Pure genius from French avant-progsters, MAGMA. I got into them 'round '94/'95, mainly via a fandom of the Art Bears/This Heat and all that Chris Cutler/ReR/RIO crowd, whom I was digging at the time. Also, Joe Carducci was (and is) a big fan and wrote about 'em in his biblical Rock & The Pop Narcotic tome, hence, I was gonna be all over them like a rash. I wrote about the band briefly here, and I'm pretty sure I've put pen to screen on them in years prior, too, so search if you care (I don't). They were touring the US when I was there in '99, though they were one city ahead of me the whole way and I missed them. One article you may care to read is this one - it's regarding UK snooker champion/legend, Steve Davis, and his love for the band (and others). I'd read about him before, and his financing of Magma's UK shows in the 1980s is legendary. He made a fortune as a snooker champ, but never lost his love for oddball prog in the process and put his money where his mouth is. Probably lost a whole bunch of it, too. He's also a big Necks fan and is doing guest DJ spots for BBC radio. God bless him, I wish more sports stars would blow their fortunes on such esoteric but worthwhile pursuits.