Magma
Üdü Ẁüdü

The Magma are an extraordinary band always gathered around a figure with a great personality like the drummer Christian Vander: they practically invented a new musical genre, Zeuhl, using a language coded by Vander himself like Kobaïan, a sort of cosmic "esperanto" to redeem humanity. The sound of Magma has renewed the rock language through a devastating power thanks to the influences of Carl Orff and contemporary music. Ultimately, the philosophical-transcendental epic conceived by Christian Vander is fundamental in the context of French and global music. The French musician is a genius, a precursor of a "new music" "out of time" that may perhaps be seen in future centuries as one of the few possibilities of redemption conceived by man in this dark era.

The Magma are still very active today and have released, in recent years, new masterpieces such as "K.A. (Köhntarkösz Anteria)" (2004), "Ëmëhntëhtt-Ré" (2009), "Félicité Thösz" (2012) and the recent "Slag Tanz" (2015).

"Üdü Wüdü" belongs instead to their second creative phase: it is a work different from the previous records, where the extraordinary bassist Jannick Top can be appreciated, who also carves out great space in terms of composition: the talent of this musician is astonishing, he indeed uses the bass in an innovative and creative way and the sound that comes out is exceptionally distorted and "filtered". In "Üdü Wüdü", space is given to the keyboards, an aspect that gives the French group's "sound" an unprecedented touch.

"Üdü Wüdü" is characterized by very dark atmospheres, especially in the long "suite" that occupies the second side, namely "De Futura" composed by Jannick Top: it is one of the most incredible, evocative, apocalyptic, and creative tracks in all of progressive music and beyond. The first side is instead divided into five tracks where jazz-rock atmospheres are outlined, as in the title track, an intense track characterized by Vander's singing, or in the equally effective "Weidorje" (the only track where Bernard Paganotti is on bass). The dark atmospheres of the keyboards characterize instead "Troller Tanz" and "Zombies", bringing the sound of the group closer to a sort of prog for the impending end of the world. "Soleil D'Ork" is instead still dominated by the distorted bass sound of Jannick Top here in great shape.

"De Futura" is hard to describe: it is one of the most innovative "suites" in all of prog music, the bass "filtered" by a synth of Jannick Top, accompanied by the overwhelming power of Vander's "drumming" takes us through an extra-dimensional and apocalyptic journey through the depths outside of time and space. A track nearly 18 minutes long that stands among the cornerstones of the genre.

"Üdü Wüdü" is a great album and, although not reaching the heights of masterpieces like "Mekanïk Destruktïw Kommandöh" (1973) and "Köhntarkösz" (1974), it stands as a minor classic in the Magma discography.