Black Dog Productions
Encyclopedia
The Black Dog was founded by Ken Downie along with Ed Handley and Andy Turner. Widely regarded as legends, the group are pioneers who, along with acts like Autechre
, Aphex Twin
, µ-ziq and LFO, came to define the techno
movement known as intelligent dance music
(IDM) in the early 1990s.
, The Black Dog released its 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" and "Charlene".
In 1995, Handley and Turner left to focus on Plaid
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.
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. "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.
In May 2010, the Black Dog teamed with creative agency "Human" to create Music For Real Airports, 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."
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 1900's, 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 .
Ken Downie with Steve Ash and Ross Knight:
Ken Downie solo:
Ken Downie with Ed Handley and Andy Turner:
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...
, Aphex Twin
Aphex Twin
Richard David James , best known under the pseudonym Aphex Twin, is an Irish-born electronic musician and composer described as "the most inventive and influential figure in contemporary electronic music"...
, µ-ziq and LFO, came to define the techno
Techno
Techno is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in Detroit, Michigan in the United States during the mid to late 1980s. The first recorded use of the word techno, in reference to a genre of music, was in 1988...
movement known as intelligent dance music
Intelligent dance music
Intelligent dance music is a term that describes an electronic music genre that emerged in the early 1990s. The genre is influenced by a wide range of musical styles particularly electronic dance music such as Detroit Techno...
(IDM) in the early 1990s.
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. After a few vinyl EPs on General Production RecordingsGeneral Production Recordings
General Production Recordings is an electronic music independent label, founded in 1989 in England. The label helped establish artists such as Beaumont Hannant, Mark Broom, The Black Dog, Plaid and Luke Slater....
, The Black Dog released its first full-length album Bytes
Bytes (album)
Bytes is an album by Ed Handley, Andy Turner and Ken Downie, under the name Black Dog Productions.-Background:The album was released in 1993 and later re-released in 2005. Today, both Ed Handley and Andy Turner form part of Plaid while Ken Downie continues to produce music under Black Dog. All...
on Warp Records
Warp Records
Warp, commonly referred to as Warp Records, is a pioneering independent British record label, founded in Sheffield in 1989, notable for discovering some of the more enduring artists in electronic music....
on 15 March 1993. The albums Temple of Transparent Balls (GPR) and Spanners
Spanners (album)
Spanners is a music album by IDM artists Black Dog Productions which was released in 1995.-Track listing:# "Raxmus" – 3:03# "Bolt 1" – 0:27# "Barbola Work" – 6:42# "Bolt 2" – 0:27# "Psil-Cosyin" – 10:32...
(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
Björk
Björk Guðmundsdóttir , known as Björk , is an Icelandic singer-songwriter. Her eclectic musical style has achieved popular acknowledgement and popularity within many musical genres, such as rock, jazz, electronic dance music, classical and folk...
, with whom it collaborated on "'Sweet Intuition" and "Charlene".
In 1995, Handley and Turner left to focus on Plaid
Plaid (band)
Plaid is a London-based British electronic music duo comprising Andy Turner and Ed Handley. They are former members of The Black Dog and used many other names, such as Atypic and Balil , before settling on Plaid...
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 lineup
In 2001, Downie teamed up with Richard and Martin Dust, owners of the label Dust Science Recordings. Since then, they have started to play live again and have released eight EPs and four full-length albums on Dust Science. Their first album, Silenced, was released in 2005. The second, Radio Scarecrow, was released in 2008 and was very well received and nominated for DJ Mag’s Best of British 2008.The follow-up to Radio Scarecrow, Further Vexations, was released in 2009. It was described as having a dark cynicism of Orwellian
Orwellian
"Orwellian" describes the situation, idea, or societal condition that George Orwell identified as being destructive to the welfare of a free society...
practices of government and the passivity of the general public. "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.
In May 2010, the Black Dog teamed with creative agency "Human" to create Music For Real Airports, described by them as "a contemporary reply to Brian Eno
Brian Eno
Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...
's work
Music for Airports
Ambient 1: Music for Airports is an ambient album by Brian Eno released in 1978.-Overview:Music for Airports was the first of four albums released in Eno's "Ambient" series, a term which he coined to differentiate his minimalistic approach to the album's material and "the products of the various...
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."
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 BytesBytes (album)
Bytes is an album by Ed Handley, Andy Turner and Ken Downie, under the name Black Dog Productions.-Background:The album was released in 1993 and later re-released in 2005. Today, both Ed Handley and Andy Turner form part of Plaid while Ken Downie continues to produce music under Black Dog. All...
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
Psychick Warriors Ov Gaia
Psychick Warriors ov Gaia is a group of Dutch techno music producers from the town of Tilburg. It is also known as PWOG, Thee Disciples ov Gaia and Sluagh Ghairm, two of its members was affiliated to Thee Temple ov Psychick Youth...
on a new ambient project called Dadavistic Orchestra. Taking inspiration from the Dada
Dada
Dada or Dadaism is a cultural movement that began in Zurich, Switzerland, during World War I and peaked from 1916 to 1922. The movement primarily involved visual arts, literature—poetry, art manifestoes, art theory—theatre, and graphic design, and concentrated its anti-war politics through a...
artists of the early 1900's, Dadavistic Orchestra have issued an album and two EPs, offering limited edition gelatin silver prints
Gelatin silver print
Gelatin silver prints were the dominant photographic process nearly from the period of their introduction in the 1880s until the 1960s when they were eclipsed by consumer color photography. As such, the gelatin silver or black-and-white print represents a primary form of visual documentation in the...
in homage to avant-garde
Avant-garde
Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....
photographer
Photography
Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
Man Ray
Man Ray
Man Ray , born Emmanuel Radnitzky, was an American artist who spent most of his career in Paris, France. Perhaps best described simply as a modernist, he was a significant contributor to both the Dada and Surrealist movements, although his ties to each were informal...
with early copies sold via mail order .
Discography
Ken Downie with Martin Dust and Richard Dust:- 2011 Liber Chaos
- 2011 Liber Dogma
- 2011 Liber Nox
- 2011 Liber Temple
- 2011 Liber Kult
- 2010 Subject to Delays EP
- 2010 Thee Lounge EP
- 2010 Music for Real Airports
- 2010 Final Collected Vexations
- 2009 The Vexing Remixes
- 2009 We Are Sheffield EP
- 2009 Vexing EP
- 2009 Further Vexations
- 2008 Detroit Vs Sheffield EP
- 2008 Radio Scarecrow
- 2008 Set To Receive EP
- 2007 Floods EP
- 2007 Remixes 2
- 2007 Book of Dogma
- 2006 Riphead EP
- 2006 Thee Singles
- 2005 Silenced
- 2005 The Remixes EP
- 2005 Trojan Horus EP
- 2005 Remote Viewing EP
- 2005 Bite Thee Back EP
Ken Downie with Steve Ash and Ross Knight:
- 2003 Genetically Modified (with Black Sifichi, remixes from Unsavoury Products)
- 2002 Unsavoury Products (with Black Sifichi)
Ken Downie solo:
- 1998 Plan Black V Dog (with Gustavo CeratiGustavo CeratiGustavo Adrián Cerati Clark is an Argentine rock musician, singer-songwriter, composer and record producer. He was the frontman, lead vocalist, lead guitarist and lead songwriter of the Argentine rock band Soda Stereo, one of the most influential bands of latin rock music. In the early 90s, with...
's Plan V) - 1996 Music for Adverts (and Short Films)
Ken Downie with Ed Handley and Andy Turner:
- 1995 Parallel (re-released 2003)
- 1995 SpannersSpanners (album)Spanners is a music album by IDM artists Black Dog Productions which was released in 1995.-Track listing:# "Raxmus" – 3:03# "Bolt 1" – 0:27# "Barbola Work" – 6:42# "Bolt 2" – 0:27# "Psil-Cosyin" – 10:32...
- 1993 Temple of Transparent Balls (re-released 2003 and 2007)
- 1993 BytesBytes (album)Bytes is an album by Ed Handley, Andy Turner and Ken Downie, under the name Black Dog Productions.-Background:The album was released in 1993 and later re-released in 2005. Today, both Ed Handley and Andy Turner form part of Plaid while Ken Downie continues to produce music under Black Dog. All...
(reissued in 2005)
External links
- dustscience.com - The Black Dog's Label
- Music for Real Airports - Album review on Headphone Commute (Aug, 2010)