Magma is a French progressive rock band founded in Paris in 1969 by classically trained drummer Christian Vander, who claimed as his inspiration a "vision of humanity's spiritual and ecological future" that profoundly disturbed him. In the course of their first album, the band tells the story of a group of people fleeing a doomed Earth to settle on the planet Kobaïa. Later, conflict arises when the Kobaïans—descendants of the original colonists—encounter other Earth refugees. The style of progressive rock that Vander developed with Magma is termed Zeuhl, and has been applied to other bands in France operating in the same period, and to some recent Japanese bands.
Kobaïan is a lyrical language created by French drummer and composer Christian Vander for his progressive rock band Magma. It is the language of Kobaïa, a fictional planet invented by Vander and the setting for a musical "space opera" sung in Kobaïan by Magma on fourteen concept albums.
Downwind is the third album by Pierre Moerlen's Gong, although it was the first to be released under that name, the previous two having been released as Gong albums for contractual reasons. It was released in February 1979.
Jannick "Janik" Top is a French bass player and composer, born in Marseille. Top plays the electric bass and the cello.
Zao was a progressive rock/zeuhl band that was founded by two ex-members of Magma: Yochk'o Seffer and François Cahen (piano). They were active from 1971 to 1994 and released six studio albums.
1001° Centigrades, alternative title 2, is the second album by progressive rock band Magma, released on October 5, 1971. Future reissues use both titles.
Live/Hhaï is the first live album and fifth album in total by French progressive rock group Magma. It was recorded in Paris between the 1st and 5 June 1975 at the Taverne de l'Olympia, and was first released in 1975.
Üdü Ẁüdü is the sixth studio album by French progressive rock band Magma, released September 10, 1976.
Inédits is an album by French progressive rock group Magma. It was released in 1977 and features unreleased pieces and music that would eventually be used in the band's 2004 studio album K.A. . The album was first released on Tapioca, then on LTM, and more recently on Seventh. It is noted for its poor sound quality.
Retrospektïẁ is a live album by French progressive rock group Magma. Released in 1981, it documents live recordings from a series of Magma reunion shows in Paris on 9, 10 and 11 June 1980. It was originally released on RCA, and has been re-released on Seventh Records.
Retrospektïẁ is a live album by French progressive rock group Magma. It was released in 1981, following Retrospektïẁ from the same year. It was originally released on RCA, and has since been reissued on Seventh Records.
Mekanïk Kommandöh is an album by French progressive rock group Magma. It was recorded in 1973, but not released until 1989. The album consists of an early rendition of the band's classic record Mëkanïk Dëstruktïẁ Kömmandöh. This alternate take features a rawer, more stripped-down mix that pushes the drums upfront and does not contain the horns and other melodic instruments. It includes a doom-leaden introduction delivered by Christian Vander which was not used in the following version.
BBC Radio 1 Live in Concert is the 1991 album released by Caravan. It was recorded live on 21 March 1975 at the Paris Theatre, London.
Ëmëhntëhtt-Ré is the tenth studio album by the French progressive rock group Magma. It was released October 20, 2009. Parts of it have been played live since 1975 and can be found on various albums as extracts or live versions.
All of Magma's studio albums up to and including 2004's K.A have been officially reissued on CD by Seventh Records. They were released in a 12 disc box set called Studio Zünd: 40 Ans d'Évolution, which as a bonus featured the exclusive double CD Archiw I & II, a compilation of unreleased material, including the 1970 film soundtrack for 24 heures seulement, an alternate version of Mekanïk Destruktïw Kommandöh - originally issued as a bonus on the first CD edition of the MDK album, the band's first demo recordings from 1970, and an alternate take of "Eliphas Levi" from Merci (1984). Albums are not remastered.
Ẁurdah Ïtah is the fourth studio album by French avant-prog and zeuhl band Magma. The album was originally released June 15, 1974 under the name Tristan et Iseult as a Christian Vander solo studio film soundtrack. The soundtrack was for Yvan Lagrange's 1972 avant-garde and incredibly obscure film Tristan et Iseult.
Theusz Hamtaahk is a live album by the French progressive rock band Magma, released in 2001. The album was recorded in 2000 over the course of two days during Magma's 30th anniversary shows at the Trianon theater, Paris, France and released both as a 3 audio CD box with a 16-page color booklet and libretti containing all the lyrics, and as a DVD. It is the first record to contain all three movements of the trilogy Theusz Hamtaahk:
Weidorje was a French zeuhl progressive rock/fusion band, formed in 1976 around former Magma members, bassist Bernard Paganotti and keyboardist Patrick Gauthier. They released one self-titled LP album in 1978 and dis-banded around 1979.
Didier Lockwood was a French jazz violinist. He played in the progressive rock/jazz fusion band Magma in the 1970s and was known for his use of electric amplification and experimentation on different sounds on the electric violin.
Sophia Domancich is a French pianist and jazz composer.
