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Reviews

Magma — Üdü Wüdü
(RCA Victor FPL1-7332, 1976, LP)

by Rob Walker, Published 1995-11-01

Üdü Wüdü Cover art

Here, Christian Vander strives to incorporate the various past styles of Magma into a single composite sound. Thus, one can hear elements of the early spirited jazz-rock mingling with the mechanical drive of the Mekanïk Destruktïw Kommandöh period and the vocal-heavy, complex arrangements of the most recent works. A core group of Vander, Jannik Top, and Klaus Blasquiz is joined by several other musicians on various tracks. The first half of the album contains five short pieces; three composed by Vander and one each from Top and Bernard Paganotti. Overall the music is extremely dark and foreboding, with a heavy bass presence and prominent use of the synthesizer. Paganotti's contribution, "Weidorje," features the insistent, repetitive bass riffing and chant-like melodies that his later group of the same name would come to embody. The second half of the album features Top's 18 minute piece "De Futura," a truly frightening, doomy vision. Two heavy bass themes alternate through several variations, joined by a sinister synthesizer, Vander's furious drumming and Blasquiz's vocals for a frantic accelerando to the diabolic ending.

Filed under: New releases, Issue 8, 1976 releases

Related artist(s): Magma, Jannick Top, Stella Vander, Christian Vander / Offering, Patrick Gauthier, Bernard Paganotti

 

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