A Magik Markers live recording released by Textile Records in Paris, France.
From the sounds of things this might've been their most surprisingly subdued and least chaotic performance ever. The somber guitar pickery and mostly incoherent vocals simmer under washes of cymbals with rhythmic drum rumbles surfacing in the more aggressive stretches. Surprisingly nice.
More chaotic murky Markers mayhem. A live blast of free psych splatter, a stumbling druggy mess of random drum plod, shrieking squealing guitars, sung/spoken female vocals all whipped up into a skull splitting art punk free rock noise crunch.
Packaged in gorgeous hand screened, hand colored sleeves, comes with a druggy trippy Magick Markers coloring book, weird and wacked for sure.
Pressed on pretty purple swirled vinyl, limited to 500 copies and each hand numbered.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Ultra limited, single sided 12" from those lovable noisemakers the Magik Markers. Recorded live in Belgium in 2005, this is the Markers at their disheveled, chaotic, falling to pieces best. Or worst. Hard to tell sometimes. But this is one series splatter of guitar gore and drum damage. Total and utter grinding noiserock skree, dense and murky and druggy and ultra damaged. Guitars scream and squeal, the drums sound like they're tumbling down an elevator shaft. this is like Sunroof! or Vibracathedral Orchestra, but run through some sort of 'caveman' filter, removing melody and composition and any other distinctly musical elements, leaving just a huge swelling, sweating, wiggling, rumbling, roaring, shrieking, fucked up high volume scribble of sonic freakout.
Packaged in a thick chipboard sleeve, hand silkscreened inside and out. Really nice. Limited to 500 copies.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Up until this point Magik Markers have been quite the confusing and compelling enigma. With a bunch of LP's and cd's under their belt, many of which are already out of print, it's been pretty hard to get a grasp of what this band is all about. Gaining famous fans like Sonic Youth and earning a reputation for electric and stunning live performances, they are one of the first names that pop up when people talk about the booming noise scene of the last several years.
With their first outing on fanboy Thurston Moore's label they show that beneath all the noise and chaos there were some structured songs ready to come to the surface. Boss finds them in fine song form with nine tracks of somewhat traditional structure with Elisa Amrogio proving that she can actually sing, quite well! But don't worry they haven't gotten all normal on us, there is still plenty of dissonance and feedback in these songs, produced by Thurston's bandmate Lee Ranaldo.
It's no surprise that there are moments that do kind of echo some great Kim Gordon led SY moments, and even some songs where we thought, wow this is what it might have sounded like if L7 were a little more weird and mystical. It can be easy for bands aligned with the 'noise' scene to just rest on their laurels so we applaud Magik Markers for taking a bold new direction and we have a feeling they will be keeping us guessing and intrigued for a long time to come.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Another release in Southern Records' series of ultra limited Latitudes releases, past installments have included the Grails, Ginnungagap, Ariel Pink, Shit And Shine, Sir Richard Bishop, and others. A wildly disparate group for sure, but one that seems to suit this band just fine...
The Magik Markers are definitely one of those love 'em or hate 'em kind of bands. Sloppy and chaotic, noisy and psychedelic, free and seriously fucked up. Live they can be an explosive revelation, or an absolute mess. One show found the drummer blasting away on stage, while the quite comely guitarist clambered through the audience, climbing over audience members, dragging her guitar behind her, stirring up a seriously chaotic skree. Great to see, but not the best thing to listen to. And the band seem to know that, at least on The Voldoror Dance, not relying on any sort of unorthodox antics or wildly destructive staging the band simply unleash some seriously drug addled, psychedelic space rock bliss. Free and blown out, actually VERY free, this is like a band hurling their equipment into the abyss, and capturing every second on tape, the drums a constant splattery free jazz web, the bass (or is it another guitar) buzzing and warbling, throbbing and pulsing, wrapped in dense little tangles around the relentless drumming, while over the top, vocals drift and hover, ghostlike, barely audible over the din of the main guitar, a squirming, squealing sonic supernova, spewing wild peals of shrieking feedback, dense sheets of corrosive skree, walls of fuzzy riffs, smeared into almost-white-noise, tons of FX, wah wah, delay, a relentless free rock, space psych blow out. Tripping wildly though free jazz, free rock, drone rock and drug rock territory, sometimes all at the same time. An ultra noisy, dizzy, stumbling, crumbling, explosive mind melting musical trip.
Comes packaged in a super intricate hand screened die cut fold over sleeve with a full color insert. The cover has a sticker affixed to the front and each copy is hand stamped and numbered. Limited to 1000 copies worldwide, 500 of which made it to the United States, about 25 of which made it here. So you know what that means!
The cd is unfortunately long gone, but for a very limited time, we have the lp version of the Magik Markers' recent contribution to Southern's awesome Latitudes series. Past installments have included the Grails, Ginnungagap, Ariel Pink, Shit And Shine, Sir Richard Bishop, and others. A wildly disparate group for sure, but one that seems to suit this band just fine...
The Magik Markers are definitely one of those love 'em or hate 'em kind of bands. Sloppy and chaotic, noisy and psychedelic, free and seriously fucked up. Live they can be an explosive revelation, or an absolute mess. One show found the drummer blasting away on stage, while the quite comely guitarist clambered through the audience, climbing over audience members, dragging her guitar behind her, stirring up a seriously chaotic skree. Great to see, but not the best thing to listen to. And the band seem to know that, at least on The Voldoror Dance, not relying on any sort of unorthodox antics or wildly destructive staging the band simply unleash some seriously drug addled, psychedelic space rock bliss. Free and blown out, actually VERY free, this is like a band hurling their equipment into the abyss, and capturing every second on tape, the drums a constant splattery free jazz web, the bass (or is it another guitar) buzzing and warbling, throbbing and pulsing, wrapped in dense little tangles around the relentless drumming, while over the top, vocals drift and hover, ghostlike, barely audible over the din of the main guitar, a squirming, squealing sonic supernova, spewing wild peals of shrieking feedback, dense sheets of corrosive skree, walls of fuzzy riffs, smeared into almost-white-noise, tons of FX, wah wah, delay, a relentless free rock, space psych blow out. Tripping wildly though free jazz, free rock, drone rock and drug rock territory, sometimes all at the same time. An ultra noisy, dizzy, stumbling, crumbling, explosive mind melting musical trip.
Like all the Latitudes lps, packaged in that instantly recognizable black and white diecut 12" sleeve, pressed on old school black vinyl. LIMITED TO 1000 COPIES, we have less a handful...
A new record from Sic Alps is always cause for celebration, especially if you dig washed out, reverb drenched, stumbling noise pop, which is precisely what you get on these three new tracks, the first, an abstract drift of angular clang, murky crooning, barely-there rhythm, dark and a little dirge-y, but with a gorgeous streak of melancholy melody. The second track is way less abstract, still tweaked and a bit off kilter, with some tangly Eastern sounding guitar melodies WAY up in the mix, but right below, a simple drum part, some sad boy singing, mumbly one second, and belting out a little falsetto the next, a pretty pop song subverted, and transformed into a gorgeous staggering lo-fi sprawl. The last of the three is maybe the prettiest, total classic fuzzy pop, lilting and catchy, but again wrapped in a warped woozy haze, that makes the song sound like it's subtly changing speed throughout. Tweaked and twisted, but still so goddamn catchy.
Magik Markers Counter with three tracks of their own, forgoing most of the pop for something much more tripped out and psychedelic, clouds of swirling psych guitar over almost krautlike drumming, the vocals formless and all tangled up with flurries of wah guitar, everything looped and stretched out and blurred into a full-on unhinged, reverb drenched, washed out, dreamy and druggy space rock trip out, some of our favorite MM stuff for sure.
Super swank, thick glossy jackets, and most likely limited...
Even the truest of true metal warriors would have to admit that when one thinks about "metal" and "Norway" the first things that come to mind are probably facepaint, spikes, pretty looking old buildings gettin' set on fire, that kind of thing. In two words: Black Metal. But nonetheless from that grim/frostbitten land comes Magister Templi, and far from dealing in shrieked vocals and blastbeats, they're instead one of the finest new true metal acts to lumber forth from the darkness in quite some time. Lucifer Leviathan Logos is Magister Templi's first full length, following up a demo and an ep, and it is much more fully realized and oozing with way more character than any debut album has any right to be. It would be tempting to lump these guys in with the countless other retro metal throwback acts currently burning up fretboards across the globe, but that would be doing this band a disservice. Magister Templi aren't content to simply ape the masters, but have instead crafted a totally unique and singular slab of doom laden occult heavy metal. "Master Of The Temple" is a near perfect opener - constantly and abruptly changing direction with neck snapping deftness, from twisted stop-start Mercyful Fate riffery to the driving gallop of early Trouble to a funerary doom metal dirge. And when the vocals kick in courtesy of Abraxas d'Ruckus (what a name!), they're not the kind of ghostly shrill falsetto King Diamond worship you might expect. Instead they're a deep and kingly bellow, sounding like some blood hungry wargod throwing down curses from the heavens, or a fanatical robed prophet dictating from a candlelit pulpit, only ever pulling back for some theatrical Crowley-esque spoken word, raving about his undying devotion as a "servant of the order"! And that's just the start. Elsewhere the mid-paced chugging thrust of "Lucifer" recalls Dio-era Sabbath pulsing with an added somber quality, the lyrics "My white robes, they're getting darker, and my black ones reek of smoke" peppering the proceedings with some mysterious opaque imagery. "Innsmouth Look" shifts between a slinky doomy groove and pummeling double bass, the lyrics dripping with a Lovecraftian sense of dread. "Leviathan" opens with a dizzying slab of claustrophobic doom, its serpentine guitar leads invoking the feeling of endlessly falling down some reality-defying MC Escher spiral staircase. All the while, d'Ruckus raves about fools desecrating his temple and resting his head upon the snakes in the grass! Closer "Vitriol" is all dark twangy campfire folk before that shadowy doomy groove emerges for the last time, driven by some seriously tasty cowbell. Lucifer Leviathan Logos is the kind of rare record that should appeal to a seriously wide variety of metal maniacs. Their seemingly effortless knack of shifting from the heaviest doom to fist pumping uptempo heavy metal recalls Trouble in their early to mid '80s prime, but there's no reason why fans of any metal on the darker, more epic edge of the spectrum won't find plenty to love here. If bands like In Solitude, Satan, Candlemass, Lamp Of Thoth, Solstice, Pagan Altar, or the recently reviewed "Jewels Of Gwahlur" demo series are your particular cup of frothy ale, then this is absolutely essential.
Yet another Sunn 0))) related project, once again it's Stephen O'Malley, who here is teamed up with legendary percussionist Z'ev as Magistral. But this is way more high concept that just some old fashioned drum / guitar jam, instead, O'Malley recorded a guitar solo, 8 minutes and 42 seconds long to bee precise, and Z'ev then took those recordings and worked them over, according to the liner notes he was responsible for "renderings, recodings, percussion and submixes". Not sure what he did, or how he did it, but maybe there are some clues in the confusing ultra technical song titles: "6m 59s From Last 42s Left Channel Only - 26 Track Submix", "13m 48s From 34s From 5m - 5m 34s - 20 Track Submix"... okay maybe not. Regardless, this is an amazing disc of abstract soundscaping and stretched out blackened ambience. It's difficult to pick out any remaining bits of guitar actually, as Z'ev has rendered them completely indistinct, a wash of crumbling distortion, long expanses of grind and scrape, strange high end shimmer over haunting metallic oscillations, creepy burblings and black sonic ooze, what sounds like workmen hammering on air conditioning ducts across the street, and thick glacial flows of molten low end rumble. The sound reminds us quite a bit of the most tranquil Wolf Eyes moments, a sort of austere, slightly industrial landscape of barren sound, especially the final track, where Z'ev finally joins in with the tribal percussion, transforming a buzzing drone into some sort of haunting pagan ritual.�
Packaged in a swank mini gatefold sleeve with the usual spiffy design by Mr. O'Malley himself.�
Late '70s Magma, with more fusion and even gospel influences present. Fantastic cover by H.R. Giger! Much better sounding than the Tomato-label version some may be familiar with.
We just got a few of this great new live disc, French progsters performing two epic compositions ('Theusz Hamtaahk' and 'Kohntarkosz') for BBC Radio in '74. Inspired.
"Quand Les Enfants Chantent Magma" actually: meaning this is a group of French school-kids singing Magma! Cool.
This has been around on VHS before, but we're in the DVD age now (heck, aren't we all watching TV shows on DVD these days, renting whole seasons to devour in a weekend?). So this live Magma concert from 1981 thereby gets reissued in the DVD format, though the video quality still looks second or third generation. Magma fans, you may want/need this... sure, the early '80s weren't prime years for the band, as these French prog-rock weirdoes best albums belong to the early to mid '70s. But we know that even now, in 2005, Magma still kick ass (both live and on their new album K.A) so in 1981 they could hardly be considered over-the-hill. This ain't their strongest material, though, as they do concentrate on their more jazz-fusiony, gospel-influenced later sound of the era, which means this includes a manaically happy Christian Vander, who seems totally high on life, stepping out from behind his drum kit to take a star turn singing his always-bizarre, bug-eyed, alien-soul standard "Otis"! Plus they were at their most Spinal Tap back then, with shiny sci-fi costumes in full effect!! Ah, the '80s. Kinda cool now though. One of the strangest, most amazing (we think) bands EVER goes completely over the top here, basically. This is NOT the Magma document to convince people that they're not the most absurd band ever, quite the opposite in fact. Magma *and* non-Magma fans will both find this good for a laugh. I mean, this IS ridiculous, from the band's disco/Battlestar Galactica styled get-ups to Vander's facial expressions... it's not the oh-so-serious Magma of the M.D.K era, or today. 112 minutes, NTSC, region free. ----* ----* In Stock, Not Yet Reviewed : ----* If you want to order one of these, just cut and paste the info into the comments area on the order form, or just email mailorder@aquariusrecords.org. 13 & GOD "Men of Station / Soft Atlas" (Anticon) 12" 8.98 50 CENT "The Massacre" (Shady) cd 15.98 ABE, KAORU "Winter 1972" (PSF) cd 21.00 AESOP ROCK "Fast Cars, Danger, Fire And Knives" (Definitive Jax) cd 17.98 AKRON / FAMILY "s/t" (Young God) cd 13.98 ANGELS OF LIGHT "Sing "Other People"" (Young God) cd 14.98 APPRECIATION "Healing The Father Wound" (self-released) cd 9.98 ATOMIZER "Death-Mutation-Disease-Annihilation" (Drakkar) cd 14.98 AUBE "Chain[Re]Action" (Blossoming Noise) cd 14.98 BIG BUSINESS "Head For The Shallow" (Hydrahead) cd 14.98 BIRCHVILLE CAT MOTEL / BRUCE RUSSELL "s/t" (Celebrate Psi Phenomenon) cd 16.98 BLACK LEOTARD FRONT "Casual Friday" (DFA) 12" 6.98 BLACKSHAW, JAMES "Celeste" (Celebrate Psi Phenomenon) cd-r 14.98 BRASIL AND THE GALLOWBROTHERS BAND "The Band Plays On, The Dunes Move On (Caught Me With My Eyes Closed)" (Last Visible Dog) cd 11.98 BY THE END OF TONIGHT "A Tribute To Tigers" (Temporary Res) cd 14.98 CHIMNEY SWEEPS "Devil Girl" (Norton) lp 10.98 CLARINETTE "Transmuting Fall" (Celebrate Psi Phenomenon) cd-r 14.98 CLASSICAL M "Bad Guys: The Complete Collection" (Pacemaker / Lion Productions) cd 16.98 COH "0397post-pop" (Mego) 2cd 24.00 COLD BLEAK HEAT "It's Magnificent, But It Isn't War" (Family Vineyard) cd 14.98 DILLOWAY, AARON "Boggs, Volume 2" (Hanson) cd 14.98 DOORMOUSE "Stanley Yershonowski Presents Xylophone Jism as the Riducator" (Cock Rock Disco) cd 15.98 DOTS "10th Anniversary Box II" (Rather Interesting) cd 26.00 DREAM DEATH "Back From The Dead" (Penance Music) cd 14.98 DURRETT, LIZ "Husk" (Warm) cd 13.98 ERICKSON, ROKY "I Have Always Been Here Before" (Shout! Factory) 2cd 31.00 FAITHFULL, MARIANNE "Before The Poison" (Anti) cd 16.98 FAY, BILL GROUP "Tomorrow, Tomorrow and Tomorrow" (Durtro / Jnana) cd 14.98 FIELD MICE, THE "For Keeps" (LTM) cd 17.98 FIELD MICE, THE "Skywriting" (LTM) 2cd 17.98 FIELD MICE, THE "Snowball" (LTM) cd 17.98 GUAPO "Black Oni" (Ipecac) cd 15.98 HALF-HANDED CLOUD "Thy Is A Word + Feet Need Lamps" (Asthmatic Kitty) cd 14.98 HALL, ARCH JR "Wild Guitar!" (Norton Records) cd 14.98 HARMONIC 33 "Music For Film, Television & Radio Volume One" (Warp) cd 16.98 HECKER, MAXIMILLIAN "Lady Sleep" (Kitty-Yo) cd 16.98 HENKE, ROBERT "Signal To Noise" (Imbalance Computer Music) cd 16.98 IELASI, GIUSEPPE "Gesine" (Hapna) cd 15.98 IKEDA, RYOJI "Formula" (Forma) cd + dvd 39.00 JUDAS PRIEST "Angel Of Retribution" (Sony) dualdisc cd/cd + dvd 17.98/24.00 KOICHI, MAKIGAMI "Koedarake" (Tzadik) cd 15.98 LCD SOUNDSYSTEM "Yr City's A Sucker" (DFA) 12" 6.98 LUGOSI "s/t" (CMR) cd 16.98 MACLEAN, JUAN "I Robot / Less Than Human" (DFA) 10" 6.98 MADLIB "Mind Fusion Vol. 1" (Madlib) cd 16.98 MADLIB "Mind Fusion Vol. 2" (Madlib) cd 16.98 MAGICK MARKERS "I Trust My Guitar, etc." (Ecstatic Peace) lp 16.98 MARDUK "Plague Angel" (Candlelight USA) cd 16.98 MATTHEWS, ERIC "Six Kinds Of Passion Looking For An Exit" (451) cd 14.98 MERZBOW "Bariken" (Blossoming Noise) cd 14.98 MIKAMI, KAN "Bachi" (Abruit Secret) cd 17.98 MILTON, ANTONY "'Sirens' & 'And Where The Coloured Planes Are Rafts" (Last Visible Dog) cd 11.98 MONTAG "Alone, Not Alone" (Gooom / Carpark) cd 14.98 MORRICONE, ENNIO "La Corta Notte Delle Bambole Di Vetro" (Dagored) cd 15.98 MORRICONE, ENNIO "Tepepa" (Dagored) cd 15.98 MU "Out Of Breach (Manchester's Revenge)" (Output) cd 16.98 NAGISA NI TE "Dream Sounds" (Jagjaguar) cd 14.98 NIBLOCK, PHILL + SUN RA & HIS SOLAR ARKESTRA "The Magic Sun" (Atavistic) dvd 14.98 OKLAND, NILS "Bris" (Rune Grammofon) cd 16.98 PATTON, MIKE / X-ECUTIONERS "General Patton Vs. X-ecutioners" (Ipecac) cd 15.98 PEDESTRIAN "Volume One: Unindian Songs" (Anticon) cd 14.98 PHAZM "Hate At First Seed" (Osmose) cd 11.98 PHONOPHANI "Oak Or Rock" (Rune Grammofon) cd 15.98 RED SPAROWES "At The Soundless Dawn" (Neurot) cd 14.98 RODEN, STEVE "Ear(th)" (Alyce de Roulet Williamson Gallery) cd 13.98 SATWA "s/t" (Time-Lag) cd/lp 15.98/17.98 SECTION 25 "So Far" (LTM) dvd 32.00 SEHT "The Voice Of The Taniwha" (Last Visible Dog) cd 11.98 SIX EYE COLUMBIA "Judy At Carnegie Hall" (Roosevelt Franklin) cd 9.98 SMEGMA "Rumblings" (Hanson) cd 14.98 SPACE: 1999 "OST" (Silva) cd 16.98 STARZ "Attention Shoppers!" (Ryko) cd 12.98 STARZ "Coliseum Rock" (Ryko) cd 12.98 STARZ "s/t" (Ryko) cd 12.98 STARZ "Violation" (Ryko) cd 12.98 STYX "The Complete Wooden Nickel Recordings" (Hip-O Records) 2cd 24.00 SUBTLE "Earthsick" (Dose) cd 14.98 THE INCREDIBLE STRING BAND "Philadelphia Folk Festival 1969" (Tallulah) cd 13.98 THUNDERBOLT "Inhuman Ritual Massmurder" (Mercenary Musik) cd 14.98 TOMOKAWA, KAZUKI "Itsuka, Toky Mite Ita" (PSF) cd 21.00 V/A "Grime 2" (Rephlex) cd/2lp 15.98/17.98 V/A "Mini A Go-Go" (Khmer Rocks) cd-r 9.98 V/A "Soul Gospel" (Soul Jazz) cd/lp 19.98/24.00 V/A "Spirits Of Life: Haitian Vodou" (Soul Jazz) cd/lp 19.98/24.00 V/A "World Psychedelic Classics 3: Love's A Real Thing" (Luaka Bop) cd 16.98 VANDER, CHRISTIAN "Un Homme... Une Batterie" (Seventh Records) dvd 27.00 VENETIAN SNARES "Rossz Csillag Allat Sz�letett" (Planet Mu) cd/2lp 14.98/17.98 VERONICA LIPGLOSS AND THE EVIL EYES "Strip Mall Glass" (GSL) 12" 7.98 ZORN, JOHN "Rituals" (Tzadik) cd 15.98 _______________________________________________________________________ ABOUT MAILORDER
New (well, 1998) two-song single, from the current incarnation of Christian Vander's Magma. But it sounds more 1978 than 1998. Good!
Great live document from 1975. Quoting Vander: "It contains 'Kohntark', which is indeed 'Kohntarkosz' renamed for a problem with a producer, and also an extract of 'MDK', our famous tune. 'Mekanik Zain' let us hear one of the most paroxystic moment of the concert: the chorus of Didier Lockwood with a 7/4 rhythm which brings him in outer limits. It's the first live album of Magma. There is a contained violence, such a musicality, with also improvisation and such a cohesion. In 'Hhai!'(=Alive!), on a 4/3 rhythm, it's a song of hope, a call of life where you can hear sorrow, joy and eternity..."
At loooong last...and not just 'cause it's been, like, seventeen years since they last released a studio album, or even longer than that since they put out a really classic studio album (1978's Attahk), here's the new (NEW!) Magma album. It's at loooong last also in part 'cause our copies got lost in the mail coming over from France, and now *three* months after ordering 'em, a second box was shipped and we've finally got them in. Whoo-hoo! And what's the really good news? This album, K.A (short for Khontarkosz Anteria), is freakin' great! Actually, we expected it to be good. Of course we're Magma fanatics and all, but we're realistic about bands doing stuff thirty years past their prime. But we had high hopes nonetheless 'cause 1) the current incarnation of Magma absolutely slays live which Allan for one can attest from life-changing experience and 2) the material on this disc was in fact written back in the '70s, but never recorded for an album back then. (So, this is kind of Christian Vander's Brian Wilson's Smile, I guess, but better.) The results are magnificent, and gratifying.
Imagine if any amazing band from the '70s suddenly came out with a new album, that actually could fit in comfortably with one of their beloved old LPs? Hard to imagine, actually. Like if Led Zeppelin suddenly reformed (with a Bonzo clone, say) and recorded some hitherto unknown, lost link between Houses Of The Holy and Physical Graffiti. Impossible right? Well Magma's basically done the impossible here. You won't be entirely fooled into thinking this is a vintage '70s release -- the production and some of the synth sounds give it away -- but it comes darn close. And the composition K.A is without a doubt an authentic Magma masterpiece worthy of their reputation. Three tracks, one long piece.
Pretty sure this is a for-fans-already oriented release, so I dunno if we need to try and describe Magma here or not. And they're not that easy to describe anyway, being a French '70s avant-rock band that combined John Coltrane and Richard Wagner (to use the usual shorthand) in a spiritual, sci-fi, jazz-prog stew that sounds nothing like any of the other prog rock or jazz fusion bands of the day, really. Except for the ones they then influenced, of course. K.A will indeed give the uninitiated a full grounding in the classic Magma sound, that's for sure. Bombastic, epic, large-scale stuff dominated by chanting, acrobatic vocals and relentless rhythms. There's perhaps more guitar than you might expect, along with all the choirs and keyboards -- and of course, drums! Magma mainman Christian Vander is a god among drummers and shows no signs of slacking on this album.
The packaging is pretty special too...I've never seen a digipack quite like this one. There's two booklets -- one half sized. The bigger one is devoted to all of K.A's lyrics, in Magma's own made-up language Kobaian (no translations, sorry -- I guess this is just for singing-along-to purposes: "Wi wi siwili do ri / siwi do woh wehre sehn deweloi / hel hel...")
And the cover art, a moss-covered gravestone carved with the Magma logo, jutting out of the dirt against a star-strewn sky, might be a bit silly but I love it.
So, it's kind of cool, for those of us who weren't of record-buying age in the '70s, but got into Magma from buying cds by such bands as Ruins and Guapo and Koenjihyakkei and even Flying Luttenbachers, that we can now go purchase a brand new Magma!
Amazing Magma debut. Magma mastermind Christian Vander comments:
"After the death of John Coltrane (41) in 1967, I composed 'Kobaia' (=eternal) in front of the musical chaos and the misunderstanding of mankind; and then I created Magma and the 'Zeuhl Wortz' (=music of the universal might). To Life, to Death and after... It brought me to my real work on earth. My unique and true function. this album was a renewal, a complete rebirth. Many enjoyed it. This allowed the birth of many new groups in France, creating a new musical trend: the zeuhl music."
At last! We'd been wondering when/if it would happen: a vinyl reissue campaign has at last begun for this French Utopian apocalyptic sci-fi spiritual prog jazz fusion et cetera ensemble, the one and only Magma! Lead by drummer/vocalist/visionary Christian Vander, Magma are one of our '70s prog faves, continuing to the present day. They've been described as Sun Ra meets Wagner, and that's not the half of it.
The first four records reissued by Jazz Village include three of their newer ones - and this seminal effort from 1974. It features the two part Vander composition "Kohntarkosz", one of Magma's prime masterpieces, a complex, ominous epic at the heart of the Magma mythology, full of lumbering bass, eerie synth drone, and majestic vocal chant. Vander's lyrical, piano-laced tribute to his hero John Coltrane, "Coltrane Sundia", is also included, along with an unsettling tune by bassist Jannick Top, the stirring, string laden "Ork Alarm". Classic Magma!
Interesting lineup fact: this album features Brian Godding formerly of UK pop psych act Blossom Toes, on guitar. Also, note: thanks to the quirkiness of our website, we're leaving out all the MANY umlauts that each title mentioned above would normally be adorned!!
One of the all-time Magma classics. Of all their Wagner-meets-Sun Ra output, this is perhaps the most dark and militaristic-sounding, despite the inherent spirituality of the concept. Vander's comments: "The 3rd movement of the trilogy 'Theusz Hamtaahk', 'MDK' is really my 'My Favorite Thing". The melodies are played infinitely, becoming more and more intense, attaining a kind of paroxysm, of zenith. It was composed in 1971-72; this trilogy which contains 'Theusz Hamtaahk' (1st movement),'Wurdah Itah' (2nd movement) and 'MDK' (3rd), has been recorded randomly. Indeed, I play a long time the themes before recording them and 'Mekanik' was the first of the three movements that was played live. The other ones have been developed later and recorded then: 'Wurdah Itah' in 1974, 'Theusz Hamtaahk' in 1980, in 'Retrospektiw 1&2'."
1973 alternate version of "Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh".
That's right. We're not even sure if anyone uses mouse pads anymore what with those newfangled optical mice. But whatever, this is a MAGMA mouse pad. So we got a few (just a few). A 19 cm diameter round foam rubbery mouse pad emblazoned with the familiar Magma symbol in red. Cool, eh? 'Nuff said, I can't believe we're reviewing a mouse pad!
People (well, Magma fans, who are the best sort of people, right?) have been waiting for this! Another dvd document of the modern-day (and still amazing) Magma playing live, which is a very special thing. And super super special when they're doing really really old stuff like on this dvd. All the songs here date from the dawn of Magma, the early early '70s, "Epok 1" in the terminology of this dvd, which is the first in a projected four-volume set documenting 35 years of music from the band. In the spring of 2005 they played four weeks of sold-out shows in the intimate confines of the Paris club Le Triton, devoting one week each to what they consider the four "Epoks" of their career to date. So the compositions performed on this volume, from the 1970-72 era of such albums as Kobaia, 1001 Degrees Centigrade, and MDK include: "Malaria", "Stoah", "'Iss' Lansei Doia", "Aurae", "Kobaia", "Sowiloi", "KMX B12", and the 35 minute first movement of "Theusz Hamtaahk".
Now, we just got this in, so we haven't actually had the chance to screen the whole thing. But we did excitedly slip it into the computer and skipped through a few chapters and definitely what we saw made us eager to find the time to sit down in front of the TV, crank the volume, and watch the whole thing through (like, ten or twenty times -- but we ARE huge Magma nerds).
Aside from the basics -- that this is a professionally shot video recording, filmed from multiple angles, of a kick ass band of both young and old Magma folks, including a long haired, leather-vested Klaus Blasquiz on vocals, plus Stella Vander as well, and a bald headed Emmanuel Borghi on Fender Rhodes -- we noticed a few entertaining details. Borghi, lurking at his keyboard, resembles Nosferatu just a bit... Blasquiz's gives what seems to be a genuinely shocked reaction to a particularly noisy solo played by guitarist James Mac Gaw... and no, bearish band leader Christian Vander doesn't have a tattoo -- what looks like a tattoo is actually an excess of upper-arm hair!
OK, there's no getting around it. This will probably make you laugh. They're funny. We admit it. But they're not a joke, and while they make us laugh at times, being so over the top and insane and absurd, and looking so dorky-cool (the horn section, in their oversized white Magma t-shirts, were definitely "band guys" in high school, if you know what we mean) they are also completely awesome for other reasons, musical reasons, as well. And if you're interested in this dvd we imagine you share that opinion so we won't spend any time here talking about their bombastic brilliance.
Speaking of t-shirts, watching this you'll realize if you haven't already that Magma are probably the most heavily "branded" band ever. The spikey, semi-circular Magma symbol is displayed on everybody here, on shirts, pendants, etc. The band themselves seem to be one of the biggest markets for Magma merch... Which reminds us, by the way, we've got a handful of official Magma logo *mouse pads* for sale, see elsewhere this list!
Tech specs: this dvd is all region, NTSC, 1 hour and 56 minutes long.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
EPOK 2 has arrived!! For all Magma fans, a glorious moment indeed. Actually this moment should have occurred a month or two ago, but unfortunately the label in France accidentally sent us PAL rather than NTSC dvds, and we only just finally got the correct NTSC ones. But no matter, it was worth the wait! This is part two in the planned four-disc live dvd series documenting Christian Vander's current, amazing Magma lineup (plus some special guests from Magma days of yore) in concert doing versions of their '70s classics, for their 35th anniversary in 2005. Not sure why the heck we didn't fly to France for it, but thank god these shows were filmed for dvd -- pro shot and edited, with multiple camera angles, very intimate and exciting. The disc starts with behind-the-scenes footage of the band arriving at the venue and warming up... they joke around as they greet one another backstage but then when it's time to play... damn this gets SERIOUS.
That's right, since the material performed in the Mythes Et Legendes series was organized chronologically, this second dvd features some of their heaviest masterpieces, several utterly crucial Magma compositions from 1973 to 1976, including a 49 minute "Wurdah Itah", a 42 minute "Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh", and a 21 minute "De Futura". That's what we said. WURDAH ITAH. MEKANIK DESTRUKTIW KOMMANDOH. DE FUTURA. Damn.
Not only that, but freakin' bass maestro Jannick Top (like Vander, an old dude now but looking weirdly burly and badass in his black leather vest and shades) joins the band for "M.D.K." and his own "De Futura"! Plus he shows off with a moody, virtuoso bass solo based on a Bach piece. As if he needed to prove anything.
Basically, if you like Magma, you want, no you NEED to watch them do "De Futura" on this thing. They tear it up. Vander's in a frenzy. Top's bass playing is off the hook. The choir does some crazy shit too. Oh yeah, another old friend is on here -- vocalist Klaus Blasquiz. And by the way, unlike Epok 1, there's no horn section.
What else to say? If you're a Magma fan, you'll be happy with this as soon as you hear the music looped on the menu page, we're telling you!
Tech specs: NTSC, all-region, 2 hours and 18 minutes.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Here it is, drooling Magma fans -- the third, penultimate "Epok" in the eternal French "Zeuhl" gods triumphant live four-disc DVD series, Mythes Et Legendes, celebrating 35 years of their utterly unique, heavy prog sounds. Recorded in May of 2005, the nine compositions performed here begin with a full 32 and a half minute rendition of their epic "Kohntarkosz" from 1974, continuing on to include such classics as "Emehnteht-Re", "Hhai", and "Zombies", hitting (at least some of) the highlights of the Magma songbook up to 1977 or thereabouts, drawing from such albums as Kohntarkosz, Hhai/Live and Attahk. If you've got the first two dvds (hard to imagine you'd be getting just this one) then you know that Magma drummer/vocalist/mastermind Christian Vander's current band totally KICKS ASS. Besides Vander himself, the Magma documented here features the vocals/percussion squad of Stella Vander, Antoine Paganotti, Himiko Paganotti and Isabelle Feuillebois, alongside James Mac Gaw on guitar, Emmanuel Borghi on Fender Rhodes, and Philippe Bussonnet on bass. Former keyboardist Bentoit Widemann guests on Fender and Minimoog as well. Brilliant. NTSC, all-region, 115 minutes totale!
(A bonus feature on this disc is the special DRUMS-ONLY viewing angle available for the Attahk track "The Last Seven Minutes". They know their fans!)
1980 collection. Vander: "I composed for the 11th anniversary of Magma the theme 'Retrovision' (or 'Attahk'). It was like a summary of all the tunes played by Magma until then. The result was so powerful, like a punch in the eyes of all that had criticised us, those who said: 'Magma is dead...' (as at each time that we didn't play for 3 months). The theme says 'Magma is said to be dead.. he is not!'. It was a joy and triumph during three days at the Olympia Hall. From these three nights, we have recorded three albums, 'Retrospektiw III' and then 'Retrospektiw II' where you can hear a tune that many had waited for so long: 'Theusz Hamtaahk'. So great!'
Magma fanatics will want this! Five songs originally released only on 7" vinyl (the tracks are taken from three different singles, circa 1971-1974). From the stomp of Jannick Top's "Mekanik Machine" to the weird grooviness of Vander's "Klaus Kombalad", all great stuff.
Praise the gods of Zeuhl. Here's the latest from French spiritual, operatic sci-fi prog jazz masters Magma! Fans over here should be doubly excited, because Magma are soon to embark on their first US tour in ages, including a date here in San Francisco in early April. In all likelihood, they'll be playing some material from this release, and it will fit right in with their classic '70s material. Magma's current lineup - with both young whizzes and old vets - is potent to say the least, we have no doubts that their shows will be amazing.
The symphonic onslaught of Slag Tanz is Magma at their usual over the top selves, a complex and conceptual 8-part piece (about 21 minutes total) full of insistent rhythms, heavy duty basslines, operatic exhortations, darkness and light. It's mostly sung in their made up language of Kobaian, of course, so we have no idea what it's "about" (even though the lyrics are printed in the booklet!) but it's clearly something serious, of course. We'd compare it with the likes of Japan's Ruins and Koenjihyakkei, if the influence wasn't in fact the other way around.
Cool all-black cover, with embossed logo and title. Digipack cd, or 180 gram vinyl with download code.
Send out the Ork alarm! Here's a major event for those initiated into the cult of this French prog colossus, the Wagner-meets-Coltrane-meets-'70s prog rock outfit MAGMA. A rare, brand new release, with the current lineup of the band filling
Perhaps we can give this 2 hour, 43 minute dvd a fuller review sometime, but as they've been blowing out of here fast, here's a brief description as we wanted to list it this time before we run out (again) -- never fear, though, 'cause we will be able to get more in the event they're gone when you ask for yours.
It's our favorite beyond "prog" band Magma, live in concert for their 30th anniversary in Paris, May 13th and 14th 2000. This concert dvd is a total pro job, with great sound and of course out-of-this-world music, as the one and only Christian Vander and his (mostly much younger) current incarnation of Magma play the entire "Theusz Hamtaahk" trilogy: "Theusz Hamtaahk", "Wurdah Itah", and "Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh". Vander is older and grayer and burlier, still totally in command of his drum kit and his band, his majestic and bizarre musical vision undiminished, and in fine voice as well. Dramatically lit and well shot (with multiple cameras), it's the next best thing to actually seeing them live -- and not everyone is that lucky.
The bonus material on this all-region NTSC DVD includes interviews (in French) and additional live footage of a cute little kid playing drums on stage with Vander, who I'd guess is the proud dad. That chapter is called "Fabien, cadet de la Zeuhl".
Features the classic bass-heavy track "De Futura", which is more or less the basis for the Ruins' entire output! Much better sounding than the Tomato-label version some may be familiar with. Says Vander: "In this album we can hear 'De Futura', one of the rare tunes recorded by one of the most creative musician of Magma, Janik Top. Its beauty is icy and internally unbreakable. The tune is accompanied by other themes, some of them being composed by Bernard Paganotti, Janik Top or I; these are less interesting perhaps but in the same vein as 'De Futura'."
We're all music nerds, and most of us love reading about records as much as we like listening to them. Reviews, interviews, articles, even looking at ads to see what new records will be coming out. And we all have our favorite magazines, whether it's the modern new music of the Wire, or metal and all things heavy and extreme covered by Terrorizer, neofree folk and jazz like in Signal To Noise, the random hipster bullshit of Vice, and then there's tons of killer zines, Oaken Throne, Salt, etc... So it's easy to forget about -that- magazine. You know the one. Solid, stalwart, distinctly indie rock, covering all the classics, and new favorites, even a handful of next big things, so simple and sturdy and reliable, it often gets overshadowed by its flashier, hipper counterparts. Kind of like the best friend in teen movies, the one who is always there for the main character, the girl that is all crushed out on the asshole football player, while the best friend, who is of course in love with here, gets forgotten and overlooked and ignored, who is is always there to mend a broken heart, offer up a hug, or some cookies, give up hundreds of reviews of the newest indie rock releases, interview loads of killer bands and... okay we're getting confused here. We're talking about Magnet, a pretty dang cool magazine that does get ignored sometimes because it's not as wild or way out or hip as some other rags, but continues to cover a pretty wide swath of indie rock and cover it well. This month, on the cover, Belle & Sebastian, and inside, articles about and interviews with Eddie Vedder, Scott Walker, TV On The Radio, Sonic Youth, Stephin Merritt, Richard Ashcroft, Mojave 3, Juana Molina, Rainer Maria, Red Krayola, Band Of Horses, World Party, Black Angels, Yo La Tengo, Danielson Famile, Sparta, Walkmen, Elf Power, Built To Spill, Okkervil River as well as a kick as history of Homestead Records. Check it out!
Each cd features 23 songs of Stephin Merritt's wry, romantic, witty, droll, lovelorn tales - when collected together there's all 69 of his love songs. A song for each and every possible matter of the heart. For when your heart is broken, for when your heart is swollen... and when it's not, Stephin will do it for you. He understands. Box set includes all three cds, a slipcase, and a small book...
Each CD features 23 songs of Stephin Merritt's wry, romantic, witty, droll, lovelorn tales -- when collected together there's all 69 of his love songs. A song for each and every possible matter of the heart. For when your heart is broken, for when your heart is swollen... and when it's not, Stephin will do it for you. He understands. This did come as a box set which included all three cds, a slipcase, and a small book... We were shocked to have sold out of it in about three hours! It's being repressed, and in the meantime we are selling the individual discs. Hopefully the label will make copies of the booklet available to those fans who bought the single discs! Merge, are you listening?
Each CD features 23 songs of Stephin Merritt's wry, romantic, witty, droll, lovelorn tales -- when collected together there's all 69 of his love songs. A song for each and every possible matter of the heart. For when your heart is broken, for when your heart is swollen... and when it's not, Stephin will do it for you. He understands. This did come as a box set which included all three cds, a slipcase, and a small book... We were shocked to have sold out of it in about three hours! It's being repressed, and in the meantime we are selling the individual discs. Hopefully the label will make copies of the booklet available to those fans who bought the single discs! Merge, are you listening?
Each CD features 23 songs of Stephin Merritt's wry, romantic, witty, droll, lovelorn tales -- when collected together there's all 69 of his love songs. A song for each and every possible matter of the heart. For when your heart is broken, for when your heart is swollen... and when it's not, Stephin will do it for you. He understands. This did come as a box set which included all three cds, a slipcase, and a small book... We were shocked to have sold out of it in about three hours! It's being repressed, and in the meantime we are selling the individual discs. Hopefully the label will make copies of the booklet available to those fans who bought the single discs! Merge, are you listening?
