1001° CENTIGRADES [AKA: 2]

1001° Centigrades, also called 2, was released about a year after Magma. By ditching the guitar, Magma continued to refine their sound and move away from traditional rock structures. This album is still not quite 100% zeuhl, but it's getting there. The jazz influences on 1001° Centigrades remain obvious and salient among the rock elements.

This album's story starts with the Kobaïans arriving on Earth to tell their story. The Earthlings are seemingly receptive, but their leaders imprison the Kobaïans and impound their spaceship.The Kobaïans back on Kobaïa give Earth an ultimatum to release the prisoners, or else they will unleash their ultimate weapon and destroy Earth. The Earthlings agree, and the Kobaïans are released, but stories about them continue to circulate on Earth.

1001° Centigrades opens with the side-long epic "Rïah Sahïltaahk". Bouncy piano and warm clarinet push it along, and this opening passage is some of the most accessible music Magma has ever recorded. (Check out this live rendition, where it was reworked to prominently feature guitar. It's vastly different from the studio version, and superior, I would argue.) After this energetic opening, the song enters a slower, more plodding movement, though that soon transitions to something lighter and jazzy. 

The Zappa comparison I made for Magma is every bit as apt here. It's weird, jazz-filled, and technical, though it lacks any of Zappa's guitar theatrics or overt humor.

"Rïah Sahïltaahk" is an impressive composition, but it suffers from some of the structural ills of songs on Magma. At times, it feels disjointed, and for all its strong moments, it lacks cohesion.

Side two features just two long songs. The first is "'Iss' Lanseï Doïa", and it's one of my least-favorite songs in Magma's catalog. The first third is an odd, slinking jazz piece that sounds more like something I would hear from Charles Mingus than Magma. The second third feels more like Magma however, and I like a lot of the warmer moments, though it is admittedly inconsistent. The last third of the piece is a return to the structure of the first third.

The album ends on "Ki Ïahl Ö Lïahk". After opening with a strange, ascending bassline, circling reed passages, and sharp piano, it develops an insistent marching beat. The song's midsection interpolates between straightforward jazz fusion, à la Return to Forever, and Magma's typical strangeness.

Review originally posted here: theeliteextremophile.com/2022/04/18/deep-dive-magma/