1970 1st MAGMA 2xLP Flipped-Out PROG PSYCH ACID FUSION SPACE ROCK Kobaïan Zeuhl

$

78

 Strange otherworldly progressive creation

• LEGENDARY 1970 FIRST PRESS
• 2xLP
• 11 x 14  Striking Art Print INCLUDED !
  
• 2xLP
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• ★★★★★★★★★★
• MAGMA
• ★★★★★★★★★★
• (( 1970 LP #1 ))
• MAGMA

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• FRANCE - Philips - 6395.001/002 
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• Is there life on Kobaïa?
  
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• The saga of some troubled earthlings travel to, and stay on planet Kobaïa is a dramatic and mysterious one.
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• PLEASE NOTE: At NO EXTRA CHARGE (along with this special collectible original 2xLP set) includes an equally special art print ("BUKU") meticulously created by Angel Artist Christina Simonds from Souls Enlightenment (Seloves.com)
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• MAGMA is a progressive group led by drummer/composer/vocalist Christian VANDER that has been active in the 'classic period' and in the 21st century. The music of MAGMA is often categorized as 'Zeuhl' (which means 'celestial' or 'heavenly' in Kobaïan, MAGMA's own language).
•  The band doesn't clearly fit in any other progressive subgenre, although avant-prog would qualify, and it has a significant vein of jazz-rock fusion running through their super-extensive discography. 
• Difficult to find, the very first 1970 MAGMA housed in a strange fold-out elaborate gatefold with unique side-flap extensions = all very thickly laminated... still in original loosely wrapped outer baggie laced still containing the gold 2-"disques" sticker.
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• Magma is fascinating, if long first album is generally not associated with their proper Zeuhl genre (language) they're known for inventing, but it's funny how many descriptors are nonetheless common between the two. Progressive composition is blended with jazz fusion of the weirdest order, in far too sporadic a manner to rightly compare it to the Third Stream composers who tackled similar marriages of style. Christian Vander formed the band to fill the void left by the passing of jazz genius John Coltrane; given the extreme expectations he had placed on himself and his work at such a young age, it is little wonder that Kobaia is so ambitious in its undertaking. That Kobaia often stumbles on its own weight can be excused in hindsight. Magma's reach had not yet matched their aims, but the ground they covered here sounds much fresher today than the output of most of their contemporaries.After King Crimson opened the floodgates and allowed the big bang of progressive rock to explode its pyroclastic flows into the world it was a signal to the Kobaians that the Earth they had fled so long ago was ready to hear the strange music they had evolved on their adopted planet. This MAGMA flow was originally an eponymous release but immediately was tagged with the name of the first track which is indeed a planet out there in a galaxy far, far away. And subsequent releases have carried the title KOBAIA ever since. 
• The year was 1970 and the world was treated a Close Encounter of the Musical Kind as the Kobaians released their strange otherworldly music to an unsuspecting human race. This debut album tells the tale of their decision to leave a world so plagued by hatred and violence and the journey involved in getting to their new chosen planet and the colonizing and evolving in a different direction. The dramatics are in the music for all lyrics are in their own invented Kobaian language.
  
  This double album has the honor of being both accessible and truly bizarre at the same time. Using jazz-fusion as a template, MAGMA, led by the overtly ambitious drummer Christian Vander leaves no jazz and rock stone left un-turned. Whether it is a more traditional fusion typical of the late 60s that introduces the album on the first title track or a slow and pastoral type that is filled with pleasant flute melodies, one thing you can count on is the urge to morph the music into something completely unrelated in nature. For example on the title track we get pleasant jazz-fusion followed by a frenetic winds solo followed by another phrasing of jazz-fusion followed by a very strange guitar solo. The second track "Aina" starts off slow and somber but speeds up to a more brass rock type of sound followed by a flute solo which finally gets accompanied by heavy rockin' guitars. In addition we get countless other things going on like the flute giving way to a military march in "Sohia" to the piano, bass and jazzy drumming with dissonant piano and a capella Kobaian lyrics on "Sckxyss."
  
  Although this first Magma album is considered to be strictly jazz-fusion & rockin in nature, the fact is that the Kobaian creation known as zeuhl actually makes its debut here as well. How very clever of them to ratchet the music up from one track to another showing us how to change familiar 60s style jazz-fusion into their trademark zeuhl laid out on a musical journey. It finds its first Earthly contact on track number six "Aurae" where the familiar by today's standard zeuhl rhythms come bubbling through in the form of the flute and drum interactions. Soon the whole band is playing in the newly born style as well. After the zeuhl rhythms have sunk in they pretty much continue on the second half of the double album finding a more frenetic pacing on "Thaud Zaia" which continues the unexpected time signatures interlaced with pleasant pastoral lulls and interesting musical developments.
  
  As the album reaches its final destinations we are treated to the most terrifying of screams at the beginning of "Stoah" which usher in dissonant guitar chords and a zeuhl piano run. Whether it's the bluesy rock influence in the album's closer "Muh" which also ends with jingling bells and avant-garde Kobaian chanting or the Earthly ethnic influences ranging from African drumming to Gypsy swing, one thing is clear, the Kobaians have what it takes to weave their musical vision into a cohesive whole that flows effortlessly from beginning to end despite the staggering array of influences on board. The most successful of these hurdles comes in the complete fusion of the classical, jazz and rock worlds with smatterings of a gazillion other sounds making their appearances here and there. I can understand why some may regard this double album as one that is too long because there are parts that wander on for times that may be deemed a little too long but on my part I find the first two MAGMA albums to be the most exciting of the lot. All the sounds that came after make their debut here and later albums are basically stripped down approaches of the ambitiousness that is found on the very first album. This is a treasure trove of infinite musical variations all stuffed into their very first release.
• Kobaïa (10:15)
  Aïna (6:15)
  Malaria (4:20)
  Sohïa (7:35)
  Sckxyss (3:47)
  Auraë (10:55)
  La Découverte de Kobaia (39:13)
  Thaud Zaïa (7:00)
  Naü Ektila (12:55)
  Stöah (8:05)
   Mûh (11:13)
  
  Total Time 82:20 
• Line-up / Musicians

  - Christian Vander / drums, vocals
  - Klaus Blasquiz / vocals
  - Claude Engel / guitar, flute, vocals
  - Francis Moze / electric bass, contrabass
  - Teddy Lasry / soprano saxophone, flute, woodwind
  - Richard Raux / alto & tenor saxophones, flute
  - François Cahen / piano
  - Alain Charlery "Paco" / trumpet, percussion

   

1. CONDITION:
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3. The cover: rated: TOP COPY ~ near M-
   thick laminated gatefold with unique side-flaps...still very clean after 54 years... there are no delete marks, no split seams, no bends, and no writing  ...

1. The vinyl: Rated: "Ex" (excellent) to M-  plays very enjoyable without distraction ... all four original Philips labels are clean
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3. the art print in mint !