Edgar Froese's third solo album, Macula Transfer (the title referring to the sun spots), was recorded just before Tangerine Dream's Stratosfear in summer 1976 by Edgar Froese just on his own using an old 4-track Ampex tape machine that Tangerine Dream had bought from Abbey Road Studios. According to Edgar Froese, there were some differences at the time in TD dynamics and Edgar Froese recorded Macula Transfer just for fun.
Macula Transfer was released 1976 in Germany only. Edgar Froese: "It was very strange, because it was released through a German record company as I had some sort of a contract with them for a couple of years, but it was a contract which said that it couldn't be released anywhere else apart from in German-speaking areas. And after the contract was finished the record was too old, and they wouldn't release it world-wide." (Interview with Neumusik, January 1980)
Re-Releases
Fans had to wait nearly 22 years for the first official CD release of this rare album in 1998. After all other solo albums by Edgar Froese had been re-released by Virgin on CD, the only missing one, Macula Transfer, had now become available by Manikin Records. This Berlin-based label has become well-known due to some releases of material by Klaus Schulze and Ashra. Even if this CD release cannot be considered a bootleg, Edgar Froese took steps to stop distribution of it, as the rights had been sold to Manikin Records without informing him. Edgar Froese's position was that he should have been offered the rights first. They had been kept by a company in Hamburg, which had taken over the back-catalogue of Metronome/Brain. Manikin bought the rights from that company directly, while Edgar Froese already had plans to release Macula Transfer in a new version on his own. Thus, after the first bulk of 1,000 copies was sold, Manikin did not re-release the CD to avoid legal action. So the CD version of Macula Transfer became as rare as the original vinyl release.
The 2005 Re-Recording
In early 2004 there was an announcement by a TDI staff member saying that TDI hopes to clear the legal situation of this album and plans to do a proper re-release by end of 2004. Finally, in April 2005 a reworked version of this album has been released. All tracks from the original album have been 'tangentized', that is, remixed and partially re-recorded in a similar way like on Beyond The Storm and the Ambient Highway series. IF 810 seems to be the same remix that is known from Ambient Highway Vol. 3 (there titled Macula Transfer), the other four tracks had not been remixed previously. These versions now sound somewhat warmer than the original recordings and seem to have some more depth, but as always it is left to the subjective opinion of the listener whether he prefers the original or the new versions. The inner page of the 2-page insert states that the album has been re-recorded and remixed, but these remarks and the other credits are almost unreadable as they are printed in black on a dark-blueish background, and the fact that this CD does not feature the original and rare versions is not recognizable from the outside.
Like on all releases since 2003, the artist's name now includes his middle initial W. on the cover and in the credits. The early cover previews of the forthcoming 2005 re-releases used an identical style of artwork, featuring the same typeface and the reduced original artwork (or an excerpt of it) in a monochrome, wide frame, which made these re-releases some kind of a series. Of the final releases only Ages and, to a certain degree, Epsilon In Malaysian Pale used this artwork style. The re-release of Macula Transfer now features a completely new design by Edgar Froese using some abstract three-dimensional shapes instead of the original photo by his wife Monika. The order number is neither printed on the package nor the CD, but the number given below is the order number the Eastgate Music Shop lists this release. Copies sold in the UK have been found with an additional barcode sticker showing the TDP number listed below.
In January 2007 this release became available as MP3 download at the Tangerine Dream Download Shop.
In June 2009 the 2005 re-recording of Macula Transfer was re-released in Japan as part of a a series of HiQualityCDs with mini LP paper sleeves featuring a completely reworked cover artwork, leaving out Edgar Froese's middle initial again.
Releases
Germany
1976: Brain/Metronome
LP [a]: 60.008; green labels, foc
LP [a]: 60.008; yellow labels, foc
LP [a]: 60.008; black labels, foc
1998: Manikin
CD [a]: MRCD 7030
2005: Eastgate
CD [b]: eastgate 005 CD; yellow/white disc; matrix code: 49005
2007: Eastgate
Download [b]: complete release or individual tracks as MP3
