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Simon Reynolds is the author of seven books on music, including Energy Flash: A Journey Through Rave Music and Dance Culture, Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpun...more »

04.22.11

The missing link between Coil�s eldritch electronica and Carl Craig�s exquisitely-textured elegance.

2007 | Label: Soma / PIAS Digital

A legend in techno circles, the Black Dog's music is like the missing link between Coil's eldritch electronica and Carl Craig's exquisitely-textured elegance. Although the British group — originally the trio of Ken Downie, Ed Handley and Andy Turner — became widely heard as part of Warp Records'”electronic listening music” initiative of the early '90s, the bedrock of their cult is their hard-to-find first three EPs, Did I say hard? Damn near impossible actually, when it comes to The Virtual EP, Age of Slack EP, and The Black Dog EP, vinyl-only 1989-90 releases long out of print and each worth a small fortune. Now, at long overdue last, they are available in their entirety as the first disc of this double-CD retrospective. Tracks like “Virtual,” “The Weight” and “Tactile” distil the essence of Detroit techno into an etherealized machine-funk so translucent and refined it feels like you should store it in crystal vials rather than a lowly CD case or hard drive.

"Age of Slack” and “Ambience with Teeth” use hip-hop breakbeats in ways that parallel early jungle, but there's a balletic poise and delicacy to the way Black Dog deploy their crisp and rattling drum loops. This is rave sublimated… read more »

Correct Song Titles!

Small Mistake on Soma's Part (The CD version of the release is incorrectly labeled as well). This order, as listed above, corresponds to the correct order of the songs, when originally released, on the various early EPs. Tracks 1-6 actually are: 1)Virtual - 9:31 2)Ambience With Teeth - 5:59 3)The Weight - 5:40 4)The Weight(Liposuction Mix) - 4:21 5)Age of Slack - 6:45 6)Tactile - 5:16 The Rest of the tracks correctly correspond to their titles, although: "The Age Of Slack" should read "Age Of Slack", "Seer & Sages" should read "Seers And Sages", "Glassolalia" should read "Glossolalia", "Virtual Hmmm" should read "Virtual HMMM.." and "VIR2L" should read "Vir�l".

Go Fetch!

A new discovery for me even though it has been around awhile. A really interesting sound that keeps me listening. At times I think I've heard enough techno to have it all sound the same. This group wiped that away. Very fresh and compelling. A favorite track is "Aural Wallpaper". It's a fitting title since throughout the song the meanders in melodies to give you the sensation of moving from room to room in an electronic "wallpapered" house. "Parallel" has a happy, go outside and play, feel to it. A really good toe tapper. "The Weight" reminds me of the Tangerine Drean tune, Love on a Blue Train. A similar kind of vibe to it just not as mellow with more driving keyboards. Some interesting uses of animal noises as well! The Black Dog has definitely made the top of my playlist as well as a "most repeated" nominee. Electronic enthusiasts will not be disappointed!

so good!

this is essentially their 1995 album 'parallel' with a few other ep's tossed in for good measure. since 'parallel' is hard to find, and such a good release, this is quite a boon to the serious electronic music collector who for some reason doesn't already have this. the only other essential release of The Black Dog emusic doesn't yet have is 'bytes' which is perhaps better than this. i can't quite decide yet, for sure.