French Prog-Rock Mavericks Return To San Francisco
One of the most unusual progressive rock bands to emerge during the heady era of the late '60s, experimental French outfit Magma has produced a fascinating body of work inspired by avant-garde jazz and modern classical composers as well as apocalyptic tales of science fiction by the likes of Arthur C. Clarke and Ray Bradbury.
Founded by classically trained drummer Christian Vander in 1969, Magma embraced the transcendent sounds of John Coltrane's spiritually minded recordings from A Love Supreme forward as well as choral elements drawn from Stravinsky and Carmina Burana composer Carl Orff.
But it was Vander's conceptual bent that placed Magma even further outside the realm of his prog-rock contemporaries. Singing in the invented language Kobaïan, the lyrics for Magma's self-titled debut and later albums detailed the adventures of space colonists who had settled on the planet Kobaïa after ecological disaster had doomed Earth.
While there are some audible similarities between Magma's sonic experimentation and that of Frank Zappa's complex jazz-rock compositions (not surprising, given the shared admiration Vander and Zappa had for maverick modern classical composers) as well as Mahavishnu Orchestra's stratospheric guitar heroics and daunting dynamics, Vander and company still occupy a truly unique place in rock music history.
The band would disband for a year after the release of their 1978 album Attahk, but Vander and his disciples have remained prolific with a variety of solo and side projects in addition to live and studio releases under the Magma name. Championed by modern-day prog and metal musicians like Porcupine Tree's Steve Wilson and Opeth principle Mikael Åkerfeldt, interest in the group has only grown in the past two decades.
Last year, the band's Endless Tour brought Vander and his eight-piece line-up of the group to Slim's in San Francisco for a spectacular sold-out show that helped celebrate Magma's 45th anniversary. The release of last year's mini album Slag Tanz and the vinyl reissue of the group's difficult-to-find albums from the 1970s further elevated interest in Magma, spurring the band to mount another U.S tour in 2016.
For the current jaunt, Magma is joined by avant-rock cellist Helen Money (aka Alison Chesley). First coming to notoriety as one of the founding members of Chicago-based 1990srock outfit Verbow, Chesley would become a go-to studio musician and arranger for an array of indie rock notables as Bob Mould, Broken Social Scene and The Sea and Cake's Archer Prewitt.
As a solo performer under the moniker Helen Money, Chesley has released three albums spotlighting the droning, metallic menace of songs she makes weaving multiple parts together with her heavily processed cello. Her most recent recording, Arriving Angels from 2013, was tracked with renowned engineer Steve Albini and features heavyweight drummer Jason Roeder (Neurosis, Sleep) on four songs. Her stark, intense cello sonatas will be a perfect prelude to Magma's mind-blowing performance.
Magma with Helen Money
Friday, March 18, 8 p.m. $31-$36
Great American Music Hall
