MAGNETOPHONE
Kelv’s Vintage Thought
TAD2412/EAD2412S
12” / MP3
4AD 2004

At the tail end of 2000, British duo Magnétophone appeared out of nowhere, landing a deal with legendary eighties label 4AD, released a handful of EPs and an album, I Guess Sometimes I Need To Be Reminded Of How Much You Love Me, played a handful of live date, then disappeared without trace. Four years on, Matt Saunders and John Hanson return with a new EP, Kel’s Vintage Thought, prelude to their long-awaited second album, The Man Who Ate The Man. Remembered for incredibly intricate, delicate and complex sonic constructions, Magnétophone throw a spanner in the works with the anthemic title track of this EP. Featuring terrible sisters Kim and Kelly Deal on guitar duties, Kel’s Vintage Thought is an all-singing, all-bouncing electro trash gem with a killer hook at time reminiscent of the Breeders’ Cannon Ball. The Outhud Remix is a far cleaner affair, and actually features proper vocals, courtesy of the Deal sisterhood, scattered over an implacable breakbeat/bass combination that will have quality dance floor around the world on fire.
In between are stuck two rather shorter (two and a half minutes in total) and more introvert tracks with No Fun Without You (Hello John), on which Hanson and Saunders assemble a drone-esque collection of tones, and … And May Your Last Words Be A Chance To Make Things Better, a light portion of a more developed album track with Fence collective vocalist HMS Ginafore on vocal duties.
Clocking at a rather frustratingly short ten minutes fifty, Kel’s Vintage Thought is as challenging as Magnétophone’s previous release, yet it also shows a much more open and upfront approach from Saunders and Hanson. Kel’s Vintage Thought reveals however very little to what can be expected from the album.

JOSEPH AUER
Kyoto :: Tokyo :: 2001
RN003
CDS
Rednetic 2004

Born in Chicago in 1972 from a half-Latin mother and an Australian father, Joseph Auer has since lived in countless parts of the world before settling down for a while in Yorkshire in the mid eighties. Auer spent part of his formative years studying at Newport School of Art & Design where he met Rednetic’s label boss Mark Streatfield, AKA Zainetica. Now firmly established in Tokyo, where he has lived for the last year and a half, Auer has recently been featured on Rednetic’s OnePointOne and Boltfish Records’ Region Zero compilations, and is also responsible for a CDR and MP3 EP, Fading From Here, on Boltfish.
With this new EP for London-based Rednetic, Auer presents eight slices of classic laidback techno spread over just under half-an-hour, with tracks ranging from one minute twenty to just over five minutes. Alternating between soulful upbeat moments (Shinjuku West – Tokyo, Stations - Tokyo) to beautiful down tempo compositions (Daybreak – Choshi City, 37 Islands – Kyoto, Harajuku Rain - Tokyo). By expertly mixing his tracks together, Auer works on the atmospheric structure of this EP all the way through and presents a very consistent piece of work. Influences are numerous but never clearly exposed, reflecting his early years spent dabbling in anything from techno and jungle to noise and trip-hop.
Evolving in slightly less abrupt terrains than its predecessor, Kyoto :: Tokyo :: 2001 showcases a different angle to Auer’s musical persona, and is a very promising teaser to a potential fully developed album soon.

NEAT LITTLE BOXES
Selection Box
YMMR1
3” CDR
You Make Me Records 2004

Following a first album, Sprungbrett, released at the tail end of last year on the now defunct Fast Flange Records, Neat Little Boxes’s Mark Rose has set up his own imprint, You Make Me Records, and is publishing this six-track EP. As with its predecessor, Selection Box collects some beautifully chilled electronic moments, but this EP also showcases Rose’s more upbeat and blunt side. Sometimes veering dangerously close to old school rave (Big School features trademark sirens), Selection Box offers, as its title suggests, a peek at different sonic ambiences, from gritty noise assemblage (Alberti) to almost pastoral wanderings (When We Only Have The Air In Our Mouths), without never expanding for too long on a particular mood. If Rose manages to articulate together some interesting soundscapes, he is undeniably more at easy with low-key compositions. The Village Bicycle, in its second half, Big School and This Lonely Spiral reveal a lack of maturity in the composition and arrangement, while Alberti, Can Of Worms or When We Only Have The Air In Our Mouths are more beautifully crafted and evocative.
If not as accomplished as Sprungbrett, this second offering, currently only available through the Neat Little Boxes website, remains an interesting piece of work and gives Rose the chance to reveal a different side of his music. Watch this space!

LEMON JELLY
Stay With You
IFXLS201CD
10” / CDS / DVD
XL Recordings 2004 

It doesn’t seem like nearly two years since the last Lemon Jelly release, the single Nice Weather For Ducks, so has their music become ubiquitous. Not unlike Zero 7, Moby or Royksopp, Fred Deakin and Nick Franglen have become the darlings of ad agencies and TV and radio companies with their blend of chilled beats and melodic electronica tainted with sixties and seventies pop references. So the arrival of a new album, 64-95, and single could appear almost rushed. Yet, Stay With You is generally a rather triumphant return. Unusually upbeat and cheerful, yet retaining the characteristic tongue-in-cheek approach that prevented Lemon Jelly from falling into the bland chillout bucket. Based around a sample of Gallagher & Lyle’s I Wanna Stay With You, the track originally seems slightly more repetitive and arduous than usual, but in true Lemon Jelly style, it soon become furiously infectious and addictive, and prevails rather well for the album, due out early next year. The track is backed with new equally psychedelic compositions, Rolled and The Fruity Track which reference once again an incredible amount of influences in four and a half minutes. Although this EP is perfectly crafted and works perfectly, it certainly doesn’t denote any massive departure from the band’s original sonic territory, which is good news for the band’s more mainstream fans but could prove a slight disappointment overall for a more discerning audience.