Magma - Concert 1971, Bruxelles - Théâtre 140

This archival Magma double disc album represents a concert recorded on 12th of November, 1971 in Brussels, Belgium at Theatre 140. The septet known from 1001 Centigrades (that is, with the three man horn section and minus the guitarist Claude Engel from the first album) performs a set culling material from the first two albums, plus two later Magma standards that were new at the time. Sound quality is clearly bootleg quality, as the balance between instruments isn’t the best. Worse still, the saxophone sound is occasionally particularly shrill and grating.

CD1 sounds especially noisy, offering interesting, if loose variations on the material off the debut album, which clearly sounds different without Engel’s guitar parts. For example, „Stoah“ cuts off before the flute driven sections and segues straight into „Kobaia“ that has a different bassline for most of the time than the studio version. This track is particularly worthwhile for an intense blow-out courtesy of tenor saxophonist Jeff (Yochk'o) Seffer. Lack of guitar means that the song is only seven minutes long, contrasting the usual 10 minute duration whenever guitar as a soloing instrument was present. On „Aina“, vocalist Klaus Blasquiz is heard singing some of the guitar notes. „Riah Sahiltaahk“ is a rare performance of that sidelong epic penned by drummer Christian Vander. It clearly lacks the sophistication of the studio version, as the instrumentation is simplified (no clarinets, but saxes) and it again sounds a bit loose. Also, they skip one of the early sections on some reasons. Still, Blasquiz does a fine job vocally.

CD2 has a slightly better sound, as the saxophone sound isn't as grating as on the first disc. As the entire Centigrades album is being performed, CD2 starts off with "Iss Lansei Doia" that has a long drawn out weird intro with shrieking noises. Compared to the studio version, Francois "Faton" Cahen plays acoustic piano for the main riff. Middle section lacks harmony vocals, but Blasquiz still provides the low guttural grunts as on the studio counterpart. Trumpeter Louis Toesca takes a short but sweet solo during the binary 5/4 beat (as opposed to the triplet 5/4 groove on the studio version) before the closing part. "Ki Iahk O Liahk" is again performed with saxes instead of clarinets on the first half, the smooth jazzy later part is mercifully short and it segues into an interesting bebop el-piano solo courtesy of Cahen before Vander concludes the piece with a short drum solo.

Last two numbers are earliest performances of two Magma classic era mainstays: "Sowiloi" is without the drawn out spacey intro, starting out straight with the main riff and melody, it also has a nice flute solo at the end by Teddy Lasry. While "Mekanik Kommandoh" is an embryonic, skeletal (but with an intriguing bossanova intro later dropped) take of what would later blossom into "Mekanik Destrüktiw Kommandoh". Interesting 16 minute version, the horn section does a fine job, although bassist Francis Moze (otherwise an underrated Magma bass player) here is clearly just malleable compared to the manic power of Jannick Top.

Not a great release, as it has a bootleg-ish sound quality but an interesting early document worth checking for hardcore fans and those who want more of the horn-driven early jazz-rock Magma.

Dungen - 4

Dungen from Sweden used to be pretty much a one man band by Gustav Ejstes. On the current album, which is actually the fifth, despite being titled 4, Dungen pretty much functions as a full band. Ejstes mainly sticks to the piano and vocals, adding occasional flute and violin overdubs here and there. Even though we still get heavy psychedelic guitar sound in spades (especially on "Samtidigt 1"), the current emphasis is in general softer. Dungen's psychedelic rock sound is now mellower and suggests lounge-infused jazz-rock, occasionally referring to the Soft Machine's Volume Two. It's almost as if Dungen took the softer and more orchestrated pieces like "Familj" from the last album and developed that style further. Even though none of the songs really capture the highs of that composition, this album nonetheless is a fine work as a whole, that can, with its charming sonic language, grow on the listener.

Fujiya & Miyagi - Lightbulbs

Krautrock revivalism has not been particularly novel in terms of indie rock context for already a couple of decades. A lot of bands who sound as if they were innovative, have proven that a lot of new is simply old, rediscovered. Therefore, what's left is the possibility of doing the new school kraut-rock as fine and well as possible. After all, within the passionless and insistent motorik groove lies an ideal kind of state. The album closer (clearly a highlight) of the new Fujiya & Miyagi album Lightbulbs called «Hundreds And Thousands» is pure neo-kraut at its best. The result is so impeccable that it makes the rest of the album sound decadent. Even though the krautrock influences are still perceived in spades elsewhere, this line has receded compared to the previous album Transparent Things. It sounds as if Fujiya & Miyagi has played it safe now and produced a fairly typical LCD Soundsystem styled post-post-punk-dance rock record. But it is this idiom that other bands have done better and more interesting. F&M clearly shines more as an honest neo-krautrock group.

Mercury Rev - Snowflake Midnight

Even though the seventh studio album by Mercury Rev called Snowflake Midnight does not shine as much as the first four albums, it is nonetheless a significant improvement over dull and toothless Secret Migration (2005). I was afraid of hearing signs of serious stagnation, but the new album sounds surprisingly well. It's been quite a while since Rev last retooled their sound. Here Rev relies on electronics. While such move of combining electronica with rock is not really innovative and some of the synth sounds border slightly on new-age, the result is still quite potent. Rev hasn't sounded this vital or bold for ages. There is less orchestral instrumentation on this album and Jonathan Donahue's voice sounds more natural, relying less on cloying falsetto and occasionally even going lower in terms of notes. Occasionally the psychedelic wall of sound rears its head, hinting a bit at the early Rev, but it's more polished and more reminiscent of the sonic language as heard on Blonde Redhead's 23. Standout track "Senses on Fire" is a good example of a polished noise pop driven by motorik krautrock pulse. Not a classic album, but nonetheless the boldest and most exploratory since the underrated See You On the Other Side.

Mercury Rev - See You On the Other Side

After the eccentric and volatile frontman David Baker left in 1994, Mercury Rev went on with guitarist Jonathan Donahue taking over the lead vocals. Musically, a lot of the rough extreme experimentation was subdued in favor of lusher gentler arrangements that pretty much foresaw the direction Mercury Rev would take subsequently. At the same time, Rev retains the rock intensity and psychedelic wall of sound that characterized the Baker era band. Thus, See You On the Other Side is a transitional album and it's also the band's most underrated record. It didn't do well commercially and it is often overlooked in favor of both the first two albums and then the next one after that.

The album nonetheless is a very consistent, but an eclectic affair, combining spacy experimentation, rockouts, jazz touches and pocket symphony arrangement into a coherent forty minute whole. This is the brightest and happiest Rev album to date, as most of the tunes are in major key and feature many blissful melodies and friendly textures. There is one heavy punk-ish song called "Young Man's Stride", but mostly this is kindler, gentler Mercury Rev. "Everlasting Arm" and "Peaceful Night" refer to the retro sensibilities that Rev would subsequently explore, but there's also a fair bit of territory never covered before or since. "Sudden Ray of Hope" is a blissful tune with its sunshine harmonies and easy going feel matched with heavy rush of guitars a la Boces, but without the lunacy of that album. On this track, and in fact, most of the album, is where Suzanne Thorpe's flute contributions are really noticeable. A talented player, who shies away from show-off to contribute memorable and sweet countermelodies instead which serve to add another important layer in the mix. Two lengthy workouts, "Empire State" and "Racing The Tide", are psychedelic space-rock numbers tied to Boces in terms of intensity, but more melodic and multi-layered in approach. Overall not merely a transitional album, but a unique work that Rev never duplicated later, on its own right.