable cache
Read offset correction : 12
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No

Used output format : C:\Program Files\FLAC\flac.exe (User Defined Encoder)
192 kBit/s
Additional command line options : -V -8 -T "artist=%a" -T "title=%t" -T "album=%g" -T "date=%y" -T "tracknumber=%n" -T "genre=%m" %s

Other options :
Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Installed external ASPI interface

Track 1
Filename C:\Documents and Settings\user\Desktop\[1970] Kobaia\01 - Kobaia.wav

Pre-gap length 0:00:02.44

Peak level 93.6 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC C08C64F8
Copy CRC C08C64F8
Copy OK

Track 2
Filename C:\Documents and Settings\user\Desktop\[1970] Kobaia\02 - Aina.wav

Peak level 99.8 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 38046E30
Copy CRC 38046E30
Copy OK

Track 3
Filename C:\Documents and Settings\user\Desktop\[1970] Kobaia\03 - Malaria.wav

Peak level 92.4 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC BA5ABBA9
Copy CRC BA5ABBA9
Copy OK

Track 4
Filename C:\Documents and Settings\user\Desktop\[1970] Kobaia\04 - Sohia.wav

Pre-gap length 0:00:01.40

Peak level 64.9 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC A811709C
Copy CRC A811709C
Copy OK

Track 5
Filename C:\Documents and Settings\user\Desktop\[1970] Kobaia\05 - Sckxyss.wav

Peak level 91.7 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC AAFACF9E
Copy CRC AAFACF9E
Copy OK

Track 6
Filename C:\Documents and Settings\user\Desktop\[1970] Kobaia\06 - Aurae.wav

Peak level 79.0 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC DAD64B83
Copy CRC DAD64B83
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No errors occured

End of status report

EAC extraction logfile from 26. October 2006, 22:08 for CD
Magma / Kobaia (Disc 2)

Used drive : SONY DVD+-RW DW-D56A Adapter: 1 ID: 0
Read mode : Secure with NO C2, accurate stream, disable cache
Read offset correction : 12
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No

Used output format : C:\Program Files\FLAC\flac.exe (User Defined Encoder)
192 kBit/s
Additional command line options : -V -8 -T "artist=%a" -T "title=%t" -T "album=%g" -T "date=%y" -T "tracknumber=%n" -T "genre=%m" %s

Other options :
Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Installed external ASPI interface

Track 1
Filename C:\Documents and Settings\user\Desktop\[1970] Kobaia\01 - Thaud Zaia.wav

Pre-gap length 0:00:02.44

Peak level 85.5 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 191FCF07
Copy CRC 191FCF07
Copy OK

Track 2
Filename C:\Documents and Settings\user\Desktop\[1970] Kobaia\02 - Nau Ektila.wav

Peak level 69.6 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC ACB107D2
Copy CRC ACB107D2
Copy OK

Track 3
Filename C:\Documents and Settings\user\Desktop\[1970] Kobaia\03 - Stoah.wav

Peak level 79.6 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC FF54F59D
Copy CRC FF54F59D
Copy OK

Track 4
Filename C:\Documents and Settings\user\Desktop\[1970] Kobaia\04 - Muh.wav

Peak level 74.2 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 0A63B1E1
Copy CRC 0A63B1E1
Copy OK

No errors occured

End of status report