THE UNNAMABLES

Fresh from their first two albums of "Zeuhl-lite", and prior to the real Zeuhl descent in MDK, Christian Vander & co created The Unnameables, under the band name Univeria Zekt, designed specifically to ease listeners into the style of Magma and create a stepping stone into the rest of their work. In particular, tracks written by Teddy Lasry and Francois Cahen (the first four) are much closer to 'normal' jazz rock, with English titles and lyrics in the form of guests Lucien Zabuski and Lionel Ledizzez.

"You Speak And Speak Colegram" is almost a short but dynamic jam session, before Zabuski's vocals on the second track provides a jazz/funk feel to the track led by the brass instruments. "Clementine" is a very un-Magma track, but a very good one, as Engel's acoustic guitar and Lasry on flute combine for a stripped back and peaceful number. This is punctured immediately by a brass cacophony at the start of "Something's Cast A Spell" as we return to classic Jazz Rock.

The second half, written by Vander, is much closer to the sound heard on Magma's 1001 Centigrades album. The first track is very much a Coltrane-style run through, while the 11 minute track Africa Anteria uses Magma's custom of Vander's drumming being very much at the fore, setting a rollicking tempo for Cahen, Puentes and co to play around. The final minute of the track samples Blasquiz's shrieking Zeuhl vocals alongside military drumming as a taster of things to come with Magma. The final track "Undia" uses the more harmonic Zeuhl vocals that give a celebratory feel to some of their compositions.

Highly recommend this album, particularly the last three tracks, for a 'learner driver' entry into the weird world of Zeuhl.