Ongoing enigmas MAGNETOPHONE released the brilliantly-monikered debut album "I Guess Sometimes I Need To Be Reminded Of How Much You Love Me" back in 2001, but to be honest their past is a foreign country to this reviewer, who was only vaguely aware of them previously.
And to be honest, he's still semi-baffled after rigorous exposure to their second album "The Man Who Ate The Man". Some of it is certainly quite deightful, but overall it asks more questions than it answers and leaves you wondering whether phrases like 'musical direction' ever cross Magnetophone's seethingly creative mind.
The band certainly enjoy basking in a Residents-style enigma factor and have adopted a Ramones-style surname 'Phone'. Their driving forces appear to be Matt Phone and John Phone, though SJ Phone and Ella Phone also get in on the act, though - largely - the more decisive collaborations are those turned in by more high-profile special guests such as Kim and Kelley Deal (yes, as in Pixies and Breeders) and Fence collective stalwarts King Creosote, James Yorkston and HMS Ginafore.
Actually, it's the more pop-orientated set-pieces inspired by these collaborators that elevate the album's obvious high points. "Kel's Vintage Thought" features - unsurprisingly - both Kelley (guitar/ violin) and Kim Deal (drums!) and is a warped-out instrumental with fractured beats and a prowling edge of menace. "A Sad Ha Ha (Circled My Demise)" is beautifully tainted by King Creosote's hangdog, Celtic sadness and the immortally-named "...And May Your Last Words Be A Chance To Make Things Better" is a floaty, neo-psychedelic affair with fellow Fence character HMS Ginafore giving it a more approachable Liz Fraser keen.
Possibly best of all, though, is the trad.arr "I've Been Looking Around Me" which finds James Yorkston conjuring a slightly, squiffier, electronically-minded version of the magic he's previously brought to the Athletes' covers of old folk tunes like "I Know My Love". It's odd, but warm and you're with him all the way.
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Sadly, though, when the Phones are left to their own devices, things don't flow so smoothly and the rest of "The Man Who Ate The Man" is frustrating at best. Tracks like "Let's Start Something New" and "Rae And Suzette" have a certain fragile charm and are quite evocative, but ultimately rather amorphous; "The Only Witching You'll Be Doing" comes with another fantastic title and its' fuzzy electro glow almost recalls the Jesus & Mary Chain, while the nadir is quite probably "Kodiak" with its' disquieting, ambient drones. It's disconcerting, sure, but eventually goes nowhere and sounds simply like precious time being wasted.
The one place where the unaided Phones come good is with "In The Hours After": a sprightly, purposeful and unashamedly poppy effort with John Phone playing live drums and injecting some backbone to the band's muse. It's only a shame it's so short and seems to slip through your fingers like the sand of what might have been.
Magnetophone, then, seem to be one of those mysterious outfits where the idea sounds far more gripping than the execution. As I said before, their past is relatively unknown to this writer, but it seems their present is equally alien, even allowing for familiarity. Let's hope their future sounds rather more cohesive.
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