In the early 90s, many who couldn’t stomach rave’s hoover-barrage retreated to breakbeats and the other-worldly sounds still beaming in from Detroit. This gave birth to a new movement of UK techno which some called Intelligent. The Black Dog were at the forefront, sculpting ethereal Martian landscapes flecked with jazz and underpinned by their own brand of butt-tugging space-funk. Many will be grateful to The Dog’s new home Soma for this double CD set roping together those old twelves and selected tracks from 90s albums Parallel, Bytes and Spanners. They go for stupid money and timeless classics like ‘Virtual’ and ‘Erb’ seemed destined to be forever locked in some untouchable Dog pound. Tracks like ‘Vanttool’, ‘Parallel’ and ‘Squelch’ could still rock a floor but it went a lot deeper than that and, ultimately, it’s this sense of gorgeous melody and constantly foraging for the next juicy bone that elevates the Black Dog up there with the music’s greats. Plus it means I can come up with more lines about cocking a leg and squirting sonic gold, the bitch is back and so on. They probably summed it up when they called a track ‘Ambience With Teeth’. Essential history lesson, but much of this is still revelatory.
5 Out Of 5
Reviewed By: Kris Needs
