08-07-94 Lons-le-Saunier 09-07-94 Geneva 10-07-94 Nice 11-07-94 Nice 21-07-94 Château-Renault
12-07-94 Nice Jazz Festival
09-07-94 Etang des Aulnes, St Martin de Crau, France 10-07-94 Etang des Aulnes, St Martin de Crau, France 11-07-94 Etang des Aulnes, St Martin de Crau, France 12-07-94 Etang des Aulnes, St Martin de Crau, France 13-07-94 Etang des Aulnes, St Martin de Crau, France
20-09-94 Montparnasse, Paris 21-09-94 Montparnasse. Paris
Beatrice Burlet is one of the artists involved in staging an exhibition of her paintings at FNAC-FORUM at the Forum des Halles in Paris from the 13th to the 18th of June 1994. The exhibition is dedicated to paintings, drawings and sculptures from artists inspired by Christian Vander's music.
'Mekanïk Zeuhl Wortz' (Kiss 39) is a double bootleg CD, with an atrocious painting on the cover!
From a book on the French Cinema, our chief researcher Stephan Watzinger, has noticed that the original 'Tristan et Yseult' movie was 80 minutes long, which would translate to video as 77 minutes duration (Stephan can explain the technical reasons for this). However the video of the film that is in current circulation amongst the network of tape collectors is less than fifty minutes long. Does anyone have a complete copy of this film?
Apart from Klaus Blasquiz, we also spotted René Garber in the audience at the Les Voix de Magma concert in Malakoff. René had his electric sax with him, which led to some speculation that he had been hoping to join in at the end of the gig.
Further to the item on SURYA in OA! #20, there is another CD version of their album (ADDA 184). This version uses the 1987 Cornelia productions digital remix and the sleeve photo from the inner City LP release. I presume therefore that it sounds just like the Arcade release we reviewed, but the presentation is better.
The Italians return with a second helping of their fine progressive music, the VDGG / Crimson sort that I like to call paeleo-progressive so as to distinguish it from the insipid Pendragon / IQ variety. The English lyrics by Silvana Poli are most peculiar indeed, but leaving the libretto to one side, the music is intense. Melancholy themes interspersed with dramatic anguished guitar, backed with heavy seventies Hammond and Farfisa organs. Their new release 'Out of Water' (Musea FGBG 4095.AR) warms up slowly with 'Vipers' and 'The Day We Met' but reaches a zenith with 'The Dark Little Figure' and the instrumental passages of 'The Prodigal Father'. Lovingly recorded at MMS studios in 1993; the next few tracks are strongly reminiscent of the best English prog bands, and with a fine bass guitarist in Marco Gadotti, this should appeal to a large market world-wide. But it's not Zeuhl / Avant-Rock. Then a stunning theme is unveiled in 'The Perception Of The Wind' in which the guitarist, Rene Modena, really excels. Shame about the lyrics, but the album's interesting nonetheless, and a pleasant trip into the past.
METABOLIST's 'Hansten Klork' and other Drömrn Records gems will eventually be re-released on the World Serpent label, but there appears to be a slight delay. In the meantime guitarist / composer Malcolm Lane is still trying to find a recording deal for his work with THE LUMINARIES - a continuation in power trio formation of the Can / Magma influenced Metabolist with phenomenal bass work from Duncan Lane, backed by Alan Clarke on drums. As if that was not enough, Malcolm's latest project for written pieces etc, is called PURE UNVARNISHED - a line-up of up to eight guitarists, two bassists with drums and so on - their next major hurdle is to find suitable venues.
The RUINS drummer, Tatsuya Yoshida is planning to visit France and the UK for concerts this June / July. The concert details were not clear, but he will play drums with Charles Hayward in the UK and with Tenko's group DRAGON BLUE at the Mimi Festival on the 10th of July.
Marquee magazine #054 has an interview with Stella Vander, in which she talks about the possibility of Magma travelling to Japan for some gigs. Christian never liked air travel at all, but he would make an exception in this case!
On the 12th of May 94, The Patrick Gauthier Septet played a concert at the Sunset jazz club, underneath the restaurant in Châtelet, Paris. Julie Vander and Bénédicte Ragu appear to have left the group and were replaced by Himiko Paganotti and Daliah Bellaiche.
More news on Michal Pavlícek, remember I'm trying to find out all you dear readers know about his work, particularly with STROMBOLI. In 1991 he released a solo CD on the Panton label called 'Minotaurus' which features jazz bassist Miroslav Vitous. It's a rather inconsistent suite of dark, electronic / multi-instrumental music written for theatre, but the high points bear a strong kinship to '80s Peter Frohmader.
One of our readers in the West Midlands claims to have a white label test pressing of the Jannick Top 'Live' album that was planned for release by EMI in 1975/76. It supposedly has different versions of pieces from the Vander/Top (i.e. Magma) 'Üdü Wüdü' album. We also heard of someone in Lille in possession of what looks like an official release complete with sleeve, yet I remain extremely suspicious of the actual existence of this record. Our Mole also elaborated on Chris Cutler's story that some of the original 24 track tapes from Magma's 'Mekanïk Destruktïw Kommandöh' recordings at the Manor in April 1973 still exist. You will remember from earlier issues of Ork Alarm! that when Henry Cow came to mix their first album (recorded at the Manor in Oxford just one month after Magma had left) they found part of 'M.D.K.' on the tapes that they had used. We now know that Bill Gilonis of Cold Storage Studios, Camberwell, London kept these masters, and that the entire first side of 'M.D.K.' has survived on 24 track.
SEVENTH Records have now announced that 'Retrospektïw I et II' will be released as a double CD after all, but the release date has been put back yet again until September 1994.... They also envisage that Patrick Gauthier's first solo album 'Bébé Godzilla' will be reissued on CD shortly. Then there are plans for another Christian Vander album, which will be announced the moment they know which one it will be!
In the meantime, Seventh Records have the new Magma double CD (AKT IV). There is also a new colour poster of Magma 'les voix' and the Zeuhl sign brooch is now available in a silver colour.
PRESENT (C.O.D. PERFORMANCE) have had their debut CD released in Belgium by Lowlands. And Roger Trigaux also plans to re-activate PRESENT as a quartet (the duo, plus bass and drums - supplied by Daniel Denis!). Should be pretty exciting.
Audion, the new-music magazine, interviewed Richard Pinhas in April for a forthcoming issue.
Musea Records have announced that they intend to issue a remixed CD of Jean Pascal Boffo's second album 'Carillons' which features a drummer. That would seem to be a good place to start if you have not already discovered the genius of this ex-Troll guitarist, who also happens to be an ardent fan of Magma. Incidentally, Jean Pascal contributed some of the photographs to 'The Tauno Keto Collection' - but we don't know which ones.
While on the subject of photographs, let me make something quite clear: Many of the photographs used in Ork Alarm! have been traded around the global network for many years, and when they eventually reach us there is no record of who the original photographer was. Therefore it is sometimes impossible to credit the photographer, the next fairest solution is to credit the person who donated them to OA! This arrangement explains why 'The Tauno Keto Collection' was credited below the covers of issues #19 and #20. It now transpires that Pierre de Ramefort actually took the photograph on the cover of #20. He informs me it is from an Offering sound-check sometime in 1985.
And finally, here's a little taster for the big interview coming up in our next issue. Before the tapes started rolling, Klaus Blasquiz told me about how kind the people in the UK were to Magma when they toured here in the seventies. One amusing anecdote that he recalled about the Newcastle concert was that during intermission (i.e. Vander's half-hour solo of 'Chorus Zebëhn' and 'Ptah') the theatre management, an elderly couple, came to the dressing room with a tray of fairy cakes and cups of tea. Can you imagine! Janik, Klaus and company sitting down with their little lace doilies, tucking into tea and cakes directly after blasting the Geordies with 'Köhntarkösz', 'Soï-Soï', 'Gamma Anterïa' etc. Then they returned to the stage for the second half including 'Theusz Hamtaahk' and 'Mekanïk Destruktïw Kommandöh'.