Magma –
1975-06-03 - Taverne de l'Olympia, Paris
1975,
France
01:52:39;
258M;
320S;
1012;
-
Kohntarkosz - 24:50
-
Kobaia - 7:00
-
Ementeth-Re - 9:32
-
Ptah - 16:27
-
Hhai - 6:59
-
MDK - 41:19
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Kobaia soundcheck - 6:32
First off, a note on the official release: none of these tracks have been released officially, they are all different takes than the ones issued as MAGMA-HHAI/LIVE album, which was also recorded at the Taverne de l'Olympia in June 1975.
As Klaus Blasquiz has stated in an interview with ORK ALARM, Kobaia, Lihns and Hhai from the official album were recorded after the shows without an audience, as there had been too much noise from the audience during those quiet passages. The same must have been the case with Ementeht-Re. So the only tunes in question would have to be Kohntarkosz and MDK. (Ptah was not released officially). They both sound obviously different than the ones released.
I had three different sources available. An incomplete source 1, a premixed and heavily eq'd incomplete source 2, and the most complete source 3, all of these three come from he same master tape.
At first listening, one might have argued, that source 2 has the best sound, but it also has a lot of high range noise and hiss, plus some clicks. So I voted for source 3 as the basis for this. It has much more bass, but still seems closer to the master tape and appears to have remained "unremastered". Once you start dealing with it in an equalizer, and you just lower the bass and push the treble, you get surprisingly good results. If you would to this to source 2 for example, the hiss would "explode" once you touched the treble knob.
So this is all source 3, except Hhai, which i had to take from source 1, due to clicks on source 3.
The recording itself sounds really good to my ears, I would rate it vg-exc....if you fiddle around with it a little that is. Don't let yourself be taken away by the very first impression that it seems muffled and too bassy. Adjust it a bit on your hifi, and i am sure you will be surprised, it sounds great, actually you really recognize the typical sound from Taverne, the atmosphere we all love so much from the official live album is present, even in this wonderful audience recording, which has, as far as i know, not been widely circulated until now.
The show is, as expected, great. There is even a bonus version of Kobaia, presumably recorded at the soundcheck, which is missing Lockwood on violin, and features Federow only sketching his lines in a way that it is obvious there is no audience in for this.
Line-Up:
C & S Vander
Klaus Blasquiz
Gabriel Federow
Bernard Paganotti
Benoit Widemann
J.P. Asseline
Didier Lockwood
