MAGIC CARPATHIANS PROJECT, THE & ZYGMUNT STENWAK Water Dreams.0 (Fly Music) cd 17.98

MAGIC CARPET s/t (Magic Carpet) cd 15.98
For the listener who craves the deep, warm, dark green and forest brown, fog-drenched Indian influenced psychedelia that chartered its way out of San Francisco in the late sixties / early seventies, this reissue of the Magic Carpet's debut record will ring a true chord. True, the band hailed from the UKŠ nowhere near the flower children of the Haight, but their brand of "Eastern Psych Folk" is close kin to After Bathing At Baxter's era Jefferson Airplane (a seriously underrated record) and calls to mind the Bay Area folk revival scene going on today. In a time of Devendra Banhart's elfin freakiness, Joanna Newsom's evil-angel resurrections, and the resurgence of interest in Vashti Bunyan, the Magic Carpet's 1972 lost classic could not sound fresher. Alisha Sufit is a resurrecting chanteuse whose dark voice is crystal clear and mesmerizing; Clem Alford's sitar playing is top notch and truly psychedelic. The songs come as old friends (our favorite: "Father Time") and hang in the air as mysteries, leading to the sweet 20+ minute instrumental raga not found on the original release. Top notch rainy day music, and for those so inclined, a perfect bong stuffer for the holidays. (Review courtesy of AQ pal and Birdman label boss David Katznelson.)
MPEG Stream: "Father Time"
MPEG Stream: "Alan's Christmas Card"

MAGIC CITY Behold, the Magic City! (RSI) cd-r 7.98
RSI is another UK label trafficking in difficult and totally original electronic music (like countrymates Fflint Central). It's a shame that they only make cd-rs. I find it hard to believe they wouldn't be able to sell 1000 cds, but it hardly makes a difference, because this stuff is so good.
This is easily the most difficult of the bunch. An honest to goodness noise record. Well, sort of. It begins with chopped up opera singers (not literally), stuttering blue note drum loops and skittering high hats that, by track two, has turned into a noisy sort-of-rhythm, with squealing high end electonic reeds, and skull scraping, ultra distorted bursts of Merzbow-ish NOISE that coalese into some sort of sadistic barely discernable breakbeat! Even the 'quiet' track is built from eye watering sine waves and subsonic, speaker shredding low end. Totally brutal, and totally fucking great.
RealAudio clip: "Birth of Sooh Monster"
RealAudio clip: "I Haou!"

MAGIC LANTERN High Beams (Not Not Fun) lp 17.98
Vast celestial ventures, blinding cosmic rays, rhythmic inductions, psych jams from another planet! Well, not exactly another planet. Sun soaked Long Beach locals, Magic Lantern have generated quite the buzz over the last year or so after a steady output of limited cdr's and tapes.  We managed to catch one of their kraut-bliss live sets over the summer and we were really blown away. High Beams, their first vinyl release, is a finely crafted representation of Magic Lantern's sheer psychedelic power. Heavy blistering riffs swimming in a primordial ooze of spaced out organ, ripping solos, and luring drones. By far the most solid and impressive recording we've heard from these dudes. A fully engaging experience, High Beams maintains a nice balance between more intense, freak out, explosive-type jams and mellow, soft-daze meanderings. Pressed in an edition of 500 by the Not Not Fun family, this album is a must have for fans of anything cosmic! Trust us, you need this!

MAGIC LEAVES Lemon Yellow Days (self-released) cd-r 9.98

MAGIC LEAVES Moody Mountain (self-released) cd-r 9.98
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Magic Leaves has all the elements of things we love to listen to on Sundays. Sunny pop, soft psych-tinged harmonies, and catchy songs that get stuck in our heads for days. Reminiscent of Emitt Rhodes, Paul McCartney and Olivia Tremor Control, Magic Leaves are a more simplified lo-fi heir-apparent to the Beatlesy pop we often go nuts for, but no less charming. A very sweet debut!
MPEG Stream: "Summer Falls"
MPEG Stream: "Lemon Yellow Days"
MPEG Stream: "I Can Fly"

MAGIC MAGICIANS Girls (Suicide Squeeze) cd 10.98
New side project / 'supergroup' from Black Heart Procession and 764 Hero.

MAGIC PACER White Room (WIN) cd 10.98
Bobby from Charles Brown Superstar wields some impressive synthesizers. There's something for everyone here, from Gary Numan-style powercheese to CB Superstar-ish pop to depressed drone.

MAGICAL POWER MAKO Hapmoniym 1972-1975 (MIO Records) 5 cd box set 117.00
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We recognize that probably only people who've been looking for these five cds ever since they were first released in limited and expensive form in Japan almost ten years ago are likely to want to pay nearly $120 for this box set reissue, and they already know they want it and why, so we needn't go too far overboard with our description! But, in case you're curious, here's a little background info on this long-awaited re-release:
In 1993, Japanese label Mom & Dad promised to release fifteen discs chronicling the unreleased studio recordings of Tokyo psych legend Magical Power Mako, but were only able to produce the first five. Israel-based MIO has decided to take on the project and will release three box sets containing five discs each. The material that makes up Hapmoniym 1972-1975 was recorded while Mako was working on his second masterpiece for Polydor, "Super Record". Often compared to krautrock pioneers Faust, this collecton is an incredible assemblage of sound experiments, collage pieces, tape manipulations and astral folk-psychedelia so epic and so out, one might be so bold to state that Hapmoniym as a whole even surpasses the density and innovation of the mighty Faust Tapes. And he was only a wee sixteen years old on the earliest of these recordings! Andee is especially fond of disc two, the part where it sounds like Jimi Hendrix jamming with a meowing cat. Keiji Haino fans take note as he appears on disc one, on possibly his most spaced out psychedelic trip ever. We await the remaining two 5-disc volumes with curiousity and excitement (and, patience). We do, however, have to scold MIO for a slight problem with the packaging: the 5 discs are in slim cd5 cases inside a little red cardboard box, with a booklet as well. It looks handsome, but each disc has its own unnecessary obi that doesn't really fit anywhere in the package once opened, but that of course you can't throw away, either, if you're like us. Oh well. We also could have done with more English language text in the booklet, it's mostly the original Japanese liner notes.
RealAudio clip: "One"

MAGICAL POWER MAKO s/t (Hagakure) cd 33.00
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MAGICAL POWER MAKO Super Record (Hagakure) cd 33.00
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MAGICAL POWER MAKO Super Record (Radioactive) cd 17.98
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MAGICK HEADS Transvection (Dark Beloved Cloud) cd 13.98

MAGIK (MAGICK) MARKERS A Panegyric To The Things I Do Not Understand... (Gulcher) cd 11.98
In the world of Magick Markers this release on the Gulcher label is perhaps most notable for being their first ever professionally manufactured compact disc. Yup, it's a fact! Up until now the band has had their music released on cassette tapes, cd-rs, and oh one vinyl lp on Ecstatic Peace (aka that label run by that fellow Thurston Moore). So, this is certainly a cause celebre for... someone. Musically, this very long-titled album is a disorderly heap of chunks and slabs of noisy guitar shambles that some folks might consider a distant relative of No Wave, but methinks that comparison would imply more compositional structure and form and organization than the Magick Markers have mustered here. File under: electric guitar dysentery. Note: although they've listed a whole slew of song titles ("Jung Knew Enough To Shut Up" is one of them), this is actually two 19+ minute long tracks (i.e, the individual songs aren't indexed).
MPEG Stream: "Excerpt 1"
MPEG Stream: "Excerpt 2"

MAGIK (MAGICK) MARKERS And Baby I'm No King (For Sada Jane) (Textile) cd 16.98
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.
MPEG Stream: "Infinite Regress"
MPEG Stream: "Dance Upon The Steam"

MAGIK (MAGICK) MARKERS Feel The Crayon (Not Not Fun) lp 17.98
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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.

MAGIK (MAGICK) MARKERS I Trust My Guitar, etc. (Ecstatic Peace) lp 16.98
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MAGIK (MAGICK) MARKERS Inverted Belgium (Hospital) lp 16.98
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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.

MAGIK (MAGICK) MARKERS NxCxHxCx Vol. 1 (NCHC` b) lp 14.98
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MAGIK MARKERS Balf Quarry (Drag City) cd 14.98

MAGIK MARKERS Balf Quarry (Drag City) lp 15.98

MAGIK MARKERS Boss (Ecstatic Peace) cd 11.98
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.
MPEG Stream: "Axis Mundi"
MPEG Stream: "Circle"

MAGIK MARKERS Boss lp 17.98

MAGIK MARKERS Here Lies The Last Of The Redstone (Arbitrary Signs) cd-r 11.98
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MAGIK MARKERS Road Pussy (Arbitrary Signs) cd-r 11.98
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MAGIK MARKERS The Voldoror Dance (Latitudes 0:09) (Latitudes / Southern) cd 14.98
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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!
MPEG Stream: "The Scream Of The Horses Glowing White"
MPEG Stream: "Ab'R-AChad-Ab"

MAGIK MARKERS The Volodoror Dance (Latitudes / Southern) lp 15.98
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...
MPEG Stream: "The Scream Of The Horses Glowing White"
MPEG Stream: "Ab'R-AChad-Ab"

MAGIK MARKERS / SIC ALPS split (Yik Yak) 12" 11.98
The first pressing of this disappeared in a heartbeat, this is pressing #2 (supposedly the last!) and is ALREADY SOLD OUT, we have a bunch, but these are likely the last ones we'll see...
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...

MAGISTRAL (STEPHEN O'MALLEY & Z'EV) s/t (Southern Lord) cd 12.98
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. 
MPEG Stream: "6m 59s From Last 42s Left Channel Only - 26 Track Submix"
MPEG Stream: "13m 48s From 34s From 5m - 5m 34s - 20 Track Submix"

MAGISTRATES, THE Mini Sweets (self-released) 4 cd-rs 19.98

MAGMA button 1.00
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Magma fans! We now stock these black and silver half-inch buttons with just the ubiquitious Magma symbol (no words) -- you know, that spiky winged semi-circle. Sport one on your leather jacket lapel.

MAGMA 2: 1001 Degrees Centigrades (Seventh) cd 21.00

MAGMA Attahk (Seventh) cd 21.00
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.

MAGMA Baba Yaga La Sorciere (Seventh) cd 19.98
"Quand Les Enfants Chantent Magma" actually: meaning this is a group of French school-kids singing Magma! Cool.

MAGMA BBC 1974 Londres (Seventh) cd 19.98
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.

MAGMA Concert 1976 - Opera de Reims (Seventh / AKT) 3cd 33.00

MAGMA Concert Bobino 1981 (Seventh / AKT) dvd 27.00
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.

MAGMA Floe Essi / Ektah (Seventh) cdep 11.98
New (well, 1998) two-song single, from the current incarnation of Christian Vander's Magma. But it sounds more 1978 than 1998. Good!

MAGMA Hhai Live (Seventh) 2cd 29.00
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..."

MAGMA Inedits (Seventh) cd 21.00

MAGMA K.A (Seventh) cd 29.00
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!
MPEG Stream: "K.A I"
MPEG Stream: "K.A II"

MAGMA Kobaia (Seventh) 2cd 32.00
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."

MAGMA Kohntarkosz (Seventh) cd 21.00
From 1974. In Vander's words: "It's perhaps the more misunderstood of all the Magma's tunes, and the more complex one. It's based on a very syncopated rhythm where Time seems to be Counter time, and where Counter times emerge from Counter time ... leading to a very original spatial position. It provokes a physical and psychic feeling that is totally new, even by now. Still nowadays, many people ‹ and many musicians ‹ do think that this tune is based only on Counter time, and that's why they can't listen to or play it rightly. The tune is about a story between a Master and a disciple. To be followed..." This album also happens to feature the English guitarist Brian Godding, previously of the psych-prog band Blossom Toes!

MAGMA Les Voix (Seventh) cd 19.98

MAGMA Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh (Seventh) cd 21.00
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'."

MAGMA Mekanik Kommandoh (Seventh / AKT) cd 19.98
1973 alternate version of "Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh".

MAGMA Mouse Pad (Seventh) mouse pad 7.98
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!

MAGMA Mythes Et Legendes Volume I (Seventh / UZMK) dvd 40.00
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.

MAGMA Mythes Et Legendes Volume II (Seventh /) dvd 35.00
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.

MAGMA Mythes Et Legendes Volume III (Seventh / UZMK) dvd 35.00
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!)