The Man Who Ate the Man is an album by the electronic / art rock band Magnetophone

Magnetophone

Magnétophone are an electronic / art-rock band originating from Birmingham UK, composed of Matt Saunders and John Hanson...

. It was released in 2005 on 4AD Records. Equally inspired by pop, electronic pioneers like Morton Subotnick

Morton Subotnick

Morton Subotnick is an American composer of electronic music, best known for his Silver Apples of the Moon, the first electronic work commissioned by a record company, Nonesuch...

, contemporary electronic artists like Autechre

Autechre

Autechre are an English electronic music duo consisting of Rob Brown and Sean Booth, both natives of Rochdale, Greater Manchester. Formed in 1987, they are one of the most prominent acts signed to Warp Records, a label known for its pioneering electronic music and through which all Autechre albums...

, and Krautrock

Krautrock

Krautrock is a generic name for the experimental music scenes that appeared in Germany in the late 1960s and gained popularity throughout the 1970s, especially in Britain. The term is a result of the English-speaking world's reception of the music at the time and not a reference to any one...

, Magnetophone have continued to evolve from their debut I Guess Sometimes I Need to Be Reminded of How Much You Love Me (2000).

The lyrics of The Man Who Ate The Man are more poetic than rock'n'roll inspired, and concern city relationships ("Benny's Insobriety" and "Without Word") or similar, but set against a rural backdrop ("A Sad Ha Ha (Circled My Demise)" and "The Only Witching You'll be Doing"). The themes explore control, loss, reverence, worth, relationship-pacts.

Track listing

1. "Let's Start Something New" – 1:47
2. "Kel's Vintage Thought" – 2:46
3. "A Sad Ha Ha (Circled My Demise)" – 3:45
4. "And May Your Last Words Be a Chance to Make Things Better" – 4:06
5. "The Only Witching You'll Be Doing" – 2:19
6. "Ray and Suzette" – 3:28
7. "Benny's Insobriety" – 3:47
8. "Kodiak" – 3:38
9. "In the Hours After 10" – 2:03
10. "Motion G" – 2:56
11. "Without Word" – 4:45
12. "I've Been Looking Around Me" – 2:09
13. "Let's Start Something Smooth" – 1:53