Nice critical review of MDK found here http://starling.rinet.ru/music/magma.htm


Magma is one weird, weird, weird band. Nowhere near as weird as some would tell you, though. Here are some preliminary facts you need to know: 1) Magma were a French band, one of the very few to achieve fame in a rock background; 2) Magma had different lineups for practically every album, but were always centered around drummer Christian Vander, who had the 'vision' for the band; 3) in their prime, Magma wrote exclusively on their whacked sci-fi themes, namely, their music was centered around the legendary planet Kobaia, settled by people fleeing the Earth's wickedness, and upon further Kobaian relationships with Earth; 4) here's the real kick: the singing for these records is done entirely in 'Kobaian', a crazyass artificial language made up by Vander and Co. and sounding like an irrational hybrid between German, Hungarian and God knows what else (on paper - vocally it's just gibberish); 5) the music itself is vastly pretentious - naturally, as it's supposed to reflect the kind of music that'd be played in a far, far removed future - and significantly varies in style from album to album, though admittedly not within the limits of any given album; 6) you need anything else? Wait until I give these guys a proper page. They deserve it. Oh, wait, the closest analogy to the band I can think of is Gong, of course, another band that was French-based and had an equally demented leader and a strong "self-mythological" background, but Magma definitely beat Gong out in the 'far-out' department. Except that they don't seem to grasp Gong's sense of humour.
Now that's out of the way, let's concentrate on Magma's Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh album, from 1973. (Please excuse me the lack of umlauts - I don't want to f**k up the encoding). First, the background. It is subtitled as 'Third movement of Theusz Hamtaahk' ('Time Of Hatred'); the problem is, chronologically it was the first movement, and as for the other two, one of them only came out as a Christian Vander solo project some years later and the other one, though regularly performed live, was not captured on record until many years later. Not that this kind of development should surprise you if you know anything about Magma. In any case, MDK is, like its predecessors, a concise 'rock opera' of sorts, and here's the plotline retold in brief: a guy called Nebehr Gudahtt, subtitled The Great Prophet, has a vision that the Earth is cursed forever and destined to perish, and the only way for the people to save themselves is to unite themselves and sacrifice their lives on Earth in order to achieve proper enlightenment. The people naturally rebel and march against him (a little inconsistency here - why they didn't just send the Alpha Group to kick his balls is beyond me). As they march, they are, however, one by one seized by doubt, and at last one of the marchers turns around and says that the Angel of Light has smiled upon him and that he understood the guy is not a tyrant, but a sage, and then the people repent and pay homage to the Gudahtt fellow, and they all begin chanting hymns which take them to the state of grace. In the end they all die and achieve salvation, or whatever. The liner notes tell all these things in a far more elaborate fashion, of course, but who cares? Magma's mythology is all a jet of bilgewater anyway.
What is not a jet of bilgewater is the music, which rules immensely. Too good they're all singing in Kobaian, as required, and nobody but the most diehard fans with extra linguistic experience can decode the stuff they're chanting; any direct meaning would only spoil the picture. MDK is often called Magma's musical peak, and it's definitely like no other record ever made... well, it does have some Amon Düül II parallels, though. This is perhaps the most convincing mix of rock and opera I've ever heard. It's pretty useless to dissect the album into individual tracks (I couldn't even be guaranteed to spell their names right, not to mention the umlauts!); they often flow into each other so that you don't notice the transition at all. They're also more or less all produced in the same style.
The basic pattern of the melody is jazzy, although at times I can smell poppy and even Broadway-ish overtones. However, it's not really the instrumental melody that matters the most; none of them are particularly memorable, and there's next to no blistering instrumental passages - not a jaw-dropping guitar or organ solo in sight. It is the vocals/instruments interplay that's the meat of the album. The singing, done mainly by Klaus Blasquiz (male) and Stella Vander (female), is structured in fine Wagnerian tradition, with 'arias' rather than 'songs' offered to your ear, and lengthy, mesmerizing, pompous passages that slowly amount to tremendous, occasionally hysterical choruses. At times, you could say that the music isn't progressing at all, with 'loops' of harmonies hanging out there in the air forever, and yet there is a subtle, subconsciously evident movement, and then hoopla, the 'loop' suddenly explodes in a whole torrent of sound, with keyboards, horns, drums, bass, and miriads of chorale overdubs flowing out in every direction... turned out loud, it's pure, pure magic.
What is perhaps the most wonderful characteristic of the album is how dang accessible it sounds, for my ears, at least. There's next to no dissonance at all, in fact, if you've heard just a wee bit opera, you're in for a fully enjoyable ride. Music that nobody had ever dreamt of composing until then, complex and adventurous as hell, and yet totally understandable. I could care less about the idiotic plotline - all I know is how dang optimistic and uplifting this sounds, just like a nice little six-hour Wagner opera should. The keyboards and brass sound fresh and exciting, the multi-layered harmonies are energetic and (sometimes) hilarious, and unlike, say, Freddie Mercury singing operatic, these guys almost sound adequate (can't believe I'm saying this!). It all comes together in the blistering, triumphal conclusion (singing celestial hymns to Kreuhn Kohrmahn the Supreme Being, no doubt?), which is just the right finale for this kind of thing, but believe me, these sections all qualify. The only serious complaint is that it all sounds the same, but I guess it doesn't sound the same any more than an opera sounds the same; a more serious complaint would state that occasionally, the 'harmony loops' get a bit too long, to the point of becoming annoyingly repetitive, but it's not like any of them go on for ten minutes or anything, and like I said, the 'resolution' of each loop is always brilliant.
So give it a try! A grizzly old snubby reviewer like me, who doesn't really get his mind blown away any more no matter what kind of weird music he might have heard (and is Magma really any more weird than the Residents or Captain Beefheart or Throbbing Gristle?), won't probably appreciate this stuff as much as some of the more innocent Magma fanatics, but I tell you: this is goddamn worthy. Why doesn't this band get any more recognition? Just because any DJ who'd like to play one of their tunes on the radio would twist his tongue trying to pronounce the title? sh*t, did all these DJs sleep through their Kobaian lessons at school?

Proto-Zeuhl

Proto-Zeuhl definition

Zeuhl Bands in existence prior to Magma that influenced the development of Zeuhl. The early 20th Century was a predominately experimental period for music. These bands were moving in a stream that eventually led to Zeuhl. These bands were a mixture of musical genres like Neoclassicism, Romanticism, Modernism, and Fusion. Some of these bands became Zeuhl bands themselves others did not.

Proto-Zeuhl bands/artists list

Coltrane,John
Stravinsky,Igor
Orff,Carl
Stockhausen,Karl-Heinz
Bartok,Bela
Satie,Erik
Zorgones,The

           Would love to hear this in Kobaian. Not sure if this is the 15 minute version but if it is see it on here soon:

Sugar Hill Gang, "Rapper's Delight" (1979)

I said a hip hop the hippie the hippie
 to the hip hip hop, a you dont stop 
the rock it to the bang bang boogie 
say up jumped the boogie 
to the rhythm of the boogie, the beat

Now what you hear is not a test
i'm rappin to the beat
and me, the groove, and my friends 
are gonna try to move your feet
see i am wonder Mike and i like to say hello
to the black, to the white, the red, 
and the brown, the purple and yellow
but first i gotta bang bang the boogie to the boogie
say up jump the boogie to the bang bang boogie
let's rock, you dont stop
rock the riddle that will make your body rock
Well so far youve heard my voice 
but i brought two friends along 
and next on the Mike is my man Hank
come on, Hank, sing that song

  Check it out, i'm the c-a-s-an-the-o-v-a
 and the rest is f-l-y
ya see i go by the code of the doctor of the mix
and these reasons i'll tell ya why
 ya see i'm six foot one and i'm tons of fun
and i dress to a t
 ya see i got more clothes than muhammad ali
 and i dress so viciously
i got bodyguards, i got two big cars
that definitely aint the wack
 i got a lincoln continental and a sunroof cadillac
so after school, i take a dip in the pool 
 which really is on the wall 
 i got a color tv so i can see
    the knicks play basketball
hear me talkin bout checkbooks, credit cards
more money than a sucker could ever spend
 but i wouldnt give a sucker or a bum from the rucker
   not a dime til i made it again
everybody go hotel motel 
whatcha gonna do today (say what) 
ya say im gonna get a fly girl 
gonna get some spankin 
 drive off in a def oj 
everybody go, hotel motel holiday inn
 say if your girl starts actin up, 
then you take her friend
 master gee, am I mellow
 its on you so what you gonna do

 Well it's on n on n on on n on
 the beat dont stop until the break of dawn 
i said m-a-s, t-e-r, a g with a double e
i said i go by the unforgettable name
 of the man they call the master gee
 well, my name is known all over the world
  by all the foxy ladies and the pretty girls
i'm goin down in history
 as the baddest rapper there could ever be
now i'm feelin the highs and ya feelin the lows
 the beat starts gettin into your toes
   ya start poppin ya fingers 
and stompin your feet
  and movin your body 
while youre sittin in your seat
and the damn ya start doin the freak
  i said damn, right outta your seat
  then ya throw your hands high in the air
ya rockin to the rhythm, shake your derriere
 ya rockin to the beat without a care
with the sureshot m.c.s for the affair
 now, im not as tall as the rest of the gang
 but i rap to the beat just the same
 i dot a little face and a pair of brown eyes
 all i'm here to do ladies is hypnotize
    singin on n n on n on n on
 the beat dont stop until the break of dawn
   singin on n n on n on on n on
like a hot buttered a pop 
da pop da pop dibbie dibbie
 pop da pop pop ya dont dare stop
 come alive yall gimme what ya got
i guess by now you can take a hunch
  and find that i am the baby of the bunch
 'but that's okay i still keep in stride
cause all i'm here to do is just wiggle your behind
singin on n n on n on n on
 the beat dont stop until the break of dawn
   singin on n n on n on on n on
 rock rock yall throw it on the floor
im gonna freak ya here im gonna feak ya there
 im gonna move you outta this atmosphere
cause im one of a kind and ill shock your mind
  ill put t-t-tickets in your behind
i said 1-2-3-4, come on girls get on the floor
 a-come alive, yall a-gimme what ya got
cause im guaranteed to make you rock
  i said 1-2-3-4 
tell me wonder mike what are you waitin for?

i said a hip hop the hippie to the hippie
  the hip hip hop, a you dont stop 
 the rock it to the bang bang boogie 
say up jumped the boogie 
to the rhythm of the boogie, the beat
  skiddlee beebop a we rock a scoobie doo
and guess what america we love you 
cause ya rock and ya roll with so much soul
 you could rock till you're a hundred and one years old 
  i dont mean to brag i dont mean to boast
 but we like hot butter on our breakfast toast
rock it up baby bubbah
  baby bubbah to the boogie da bang bang da boogie
   to the beat beat, its so unique
 come on everybody and dance to the beat

I said a hip hop the hippie the hippie
 to the hip hip hop, a you dont stop 
  rock it out baby bubbah to the boogie da bang bang
  the boogie to the boogie da beat
  I said i cant wait til the end of the week
   when i'm rappin to the rhythm of a groovy beat 
 and attempt to raise your body heat
 just blow your mind so that you cant speak
and do a thing but a rock and shuffle your feet
and let it change up to a dance called the freak
 and when ya finally do come in to your rhythmic beat
rest a little while so ya dont get weak
   i know a man named Hank 
  he has more rhymes than a serious bank
  so come on Hank sing that song
  to the rhythm of the boogie da bang bang da bong

Well, im imp the dimp the ladies pimp
  the women fight for my delight
 but im the grandmaster with the three mcs
  that shock the house for the young ladies
  and when you come inside, into the front
 you do the freak, spank, and do the bump
and when the sucker mcs try to prove a point 
we're treacherous trio, we're the serious joint
  a from sun to sun and from day to day
  i sit down and write a brand new rhyme
 because they say that miracles never cease
i've created a devastating masterpiece
 i'm gonna rock the Mike til you cant resist
  everybody, i say it goes like this
well i was comin home late one dark afternoon
a reporter stopped me for a interview
   she said she's heard stories and she's heard fables
that i'm vicious on the Mike and the turntables
  this young reporter i did adore
  so i rocked a vicious rhyme like i never did before
 she said damn fly guy im in love with you
  the casanova legend must have been true
  i said by the way baby what's your name
 said i go by the name of Lois Lane
and you could be my boyfriend you surely can
just let me quit my boyfriend called superman
i said he's a fairy i do suppose
flyin through the air in pantyhose
 he may be very sexy or even cute
but he looks like a sucker in a blue and red suit
i said you need a man who's got finesse
and his whole name across his chest
 he may be able to fly all through the night
but can he rock a party til the early light?
he cant satisfy you with his little worm
 but i can bust you out with my super sperm
i go do it, i go do it, i go do it, do it , do it
an i'm here an i'm there 
i'm big bang Hank, i'm everywhere
 just thro/w your hands up in the air
and party hardy like you just dont care
 let's do it dont stop yall a tick a tock yall you dont stop
  go hotel motel what you gonna do today(say what)
  im gonna get a fly girl gonna get some spank drive off in a def oj
everybody go hotel motel holiday inn
    you say if your girl starts actin up then you take her friend
  i say skip, dive, what can i say
   i cant fit em all inside my oj
 so i just take half and bust them out
i give the rest to master gee so he could shock the house

It was twelve o'clock one friday night
 i was rockin to the beat and feelin all right 
 everybody was dancin on the floor
  doin all the things they never did before
  and then this fly fly girl with a sexy lean
she came into the bar, she came into the scene
as she traveled deeper inside the room
 all the fellas checked out her white sasoons
she came up to the table, looked into my eyes
then she turned around and shook her behind
so i said to myself, its time for me to release
  my vicious rhyme i call my masterpiece 
   and now people in the house this is just for you
  a little rap to make you boogaloo
 now the group ya hear is called phase two
   and let me tell ya somethin we're a helluva crew
  once a week we're on the street
  just a-cuttin' the jams and making it free
 for you to party ya got to have the movies
   so we'll get right down and give you the groove
for you to dance you gotta get hype
  so we'll get right down for you tonight
 now the system's on and the girls are there
  ya definitely have a rockin affair
but let me tell ya somethin there's still one fact
  that to have a party ya got to have a rap
so when the party's over you're makin it home
 and tryin to sleep before the break of dawn
and while ya sleepin ya start to dream
and thinkin how ya danced on the disco scene
  my name appears in your mind
yeah, a name you know that was right on time
  it was phase two just a doin a do
  rockin ya down cause ya know we could
to the rhythm of the beat that makes ya freak
  come alive girls get on your feet
to the rhythm of the beat to the beat the beat
to the double beat beat that it makes ya freak
 to the rhythm of the beat that says ya go on
  on n on into the break of dawn
now i got a man comin on right now
  he's guaranteed to throw down
he goes by the name of wonder Mike
come on wonder Mike do what ya like

 like a can of beer that's sweeter than honey
 like a millionaire that has no money
   like a rainy day that is not wet
like a gamblin fiend that does not bet
   like dracula with out his fangs
  like the boogie to the boogie without the boogie bang
like collard greens that dont taste good
like a tree that's not made out of wood
  like goin up and not comin down
is just like the beat without the sound no sound
  to the beat beat, ya do the freak
 everybody just rock and dance to the beat
have you ever went over a friends house to eat
   and the food just aint no good
   i mean the macaroni's soggy the peas are mushed
  and the chicken tastes like wood
so you try to play it off like you think you can
by sayin that youre full
 and then your friend says momma he's just being polite
  he aint finished uh uh that's bull
   so your heart starts pumpin and you think of a lie
  and you say that you already ate
   and your friend says man there's plenty of food
so you pile some more on your plate
    while the stinky foods steamin your mind starts to dreamin
of the moment that it's time to leave
 and then you look at your plate 
and your chickens slowly rottin
into something that looks like cheese
oh so you say that's it i got to leave this place
 i dont care what these people think
 im just sittin here makin myself nauseous
 with this ugly food that stinks
so you bust out the door while its still closed
  still sick from the food you ate
and then you run to the store for quick relief
 from a bottle of kaopectate
and then you call your friend two weeks later
to see how he has been
and he says i understand about the food
 baby bubbah but we're still friends
with a hip hop the hippie to the hippie
 the hip hip a hop a you dont stop the rockin
to the bang bang boogie
say up jump the boogie 
to the rhythm of the boogie the beat
i say hank can ya rock 
can ya rock to the rhythm that just dont stop
 can ya hip me to the shoobie doo
   i said come on make the make the people move

I go to the halls and then ring the bell
  because i am the man with the clientele
and if ya ask me why i rock so well
    a big bang, i got clientele
 and from the time i was only six years old
   i never forgot what i was told
it was the best advice that i ever had
 it came from my wise dear old dad
 he said sit down punk i wanna talk to you
and dont say a word until i'm through
  now there's a time to laugh a time to cry
   a time to live and a time to die
 a time to break and a time to chill
   to act civilized or act real ill
 but whatever ya do in your lifetime
 ya never let a mc steal your rhyme
 so from sixty six til this very day
  ill always remember what he had to say
   so when the sucker mcs try to chump my style
  i let them know that i'm versatile
  i got style finesse and a little black book
  that's filled with rhymes and i know you wanna look
but there's a thing that separates you from me
    and that's called originality
   because my rhymes are on from what you heard
 i didnt even bite and not a god d--m word
and i say a little more later on tonight
so the sucker mc's can bite all night
  a tick a tock yall a beat beat yall
   a lets rock yall ya dont stop
 ya go hotel motel whatcha gonna do today (say what)
 ya say im gonna get a fly girl gonna get some spankin
 drive off in a def oj
everybody go hotel motel holiday inn
ya say if your girl starts actin up 
then you take her friends
 a like that yall to the beat yall
 beat beat yall ya dont stop
 a master gee am I mellow?
its on you so whatcha gonna do

Well like johnny carson on the late show
a like frankie croker in stereo
well like the barkay's singin holy ghost
the sounds to throw down they're played the most 
its like my man captain sky
whose name he earned with his super sperm
 we rock and we dont stop
 get off yall im here to give you whatcha got
 to the beat that it makes you freak
 and come alive girl get on your feet
 a like a perry mason without a case
like farrah fawcett without her face 
   like the barkays on the mike
like gettin right down for you tonight
 like movin your body so ya dont know how
right to the rhythm and throw down 
 like comin alive to the master gee
 the brother who rocks so viciously
 i said the age of one my life begun
 at the age of two i was doin the do
at the age of three it was you and me
rockin to the sounds of the master gee
 at the age of four i was on the floor
 givin all the freaks what they bargained for
 at the age of five i didnt take no jive
with the master gee its all the way live
  at the age of six i was a pickin up sticks
rappin to the beat my stick was fixed
at the age of seven i was rockin in heaven 
dontcha know i went off
 i got right on down to the beat you see
gettin right on down makin all the girls
 just take of their clothes to the beat the beat
 to the double beat beat that makes you freak
 at the age of eight i was really great
cause every night you see i had a date
at the age of nine i was right on time
cause every night i had a party rhyme
goin on n n on n on on n on
the beat dont stop until the break of dawn
a sayin on n n on n on on n on...
like a hot buttered de pop de pop de pop
a saying on n n on n on on n on
cause i'm a helluva man when i'm on the mike
i am the definate feast delight
cause i'm a helluva man when i'm on the mike
i am the definate feast delight
come to the master gee you see
the brother who rocks so viciously

           what the fark ! ? !



http://jesuisgothique.free.fr/musique/mp3/archives-03-aout.htm

                ...from another great French Magma site

         Bay City Magma ?









                        It's a teenage dream, to be seventeen
                        And to find you're all wrapped up in love
                        And I've found that you, made a dream come true
                        Now I do believe in what they say

                        You've got to
                        Ioss mitlait da felt dos funker uts stik reis stits klowits
                        Owile wisoi, owile wisoi
                        Take a little love
                        Be prepared to forsake a little
                        Do werï wisehndo worai
                        Do werï wisehndo worai
                        Eleweso, eleweso, eleweso, elowi sund
                        And when the sun comes shining through
                        We'll know what to do

       some great memories here:

http://ilx.wh3rd.net/thread.php?msgid=3506867



                    an' Magma get a mention too !


(spose there's no way we can get Tubeway Army added heh) ?

Syzygy wrote: ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^   Interesting - I hadn't read that one before. Thanks!

           You're welcome !

                           Magma nori !