Three versions of one piece, and that one piece is plenty. Carmina's "Hamra" first appeared in a studio in January 1976, then a rehearsal later that year, then a live encore in 1977, and Soleil Zeuhl has put all three on a single CD. The band was a bunch of young French musicians from Chaumont who started out playing blues-rock covers and ended up making something much stranger. Think Fender Rhodes doubling vibraphone and xylophone, soprano sax cutting through, vocals that get a little unhinged. The studio take is the cleanest, a knotty prog-jazz thing that shifts tempos and moods like it's got somewhere to be. The rehearsal drags a bit, but that's the point: you hear them working it out, the drums hitting harder because nobody's worrying about takes. The live version is a mess in the best way, applause bleeding in, the rhythm section pushing hard, everything just barely held together. It sounds like a bootleg from a small French hall in 1977 because that's exactly what it is. If you're into that Magma adjacent zone, or if you like your prog rough and live and full of Fender Rhodes, this is worth tracking down.
