THE MAGNIFICENCE of Magma first struck me when I was a tender-eared teenager. Regardless of some of the dubious attitudes / trappings and tales of the cosmos that would make even Carl Sagan blush, the music that Magma made was unstoppable and unique. 'Merci' is the result of two years work, and is in marked contrast to the 'Mekanïk Destruktïw Kommandöh' hurricane blitzkrieg that might have been expected. The invented Kobaïan language is still employed as the verbal means of communication, but the 'black' backdrop and spirit come from the cultures that produced John Coltrane and Otis Redding.
Three
of the six tracks, 'I Must Return', 'Call From The Dark' and 'Do The Music',
are more than just examples of Magma going funky. They encompass pieces from
gospel and soul, the Chic and Philly feel and, even more disorientating, the
post-Scientology ramblings that Stanley Clarke explored with disastrous results.
Diehard Magma fans probably won't like this at all, and I'm not sure what to
make of it either.
'Eliphas Levi' and 'The Night We Died' are fifteen minutes of predominantly
massed chorale that chills and uplifts, drifting in reverential menace. 'Levi'
even reproduces McCoy Tyner's piano solo that was created on Coltrane's seminal
interpretation of 'My Favorite Things', and these pair of songs are the most
singularly satisfying moments on the record.
Visit - Seventh Records