[photo by Georges Besnier]
MAGMA, one of the most influential of all French bands, will release the RetrospektïẠ3xLP collection, including RetrospektïẠVolume I & II and RetrospektïẠVolume III via Southern Lord on November 24th. The collection will be made available as a limited pressing of 1500 hand-numbered copies, remastered by Brad Boatright, including original artwork by Eva Nahon, also including the classic comic strip by Solé, Dister, and Gotlib depicting MAGMA‘s trials and tribulations.
Southern Lord and MAGMA‘s collaboration doesn’t end there, as the label has invited the group to perform at their label showcase on October 29th at the Melkweg in Amsterdam, alongside Sunn O))), Unsane, Circle, Okkultokrati, Wolfbrigade, Big|Brave, and Vitamin X. The official show poster artwork was created by Savage Pencil and Eva Nahon.
Southern Lord Europe Presents:
10/29/2017 Melkweg – Amsterdam, NL w/ Magma, Sunn O))), Unsane, more [info]
The first ten years of MAGMA were celebrated on three memorable evenings in June 1980 at the Olympia theatre in Paris. This retrospective, reuniting most of the musicians who had performed in the group, was issued as two albums; the RetrospektïẠI & II double-LP and RetrospektïẠIII LP. Issued first, RetrospektïẠIII comprises three titles. “Retrovision” is a long piece in the style of the album Attahk, in which the vocalists Stella Vander, Guy Khalifa, and Maria Popkiewicz turn in a blazing performance over a driving rhythm section. There is a supercharged version of “Hhai,” in which the trio of Lockwood, Paganotti, and Widemann works miracles. And finally, “La Dawotsin,” where, in a more muted register, the voice of Christian Vander triumphs through its mastery and profound sensibility.
Recorded, like RetrospektïẠIII, during the soirees at Olympia in June 1980, RetrospektïẠI & II is an absolutely fundamental album in which “Theusz Hamtaahk” — the first movement of the trilogy of the same name — is presented for the first time. The second and third movements, “Wurdah Itah” and “Mekanik Destruktiw Komandoh,” were of course already well known. Although played in concert since 1974, Christian Vander had waited for years before recording it for posterity as he wanted every note to be as beautiful, magical, essential and definitive as possible. It is with the same respect for his music that he releases here the most successful version of “Mekanik Destruktiw Komandoh,” considered outstanding on account of two incredible improvisation from Bernard Paganotti and Didier Lockwood. Klaus Blasquiz, who did not perform on RetrospektïẠIII, is the lead vocalist on this version – and justifiably so, since he was indeed the MAGMA singer who first sang these two masterworks.
There’s no doubt about it, MAGMA has left a legacy of music that defies any of the standard and convenient classifications of rock, operating instead in a realm of their own creation. Southern Lord looks forward to being part of their ever-evolving story…
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