Edgar Froese
Epsilon in Malaysian Pale

THE REVIEW

After the cobalt blue of "Aqua," here is the forest green of "Epsilon in Malaysian Pale," the second solo album for Edgar Froese. The lush ferns depicted on the cover are a memory of Australia and the tour done in that country in 1975 with Tangerine Dream. This is austere yet restful music, organized according to the aesthetic canons of 1970s German electronic music: two tracks, each occupying an entire side of the old vinyl record. The first, which gives the album its title, is divided into three episodes where the melodic lines are entrusted to sounds that simulate those of the flute, while the background consists of a chordal sediment more or less dense depending on the moment.

More than by the presence of synthesizers, the music is characterized by the extensive use of the mellotron, that particular keyboard that gained so much success in the progressive field of that period before being supplanted by the advent of digital keyboards, more precise and reliable but with a colder and more impersonal timbre: pressing the keys of the mellotron started small segments of magnetic tape on which sounds of string instruments, or even flutes and brass, were recorded; hence the very warm, mellow sound of this instrument.

The second track, "Maroubra Bay," opens with a more tense and spectral introduction, with single sustained notes traversing the sound space. After four minutes, a sequencer discreetly enters, forming the harmonic base, repeated ad libitum, on which the melodies drawn by the keyboards rest, periodically interspersed with tropical gusts of electronic typhoons. Snippets of melody then accompany the track to its conclusion.

This is a successful work for the leader of Tangerine Dream: we are in 1975, and "Epsilon" belongs to the same happy season as the famous "Rubycon" and "Ricochet" from the band of origin. It is an atmospheric album, appreciated for its soft and evocative sounds and the naturalness of its compositional design.