Edgar Froese Macula Transfer (Rerelease)

Of all of Edgar's solo albums released between 1974 and 1979, this is probably the one that is now hardest to come by (though some might say Epsilon…. is - DL). Indeed, this was never a Virgin release, as my CD comes courtesy of Manikin Records, and dates from 1998, whist my vinyl record is on Brain.

The 2005 version features a new totally new sleeve, with absolutely no information on it whatsoever. It does not even tell us that it is a rerecording, which is what this most assuredly is, as it is three minutes longer than the original! It is however an extremely faithful rerecording. The only downside is that once again, at less than 40 minutes it is woefully short by modern standards. Admittedly the music on this CD is closer to Ages than Ricochet, but this is an infinitely better album than the former. Here you have the sound of Edgar trying to create something new and different and it is no surprise that it was recorded in Berlin in 1976.

It opens with OS 452, and a rather dramatic piano chord gets us underway. An electric guitar strums away, whilst the synths swirl around. Occasionally there is the sound of a cymbal being struck. The strummed guitar sound gets more prominent, before the piece reaches a rather too abrupt conclusion for my liking.

AF 765 also starts rather dramatically, before it fades slightly. It then becomes ever so slightly creepy, with washes of sound, and voices(?), before the guitar kicks in, and it then becomes less creepy and more downright weird – surely one of the strangest pieces of music Edgar has ever created. I wouldn't recommend listening to this in a dark room!

PA 701 has a similar feel to it, but it is rather more conventional. It also has a great but all too brief, sequencer section about three minutes in and sounds in parts like a forerunner to the great Sorcerer soundtrack released less than a year later.

Quantas 611 is a very beautiful piece, very relaxed, and in rather marked contrast to the pieces that precede it.