Udu Wudu is the fragmented follow-up to
Magma's successful 1976 Live set. Leader
Christian Vander relinquished some control over the group for this album, only writing about half the music. From the start, the signature
Magma sound is noticeably different, to which the quaint rhythm box-generated Latin beat flavoring the title track attests. Also, synthesizers are used throughout the album (to varying degrees of success) and most of the songs are short (three to four minutes) with simple, almost catchy melodies. Bassist
Bernard Paganotti wrote "Weidorje." Heavy synths date this tune, and the rather mellow, optimistic vibe (which it shares with the title track) does seem uncharacteristic of a band known for singing about the end of the world. During the course of recording,
Paganotti would leave
Magma to form his own band, named after this song. Perhaps the most significant aspect of the album lies in the compositions of bassist
Jannick Top. "Soleil D'Ork" and especially "De Futura" perfectly capture the simultaneous joy and doom of all the best
Magma music. "De Futura" is an 18-minute, funky tour de force. This piece practically invented the "brutal prog" scene (à la groups like
Flying Luttenbachers and
Ruins) with its crushing bass and heavy, syncopated drums. That is not to say that it's chaotic or disjointed, but there is definitely a primal aggression at work here that
Magma rarely approached; it's fierce and fun.