12-03-94 Théátre 71, 3 Place du 11 Novembre, 92240 Malakoff
28-04-94 to 30-04-94 Le Sunset, Paris
The release of 'Retrospektïw II' on CD is planned for April 94, this is the album with the first movement of 'Theusz Hamtaahk' (the time of hatred). But Georges Besnier said that the long awaited 'Retrospektïw I' reissue will follow later, he could not be more specific, as nobody seems to know for sure.
The next Magma album will be called 'Magma Aeterna'. I have no idea when it will get released. Still no news on the next album on the AKT label, I suppose it will either be from Toulouse 1976 or partly from studio rehearsals (the September 1969 session with Zabu I presume).
The Magma concert in Reims (Stella says it is planned for September 94) will include a symphony orchestra. The concert by Les Voix in Malakoff also features a sixty-piece choir (members of the Choeur Edgar Varese).
ESKATON will have their first album '4 Visions' released, with bonus material, on CD by the Swedish Ad Perpetuam Memoriam label before the summer of 1994. Then, APM will release the second album 'Ardeurs', again with bonus tracks (hopefully before the end of the year). If sales of these two great Zeuhl music albums go well, Michael Thorne (APM supremo) says that they may release 'Fiction' with the fourth Eskaton album on one CD. The fourth album is the 86/87 recording that was never released on vinyl, so if you like Eskaton (check out their track on the 'Enneade' album if you are not familiar with their work), then you must get these first two discs, otherwise the fourth album may remain lost.
I recently discovered another sampler album, which features Magma that I missed
when the discography was first printed in Ork Alarm! Issue #11. This obviously
little known album (since no one wrote to correct me) is 'The Tomato Sampler'
(Tomato 2696162), a 1989 Dutch release, but presumably available in America
too. This double CD contains Magma's 'Soleil D'Ork (Ork's Sun)' as stated on
the outer case, whereas on the actual disc it claims to be 'Tröller Tanz (Ghost
Dance)' (3:50). Careful comparison of the fade out of this track reveals even
more clicks than are present on the Tomato CD version of 'Üdü Wüdü' and they
are even more pronounced than those on the Charly (Decal) version. I think that
this sampler edition runs a fraction longer than the other CD versions, and
noticed that even the Seventh reissue (actually the shortest version available)
has one click before that is faded out, so some of them could be on the master
tapes. For those pedants who are about to write in and tell me that the original
title was 'Soleil d'Ork (Ork' Sun)', I am quite aware of the misspelling above,
but obviously Kevin Eggars record company chose to change it at some point.
On the subject of spelling, you might be interested to know that the first issue
of 'Üdü Wüdü', on the Utopia label, credited the drummer as one Christian Wander
and had a vocalist by the name of Klas Blasquiz.
Another cassette was also not listed in the original issues of the OA! discography:
TITLE: LIVE (HHAÏ / LIVE) 6/75 75 K7 NL TOMATO 2696 084 UNUSUAL INSERT 89
Obviously a full international discography is not easy to compile, so please could every single reader of Ork Alarm! spare ten minutes to compare their record collections with the discography in issue #11 and let me know if there is anything missing. I am sure there are more cassette details to be added, so please check any cassette releases you have too.
Before Christian Vander formed Magma, one of his groups was called LES WURDALAKS, for whom Christian composed two pieces, entitled 'Nogma' and 'Atumba' (which later became 'Mekanïk Destruktïw Kommandöh'). I wonder whether Christian still has tapes of these that could be included in the AKT series?
The Czech group STROMBOLI that I mentioned in the last issue, turned commercial after recording their first double album in 1986. So the second album ' Shutdown', released on the Panton label in 1989, is a big disappointment. However the eponymous double album (Panton 81 0698) offers very good hard progressive symphonic rock with great guitars and superb female vocals.
Jannick Top, as you have read earlier in this issue, planned to release an album in 1976. His single commonly known as 'Utopia Viva' (actually containing some wonderful tracks called 'Utopia' and 'Epithecanthropos Erectus II') was released in 1975 (Utopia Records 42519) and was (allegedly) distributed worldwide by RCA. A well known history of French rock music claims that he released a solo album called 'Live' on the EMI label in 1975. I don't know anyone who has seen this mythical album; so if you can prove it exists on vinyl, please let me know. I suspect there are official concert tapes of Jannick's cello ensemble UTOPIC SPORADIC ORCHESTRA in existence and possibly the 17-10-75 Nancy Jazz Festival gig was intended for release. That gig featured 'De Futura (Hiroshima)' and Monsieur Vander on drums and would also be a worthwhile item for consideration by AKT Records....
ENSEMBLE NIMBUS are a new Swedish 'RIO (Rock in Opposition) style' group with a CD due for release very shortly, probably just known as 'Ensemble Nimbus' (APM 9403 AT). The group are a chamber-rock quintet featuring Hans Bruniusson on drums and percussion, with keyboards, clarinet / bass clarinet, violin, electric bass and... mellotron. The Ensemble Nimbus sound is an amalgam of Samla Mammas Manna and Univers Zero. Bruniusson's input obviously biases their style more towards Samla / Von Zamla, but fans of either approach will find something in this new work.
JEAN-MICHEL KAJDAN, the guitarist who played with Christian Vander in the Alien Quintet in 1979, has a new CD on the Bleu Citron label entitled 'Blue Noise' (BLC D013). The 1993 sequel to his 'Blue Scales' album (a jazz-rock-blues jaunt which was released in 1990) also features Benoît Widemann on Mini-moog and saxophonist extraordinaire, Eric Séva. This instrumental album has a predominantly blues-swing ambiance with a superb line-up of musicians, most of whom take a solo at some point. Kajdan himself has a crystal guitar tone, well suited to this relaxing if unchallenging style. Fine musicianship, yet 'Blue Noises' is unlikely to appeal to most OA! readers.
HAMTAÏ - the young group based in Epinay-sur-Seine who interpret the music of Magma - are as follows: Marc Delouya (drums; worked alongside Christian Vander in the Offering formation for eight years), Philippe Bussonnet (electric bass; played with Magma in Epinay and Reims in March 1991), Vincent Dupuy (keyboards), James McGaw (electric guitar and keyboards), Julie Vander (lead vocals and percussion; Christian's daughter, also known as Aïna Kobaïa, first appeared with Magma in 1981 when she was ten years old, still sings with Offering, the Patrick Gauthier Group and Les Voix de Magma), Isabelle Dujon (vocals and percussion) and Luc Vejux (lead vocals and percussion). The band was formerly known as Zukunft, which was formed in 1990, their average age is 25.
LYDIA DOMANCICH's 'Chambre 13' (Gimini 1007) sure is a weird album to appraise. It begins with Stella Vander singing Pip Pyle's title song in English, then a jazz piece with Italian lyrics by Leonardo da Vinci... The mood alternates between afro-jazz and smoky nightclub ballads. The woodwind and synth instrumentals are a quirky avant-jazz-rock with the omnipresent African influence from Pierre Marcault's special percussion set-up. The vocals are so pure that they haunt you for hours after listening to this CD, which requires repeated playing to reveal its mysteries. Another song, again in Italian, uses a text by Michelangelo. The recording quality is superb; several cuts being performed live without overdubs. The compositions are enchanting. An essential purchase for fans of Stella Vander's solo album, or Pierre Marcault's solos with Offering.