Uniweria Zekt - 1971 - The Unnamables

Uniweria Zekt

1971

The Unnamables

01. You speak and speak and colegram

02. Altcheringa

03. Clementine

04. Something’s cast a spell

05. Ourania

06. Africa anteria

07. Undia

- Christian Vander / drums, percussion, voice (6)

- Klaus Blasquiz / vocals (4 & 7), percussion

- Francois Cahen / pianos

- Francis Moze / bass, organ

- Teddy Lasry / saxes, flute, organ

- Jeff Seffer / saxes

- Tito Puentes / trumpet

- Claude Engel / electric & acoustic guitar

- Zabu / vocals (2)

- Lionel Ledissez / vocals (4)

This is a hidden MAGMA record under a different name. This is MAGMA with a guest vocalist and a guest trumpet player. It was Laurent Thibault's idea to do this, he produced MAGMA's debut record and now had his own record label called "Theieme". He reasoned with both Vander and MAGMA's record label "Philips" that if the band did a record of easier to get into material on the first side of the album, and then did their Zeuhl on the other side of the album it would attract new fans and make them better known. Besides Thibault really wanted MAGMA on his label, and in this way he had a piece of them, sort of. The first band Thibault signed to his new label was ERGO SUM who is on our site here. Thibault actually enlisted the vocalist from that band to sing one of the songs on this album.

The first side of the album consisted of five songs that combined both the Jazz and Rock styles similar to BLOOD, SWEAT AND TEARS and CHICAGO. Lots of horns and very accessible. "You Speak And Speak Colegram" is a Lasry tune that is uptempo with plenty of free sax lines and guitar solos. The drums are of course prominant and the organ chips in as well. "Altcheringa" is a Cahen tune that did bring BLOOD, SWEAT AND TEARS to mind mainly because of the David Clayton Thomas-like vocals from Zabu. This is a very catchy song. Nice guitar solo before 2 minutes as the bass throbs. "Clementine" is a Lasry composition. It consists of only acoustic guitar and flute throughout. This is such a beautiful song, a piece of heaven really. I can't believe this is MAGMA but it is.

"Something's Cast a Spell " is another Lasry tune although the lyrics were taken from an ERGO SUM song from their debut album. The lead singer from that band sings on this one as well. Sax really dominates although we get a great guitar solo from Engel after a pastoral section. "Ourania" is a Vander tune and the last song on side one. Flute and guitar start us off before some crazy sax and discordant guitar follow. I like the drum patterns from Vander on this one.

Side two is Zeuhl and both songs were composed by Vander. "Africa Anteria" features some good bass and the sax and piano form a great team. The sax gets a little dissonant and the bass is relentless as they seem to jam for about 5 minutes. We get those bizarre shouts from Vander and before that a drum solo that is apparently (according to the liner notes) the only recorded drum solo that VANDER did. "Undia" features Blasquiz singing in Kobaian. The song starts off quietly and builds to a full sound. Great drumming on this one and this pattern of starting softly and building in sound happens a second time.

Fresh from their first two albums of "Zeuhl-lite", and prior to the real Zeuhl descent in MDK, Christian Vander & co created The Unnameables, under the band name Univeria Zekt, designed specifically to ease listeners into the style of Magma and create a stepping stone into the rest of their work. In particular, tracks written by Teddy Lasry and Francois Cahen (the first four) are much closer to 'normal' jazz rock, with English titles and lyrics in the form of guests Lucien Zabuski and Lionel Ledizzez.

"You Speak And Speak Colegram" is almost a short but dynamic jam session, before Zabuski's vocals on the second track provides a jazz/funk feel to the track led by the brass instruments. "Clementine" is a very un-Magma track, but a very good one, as Engel's acoustic guitar and Lasry on flute combine for a stripped back and peaceful number. This is punctured immediately by a brass cacophony at the start of "Something's Cast A Spell" as we return to classic Jazz Rock.

The second half, written by Vander, is much closer to the sound heard on Magma's 1001 Centigrades album. The first track is very much a Coltrane-style run through, while the 11 minute track Africa Anteria uses Magma's custom of Vander's drumming being very much at the fore, setting a rollicking tempo for Cahen, Puentes and co to play around. The final minute of the track samples Blasquiz's shrieking Zeuhl vocals alongside military drumming as a taster of things to come with Magma. The final track "Undia" uses the more harmonic Zeuhl vocals that give a celebratory feel to some of their compositions.

Highly recommend this album, particularly the last three tracks, for a 'learner driver' entry into the weird world of Zeuhl.