The Black Dog
Also known asEcho Mike, Close Up Over, Xeper, Atypic, I.A.O., Balil, the Discordian Popes
OriginSheffield, England
Genres
Years active1989–1995, 2005–present
LabelsSoma, Dust Science, Warp, GPR, Black Dog Productions, BMG, Sire
MembersKen Downie
Martin Dust
Richard Dust
Past membersAndy Turner
Ed Handley
Steve Ash
Ross Knight

The Black Dog is a British electronic music group, founded in 1989 by Ken Downie along with Ed Handley and Andy Turner.[1][2] The group are considered pioneering figures of techno's ruminative "home-listening" aesthetic in the early 1990s.[3][4]

Following several self-released EPs, the group signed to Warp Records in 1993 and released albums such as Bytes (1993) and Spanners (1995). In 1995, Handley and Turner departed to work on their spin-off project Plaid. Downie continued recording under the band name The Black Dog, with Richard and Martin Dust joining. The band's early EPs were collected on the 2007 compilation Book of Dogma.

Biography

Early career

In 1989, The Black Dog was unable to find a label to back its releases and started its own, Black Dog Productions, which released four vinyl records including the acclaimed Virtual.[5] These were followed by a number of EPs on the General Production Recordings label. The Black Dog released their first full-length album Bytes on Warp Records on 15 March 1993. The albums Temple of Transparent Balls (GPR) and Spanners (Warp) followed. The music was often produced under a number of different names, such as Close Up Over, Xeper, Atypic, I.A.O., Balil and the Discordian Popes. The group did numerous remixes, notably for Björk, with whom it collaborated on "'Sweet Intuition" (a B-side on the "Army of Me" CD single) and "Charlene" (a b side on the "Isobel" CD single).[6]

In the early 1990s, Downie was also running a bulletin board system called Black Dog Towers.[7]

In 1995, Handley and Turner left to focus on Plaid[8] but Downie continued working as The Black Dog on his own for a while, releasing the solo album Music for Adverts (and Short Films). With new management, and an increased vigour, Downie then teamed up with Steve 'Hotdog' Ash and Ross Knight ("thek1d"). Though they completed over a dozen critically acclaimed remixes during this period, only one album was ever released: Unsavoury Products featured the talents of Parisian beat poet Black Sifichi on vocals.

Current line-up

In 2001, Downie teamed up with Richard and Martin Dust, owners of the label Dust Science Recordings.[9] Since then, they have started to play live again and have released eight EPs and four full-length albums on Dust Science.[10] Their first album, Silenced, was released in 2005. The second, Radio Scarecrow, was released in 2008 and was very well received[11] and nominated for DJ Mag's Best of British 2008.[12]

The follow-up to Radio Scarecrow, Further Vexations, was released in 2009. It was described as having a dark cynicism of Orwellian practices of government and the passivity of the general public.[13] "We’ve helplessly watched with mounting horror, while the government trashed the country, signed away its sovereignty to Brussels (with a flourish of a specially minted silver pen), sold off precious national industries and assets at next to bargain basement prices, and indulged itself with two utterly pointless wars which it couldn’t afford," the group stated on their home page.[14]

In May 2010, the Black Dog teamed with creative agency "Human"[15] to create Music for Real Airports,[16] described by them as "a contemporary reply to Brian Eno's work from the 70s". While Eno's album is well known for being peaceful and sedate, The Black Dog intend theirs to be tense and bittersweet, saying "This record is not necessarily a comfortable listen. But it captures the spectrum of emotions stirred by airports."[17]

Side projects

The initial lineup kept themselves busy with numerous alter-egos and side-projects, including Echo Mike, Close Up Over, Xeper, Atypic, I.A.O., Plaid, Balil and the Discordian Popes. 1993's Bytes compiles an album's worth of tracks by these side projects under the mantle of Black Dog Productions. Of these side-projects, only Plaid continues to be active.

More recently, the current lineup of The Black Dog (Ken Downie with Martin and Richard Dust) have collaborated with Psychick Warriors ov Gaia on a new ambient project called Dadavistic Orchestra. Taking inspiration from the Dada artists of the early 1900s, Dadavistic Orchestra have issued an album and two EPs, offering limited edition gelatin silver prints in homage to avant-garde photographer Man Ray with early copies sold via mail order.[18]

Discography

Albums

Ken Downie with Ed Handley and Andy Turner:

Ken Downie solo:

Ken Downie with Steve Ash and Ross Knight:

Ken Downie with Martin Dust and Richard Dust:

EPs

Ken Downie with Ed Handley and Andy Turner:
  • 1989 Virtual
  • 1989 Age of Slack
  • 1990 Techno Playtime
  • 1991 Parallel
  • 1992 Vir²l
  • 1992 Vanttool
  • 1999 Peel Session (recorded 1995)

Ken Downie solo:

Ken Downie with Martin Dust and Richard Dust:

  • 2005 Bite Thee Back
  • 2005 Trojan Horus
  • 2005 Remote Viewing
  • 2005 The Remixes
  • 2006 Riphead
  • 2007 Floods
  • 2008 Set to Receive
  • 2008 Detroit vs. Sheffield
  • 2009 Vexing
  • 2009 We Are Sheffield
  • 2009 The Vexing Remixes
  • 2010 Thee Lounge
  • 2010 Subject to Delays
  • 2011 Liber Kult (Book 1 ov 3)
  • 2011 Liber Temple (Book 2 ov 3)
  • 2011 Liber Nox (Book 3 ov 3)
  • 2011 Liber Chaos (Book ov Aiwass)
  • 2013 The Return ov Bleep
  • 2013 Darkhaus Vol. 01
  • 2013 Darkhaus Vol. 02
  • 2013 The Return Ov Bleep
  • 2014 Werk+Play
  • 2014 Exhibit 1 & 2
  • 2018 Shards Ov Light
  • 2020 Allegory 1 (Red)
  • 2020 Allegory 2 (Green)
  • 2020 Allegory 3 (Blue)
  • 2020 Further Fragments
  • 2021 Dubs: Volume 1
  • 2021 Dubs: Volume 2
  • 2021 Dubs: Volume 3
  • 2022 Brutal Minimalism
  • 2022 Concrete Reasoning
  • 2022 Fighting Modernism
  • 2023 The Reproduce EP

Compilations and live albums

Ken Downie with Ed Handley and Andy Turner:

Ken Downie with Steve Ash and Ross Knight:

Ken Downie with Martin Dust and Richard Dust:
  • 2006 Thee Singles
  • 2008 Thee Singles Volume 2
  • 2010 Final Collected Vexations
  • 2014 Liber Collected – Book Ov Law

References

  1. ↑ Black dog biography on NME.com
  2. ↑ The Black Dog profile on BBC Radio 1
  3. ↑ Cooper, Sean. "Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
  4. ↑ "FACT mix 144: The Black Dog". FACT Magazine. 26 April 2010. Retrieved 27 January 2017.
  5. ↑ "RA Reviews: Rewind: The Black Dog - Virtual on Black Dog Productions (Single)". Resident Advisor. 4 May 2019.
  6. ↑ "P.3 – Bitten By The Black Dog - News - The Black Dog". The Black Dog.
  7. ↑ "Interview: The Black Dog - FACT Magazine". FACT Magazine. January 2009.
  8. ↑ Plaid biography on NME.com
  9. ↑ "THE BLACK DOG Interview". The Milk Factory. 1 September 2005. Archived from the original on 19 February 2009. Retrieved 9 February 2009.
  10. ↑ The Black Dog profile on the Dust Science website
  11. ↑ Reviews Archived 6 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine at dogsquad.co.uk
  12. ↑ "DJMag.com". DJMag.com. 24 January 2022.
  13. ↑ Jones, Simon (19 January 2009). "The Black Dog - Further Vexations". Progressive-Sounds. Retrieved 9 February 2009.
  14. ↑ "The Black Dog – Further Vexations – Released 27/04/09 - Releases - The Black Dog". The Black Dog.
  15. ↑ "Human". www.humanstudio.com.
  16. ↑ Music For Real Airports - The Project Archived 10 April 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  17. ↑ Music For Real Airports - The Project Archived 11 February 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  18. ↑ "身体に優しい設計｜自然素材を使って家を建てるメリットとは". www.dadavisticorchestra.com.
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