the black dog - silenced
back after a few years of silence the dogs return to the fray with a gorgeous slice of ambient techno.
for many, the black dog represent the highpoint of the first wave of proper uk based techno, involving those classic early warp releases (bytes and spanners), high profile remixes, weird website fun and general avoidance of all things normal 'bands' go through to sell their wares. the black dog however like to do things a little differently. in 2005 the air of mystery remains as intact as ever, to such a degree i have absolutely no idea as to who makes up the collective anymore (in fact, one of my first online experiences back in the early 90's was reading an oldschool usenet newsgroup flame war re black dog and their internal falling out - which i believe have all now been resolved ?), but once the disc starts spinning you know that the name once again represents all that is right when i comes to machine made music.
atmospherically enhanced melodies are subjected to all manner of twisted beats and samples sometimes scratchy and disorientating, 'trojan horus [part 2]', sometimes all pure and scientific, 'lam vril'. of course, the track titles give little indication as to what it's all about and trying to listen closely to the fractured vocal samples sprinkled about the place becomes a fruitless task, and in all honesty, it really doesn't matter. the bass booms are massive, the synths are crystalline and shine with such clarity that it could eradicate my whole love of lo-fi production. over the course of the record there are no dips into the current electro revival with distorted analogue mess, there are no concessions to modern day grime grooves, or even any cross over vocalists, and that's all the better for it. the mood is primarily laid back, and, dare i say it, even ambient. this is a consistently inspired 60 minutes of dr who soundtrack audio with deft touches of cinematic grandeur. one minute the sound is all threatening and intense, like on the lovely titled 'truth benders d.i.e', and next it's travel show soundtrack beauty, as on the grand finale section, '4 3s 555'. the clean melodies of 'alt/return/dash/kill' recall the highpoints of orbitals playfulness with arpeggios, and matched against the deep dub like bass it had me digging in the archive for my old planet dog compilations, glorious.
if you too were knocked sideways by the black dogs sheer class and style in the early 90's, then i strongly urge you to track down their latest album, as this release proves that old dogs dont have to learn new tricks to remain essential, that is precisely what this album has become for me in recent times, essential.