Edgar Froese
Macula Transfer

THE REVIEW

A couple of months before starting the recording of "Stratosfear" with Tangerine Dream, Edgar Froese finds the time for his third solo album, "Macula Transfer". It is an almost private recording, made with a four-track Ampex, for an album originally released only in Germany. Yet, the record is a successful attempt, containing more than one interesting feature.

The first track, "OS 452", presents the very original use of an acoustic guitar played on the bass strings in a rhythmic function, which, with the addition of echo and further overlaps, effectively imitates the harmonic layers of sequencers that were very popular at that time, the mid-70s. A track full of inventiveness and rhythmic verve, still worthy of being rediscovered today.

The next track, "AF 765" (all the track titles are alphanumeric codes that identify flights of various airlines) is crossed in its 11 minutes by two pulsing notes that form the framework of the piece, on which melodic fragments of electric guitar and a male voice filtered and distorted into pure sound effect are overlapped. A piece of sure impact, rhythmic and insistent, brought to a conclusion by a gradual and then frantic acceleration of the two starting notes.

If in the first two tracks the guitars are in the foreground (acoustic in one case, electric in the other), the remaining three tracks are dominated by the keyboards, particularly by the full-bodied tone of the mellotron: each of them has its own character and personality, thus avoiding the risk of sound homogeneity or worse monotony. Thus, in "PA 701" we find rough and pulsing synth bass lines, in "Quantas 611" particularly shadowy and reflective atmospheres, and finally in "IF 810" a pleasant, well-structured, and optimistic march.

"Macula Transfer" therefore has a peak (the opening track) and maintains a good level, though without excelling, in the remaining four. Released in June 1976, with the title referring to the phenomenon of sunspots, fans of the golden age of German electronics make sure not to miss it.