My very first post for Dangerous Minds concerned an amazing television performance of “De Futura” by legendary prog rock band, Magma. As exciting as that clip is, it was, unfortunately, edited for TV, no doubt due to the fact that “De Futura” is a loooong song. At nearly eighteen minutes, it took up one whole side of an LP, and live renditions of the number were frequently even longer. Over the years, extended live versions have come out on archival releases, with one, in particular, standing out from the rest.
Magma was formed by drummer Christian Vander, who assembled the group in the late ‘60s. After five records, plus a live release, Vander loosened the reins a bit, allowing other members to contribute songs for studio album number six, Udu Wudu (1976). Two of the tracks were written by bassist Jannick Top, including “De Futura.” As always, the lyrics are sung in Kobaïan, the language created by Vander.
“De Futura” premiered the previous year at the Nancy Jazz Pulsations 75 festival in Nancy, France. On October 10th, 1975, Top led a group performing as Utopic Sporadic Orchestra—with Vander amongst the eighteen musicians on stage—through the paces of “De Futura.” It’s been reported that the band played the song three times that day, with one recording from the show, as well as a rehearsal take, appearing on the Nancy 75 release.
Christian Vander and Jannick Top
To reflect the new co-leadership of the band, Magma adopted the name “Vandertop” for their October/November 1976 tour, though all these years later, there’s still confusion surrounding the use of the moniker. On this gig poster, it looks they are clearly billed as Magma, but if you examine it closely you’ll notice that there’s also a Vandertop crest, with three images of the Magma logo making up part of its design.
A Vandertop badge
Dangerous Minds has heard several live performances of “De Futura” and have a definite favorite. Our pick for the ultimate live version of this lengthy and wicked track was recorded at the Théâtre de la Renaissance in Paris on November 2nd, 1976. This 25 minute rendering was released in 2001 on Paris 76—a CD credited to Vandertop.
Magma/Vandertop
Alright, sit back and enjoy this especially heavy, mysterious, monstrous, head-banging inducing, mind-blowingly great version of “De Futura”!
Previously on Dangerous Minds:
MAGMA’s cheerfully insane brand of sci-fi avant garde make them prog rock’s weirdest outliers