BBC 1974 - LONDRES

My hero Klaus Schulze has often spoken of his preference to record music live. The urge to have everything exactly right on the spot, the impossibility to do a second take or to edit anything creates an adrenaline level that can not be reached in the relaxing circumstances of a recording studio. It has to be 'there', right from the first time.

This credo also goes a 100% true for Magma. If you talk about being 'there', Magma live is 'THERE!'. No matter how much I admire their studio albums, live recordings such as this one are even superior. Magma creates music that is as much improvised as it is composed and the energy that flows through this particular live recording is amazing.

One of the great things about this Live London 1974 BBC recording is the unique atmosphere it has. It's slightly more reverbed then Magma's usual sound and it creates an ambience that is even more cosmic then the studio originals. The production quality is superb and the band is firing on all cylinders, which is no surprise looking at the huge creativity that went on in Magma in the 73-74 era. In those two years they wrote: MDK, Köhntarkösz, Wurdah Itah, Theusz Hamtaahk + most of the music that ended up on KA and E-Re. That's about 6 full albums in 2 years. Who takes up this challenge?

The real deal here comes from the fact that half of the album contains material that has never been released on any studio album. Theusz Hamtaahk forms the opening part of the Theusz Hamtaahk trilogy, of which Wurdah Itah and MDK are the remaining acts. There are a couple of other live performances of this work available but this is sure one of the great versions. Also Köhntarkösz is very interesting and only partially resembles the eventual studio album. Actually, only half of it would be used for the Köhntarkösz studio album, the other half would wind up on the 2004 KA.

This album is mandatory for Magma fans, and highly recommended for every other progger. It can be downloaded from Amazon for 2$. What's keeping you? 4.5 stars.