"Further Vexations"
(Soma)
eight / ten
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THE BLACK DOG "Further Vexations" (Soma)
eight / ten |
Sheffield's The Black Dog make that kind of immersive, intense, brooding electronica and techno that was particularly en vogue in the mid to late nineties. They have remained steadfast to this discipline, amassing a singular and direct body of work - similar in scope if not sound to era-mates Autechre and Plaid - a vision which culminated in last year's eerie opus Radio Scarecrow.
That brilliant album was mostly overlooked outside of immediate electronic circles probably because the personalities behind it do not deviate from their chosen aesthetic to pursue commercial goals. The Black Dog are not, and have never tried to, be cool. Instead they plough their own, increasingly lone furrow.
This outsider status does however give them a creative freedom. They know their sound implicitly, and they have honed it to imperious levels. Further Vexations, the group say, is "an artistic response to the 21st century rat on your neighbour smokefree Britain". No shits and giggles here then, and no change of mien, but instead we have a dark, lonely, engrossing sonic dystopia, clinical and aloof, yet brimming with a timeless, vital intelligence. Lonely beats, detached glitches and mechanical rhythms create a stark picture of a fractured society, yet shards of boreal synths offer a glimmer of hope.
The Black Dog's world may be cold, but it is home.
Mark Keane
www.theblackdogma.com
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