Archives

The music of MAGMA interpreted in acoustic performance by the band members of OFFERING – this was the idea behind LES VOIX DE MAGMA (The Voices of Magma), presented on the 2nd August 1992 at the “Jazz in the Bay” Festival at Douarnenez. Subtly re-arranged for 9 voices, double bass and keyboards, the themes underlying the Kobaian Universe here take on a new dimension. Full of power, captivating and lyrical, the absence of electricity takes nothing away from a repertoire which retains all its splendour. A fantastic success, but which at bottom is nothing amazing to those who understand that singing has always been the point of departure for MAGMA’s music.

Recorded live in Paris in 1981 at BOBINO theatre where the band played for 3 weeks. Many of the numbers played here were never recorded in studio so far.

This particular concert, recorded in Bourges in 1979, stands out as a moment of grace, partly due to its extreme tension and the risks taken collectively, which the audience still reminisces of to this day.

AKT 15 is the latest and long awaited document of the AKT series. While chosen for their rich and original musical content, rather than strictly technical qualities per se, these archives are a testament to the astounding talent of cult band Magma during its soon-to-be 40 years of career. This particular concert, recorded in Bourges in 1979, stands out as a moment of grace, partly due to its extreme tension and the risks taken collectively, which the audience still reminisces of to this day. And if all the musicians offer, as usual, their energy ever so in synch with their worldly reputation, AKT 15 holds a special place in the band’s history, documenting for the first time ever this particular period. All earthly fans and more recent amateurs will, without a doubt, take great pleasure in (re)discovering that exceptional performance.
Klaus Blasquiz, vocal – Stella Vander, vocal, Fender piano -Maria Popkiewicz, vocal – Liza Deluxe, vocal – Jean-Luc Chevalier, guitar, bass – André Hervé, piano Fender, synthétiseur – Michel Hervé, bass – Christian Vander, drums featuring René “Stundehr” Garber on tenor saxophone

Christian Vander is a remarkable musician. Apart from his work as a composer, pianist and singer, he is also one of the greatest drummers on the planet. We have asked him to choose his best solos from the 1970s, out of all those, we have recorded. The fabric of these solos has always developed out of the threads which have joined the years together : earth, air, fire… from all these element combined – out of which arises Song itself… Always in search of the “Ultimate Solo”, Christian never thought of releasing these recordings. After some intense pressure by the team at Seventh to reconsider this decision, he is now convinced that these recordings have worn well with time.

Not that WE ever doubted they would !

After the official live concert of the Taverne de l’Olympia and the concert of the Théatre du Taur of Toulouse, here is, with this triple album recorded in the opera of Reims on March 2nd, 1976, a new opportunity to listen with delight to what probably was Magma’s most prestigious formation. Above all, this concert, which features, like the two that came before, a band of unequalled unity and power, makes up a document of prime importance as far as its content is concerned. Three major pieces show it. SONS ET CHORUS DE BATTERIE (Drums sounds and chorus) first, the only drum chorus by Christian Vander in Magma ever recorded on CD; THEUSZ HAMTAAHK then, in a version of the time which announces the one that would be released in 1980 on the album RETROSPEKTIV 1&2, and finally DE FUTURA, a piece which was still being worked on at the time, with Paganotti on bass, only a few months before it was recorded by its talented creator Jannick Top.

The concert of 24th September 1975 at the Theatre du Taur in Toulouse was part of the autumn promotion tour which followed the recording of HHAI/LIVE at the Taverne de l’Olympia three months earlier. Freed from the constraints of the studio, the group, which between times had replaced Jean-Pol ASSELINE with Patrick GAUTHIER on keyboards, was exceptionally tight in this show. The result was a performance of incredible power in which each musician was totally unconstrained and all seemed to succeed in everything they did. The solos of Didier LOCKWOOD and Bernard PAGANOTTI on the long version of MEKANIK DESTRUKTIW KOMMANDOH are absolutely staggering; and even Gabriel FEDEROW, normally discreetly in the background, pleases us, in KOBAIA, with a long and magnificent guitar solo.