The Black Dog was originally the collaborative project
of Ken Downie, Ed Handley and Andy Turner. The latter
two already had released a handful underground releases
as Plaid. The first
notable appearance from the trio was on the original
1992 Artificial Intelligence compilation from
Warp, followed a few months later by the seminal album
Bytes. Presented as a compilation of artists,
including Plaid, Xeper, Atypic. Balil or I.A.O, Bytes
combined classic Detroit-infused techno sound with atmospheric
electronic textures and complex rhythmic structures,
at times clearly influenced by hip-hop. This debut album,
which compiled a series of previous EPs, propelled The
Black Dog right at the top of the burgeoning British
electronica movement alongside other Warp stalwarts
such as Autechre,
B12 or LFO. A few months
later, The Black Dog reappeared on GRP with their first
album proper, Temple Of Transparent Balls,
and confirmed the band’s position as one of the
most visionary acts around. The last album released
as a trio, Spanners, showed a more eclectic
sound and approach as Downie, Handley and Turner expanded
on their original electronic main frame.
With Turner and Handley gone to revive Plaid,
Downie was left sole in charge of the Dog. The release
of Music For Adverts (And Short Films), barely
a few months after the split, signalled a tangible new
direction for the project. Although the original techno
and ambient elements still ran throughout this album,
Downie appeared to leave the complexity of previous
recordings behind and introduced a more immediate feel
to his music. Followed sporadic EPs, including one with
Israeli singer Ofra Haza, as well as countless remixes
for artists as diverse as The
Creatures, Marilyn Manson and Laurent Garnier.
Ken Downie, this time with Martin and Richard Dust as
full time members, seemingly returns to the essence
of the Black Dog sound and pretty much reinvent it in
the process. If recent EPs Bite Thee Back and
Trojan Horus appeared to explore a wide musical
scope, from vintage techno to dark organic ambient,
Silenced is a more focused affair. Developed
over eighteen tracks in just under an hour, the running
themes of this album are that of tortured soundscapes,
dark back alleys electronica and intricate textures.
Silenced snakes its way down the subconscious,
infiltrates the mind and refuses to come out. Elements
of old style acid and electro collide with more contemporary
forms of electronica and occasional Middle Eastern influences
to form an extremely dense and inspiring soundtrack.
Often dark and threatening, the soundscapes presented
here serve as stunning backdrops to gentle melodies,
often developing over the course of a whole track.
The album opens with the two-parter Trojan Horus,
which sets the mood for the rest of the record. While
the first part is a rather straightforward slow-moving
piece, part two introduces a more complex sonic structure,
based on hip-hop beat and vocal samples. The album then
appears to move within these boundaries, with Downie
and the Dust brothers perfectly containing each track
while developing it to full extend. Tracks such as Lam
Vril, Alt/Return/Dash/Kill, Remote
Viewing or Gummi Void are sumptuous compositions
in the purest Black Dog tradition that also manage to
sound extremely modern and fresh.
Silenced also revives the Black Dog tradition
of having short, yet fully formed, interludes inserted
in between longer tracks, especially referring to the
Bolt series found on Spanners, with
Bolt 23 Blue Screen Ov Death, Bolt 777
Ordinary Boy and Bolt 33 Glitch & Chin.
Although lasting between thirty seven seconds and one
minute and two seconds, these three tracks appear to
articulate different sections of this album together,
from the stern first section of this album to the more
upbeat second part to the closing section, providing
some additional textures to an already very consistent
record.
With this first full-length outing for The Black Dog
cuvée 2005, Ken Downie and Martin and Richard
Dust have created an impressive collection of classic
electronic moments. While not negating at any point
previous work, they comfortably manage to bring the
legendary sound of The Black Dog into the twenty-first
century. The Dog is anything BUT silenced!
4.7/5 |
