Customer Reviews

Udu Wudu

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I LOVE this disk. Someone gave me a tape of it around 1978 when I was 16. Ever since I've looked all over for their stuff with no success. Thanks to the internet I've found a bunch and even gotten to see them live twice. I can now die happy. This really is one of my fav's.

Really great drumming in an urgent and articulate style. An unbelievable fretless player. Mock Operatic singing in a made up language from another planet. Elements of Coltrane. Elements of the headrush of a spike hitting your vein...

The first track is a fast male/female call-and-response mambo, sung in an alien language. The signature sound of the album, a heavy fuzzy bass (mostly played by Jannik Top, the most metallic bassist since John Wetton), doesn't kick in until the second track. Then you get stuff that sounds like science fiction fusion and Middle Eastern funk, with eerie keyboard interjections. Which is just prologue for the amazing tour-de-force finale, which sounds like a cross between 'Red' era King Crimson and the Butthole Surfers -- I'm not kidding here. This is for more adventurous fans of prog rock, as well as fans of weirdness. In my opinion, this one is more accessible than MDK, a fan favorite, and will certainly appeal more to fans of straight-forward rock, for all its strangeness.

As a rabid Magma fan since the mid-70's, familiar with all their albums, I would classify Udu Wudu as the "purest" Magma album (with the possible exception of Wurdah Itah). Magma's music may be inspired by John Coltrane, but this is progressive jazz-rock taken to ends which Coltrane never imagined in his worst nightmare. Chilling and exhilerating! A must-have. Very streamlined in sound compared to the full-blown production of Magma's other classic, Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh, but not as spare as Wurdah Itah, and with none of the pop/R&B influences which characterized their later album, Attahk. The incredible 18-minute finale "De Futura" essentially invented the classic "zeuhl" sound typified by growling lead fuzz-bass lines, harsh otherworldly keyboard textures, and relentless mind-numbing drumming which was continued on by a host of great zeuhl bands during the late 70s and 80s, particularly the great Magma spin-off band Weidorje, the first album "Drones" by ex-Weidorje keyboardist Jean-Philippe Goude, and the "4 Visions" album by the great Magma sound-alike band Eskaton. This album, however, is where it all began. There is nothing quite like playing this album late at night really loud in the dark -- a menacing exploration of pristine darkness -- a disturbing tour through the homeworld of a sinister, merciless alien race. Utterly mesmerizing!

At least that is what Jello Biafra said. But if MDK is the Klingon opera, then this one is the Ewok birthday party. Gone is the fanatic occult feel of previous works, this one has a more celebratory atmosphere...as if the Kobaians have finally overcome their struggles and are ready to GET DOWN! Jannick Top the bassist and former bassist Bernard Paganotti wrote half of this album so maybe that's why it's a little more accessable. Even on the oppressive 18 min. De Futura I feel like I gotta dance because it predates techno by about 25 years. And the bass playing on that one is absolutely neanderthal!

I couldn't really get into Mekanik Destructiw Kommandoh or Kohntarkosz Anteria, but UIdu Wudu has a lot of strong and extremely unique textures that you just won't find in the output of any other band. I thought De Futura wandered on a bit, but I still think it was a great idea, and the other tracks are very nice and enthusiastic. Listened to it about 6 times in a row to write a paper, and can still enjoy it, so I guess that's a pretty good recommendation. Listen before buying though; it's not what you've heard, unless you're already familiar with Magma.

You have to be a bit krazee to appreciate Magma, but that is not to say that their music is entirely wacko. There is a lot going on in composition, arrangements, intricate interplay between members, and utterly mezmerising drumming in all meters imaginable. One way to describe this music is alternative prog - alterprog (maybe I'll coin a new genre name here). Despite the weirdness, there is a jazzy feel throughout, even if it goes into the background sometimes. I like the mid-70s production and instrumentation, I think it brings out the best of the Magma sound. Although pretty menacing overall, the album is not as agressive as I was lead to believe, and the emphasis is on ensemble playing and vocalizing rather than on fancy soloing. The 18-minute epic at the end is a real treat for prog-lovers, it goes through a variety of changes and gets pretty heavy. The music always moves and shifts into all sorts of directions. Excellent prog album, sadly overlooked by many prog fans. Give it a try, I guarantee it will grow on you.

This 1976 Magma offering succeeded at being both accessible AND challenging at the same time without even trying. The songs are generally shorter in length, save for the epic "De Futura".

1. Udu Wudu - Very UN-Magma-like!!! Starts off with a drumbox generated sped-up samba groove with horns blaring and the other-worldly vocals entering, sort of like a Carnivale Kobaian-style. So THIS is how they get down and party on other worlds! I'm impressed!

2. Weidorje - Ahh, the Magma we know and love returns with those menacing low tenor voices and operatic drama.

3. Tröller Tanz (Ghost Dance) - Great track to put on at Halloween and scare the neighbors with! Just gotta love those spook voices and a strident martial beat, underscored by low register piano.

4. Soleil D'Ork (Ork' Sun) - Here, the band goes into a darkly hypnotic groove with eerie flutes and Janick Top's fuzzy bass laying down the groove. Hard to tear yourself away from this one!

5. Zombies (Ghost Dance) - With a ferocious drum roll, this track kicks off with insistent piano and everyone just playing as if their lives depended on it!

6. De Futura - The album's centerpiece, worth the price alone! This track was done by Janick Top and Christian Vander on all instruments and voices, it's a harrowing musical ride depicting a journey back through time in order to defeat The Ork's, Kobaia's arch-enemy. You'll be exhausted by the end of this piece but quite glad you took the ride.

Some people may be put off by the album's somewaht murky recording quality, but in asense it kind of adds to the mystery and intensity of it all.

Algunos fans de música progresiva encuentran raro a este disco, lo que es compresnible si se toma en cuenta que Magma es una banda Sui Generis dentro de dicha rama del rock y éste disco es Sui Generis en la discografía de Magma. Los fans del Magma de discos como Live/MDK/Retrospektiw I, II o III, puede que se sorprendan por el sonido tan abiertamente alienigena y sin concesiones de esta obra. Pese a esto, hay que escuchar este disco con detenimiento, pues es grandioso, vale la pena comprarlo por cada uno de sus temas, y De Futura es una obra maestra que tal vez no ha sido valorada en toda su dimensión. Las vocalizaciones de Christian Vander están presentes en éste disco más que en ningún otro, y constituyen en sí misma SOLOS, como un instrumento más.

So many things have been said about this insane revolutionary album (the genesis of Zeuhl-Music, Prog-rock on 11-- etc.) that it would be weak to even comment on it.
Suffice to say-- the epic, "Der Futura" is worth the price of admission.
Zach Hill (drummer for the frenetically famous prog-rock band 'Hella') marks this as one of his favorite albums...and I can see and hear why--