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Reccomend Me Black Dog?
 

offline Zeus from San Francisco (United States) on 2004-01-12 02:48 [#01028813]
Points: 14042 Status: Lurker



So, yeah, I'd like to pick up a Black Dog album... but I
don't know whats the best (or availible... they are hard to
find yeah?)

I really like some of plaids work, but it seems kind of hit
or miss at times, and according to what I've heard, Black
Dog is killer?

Any help would be greatly appriciated!


 

offline bill_hicks from my city is amazing it is calle on 2004-01-12 02:50 [#01028816]
Points: 4286 Status: Lurker



1. Bytes
2. Spanners
3. Temple of Transparent Balls
4. Parallel

Forget the rest. They are shit.


 

offline Zeus from San Francisco (United States) on 2004-01-12 02:51 [#01028817]
Points: 14042 Status: Lurker



thank you sir


 

offline bill_hicks from my city is amazing it is calle on 2004-01-12 02:51 [#01028818]
Points: 4286 Status: Lurker | Followup to Zeus: #01028817



no problem, my old friend.


 

offline tolstoyed from the ocean on 2004-01-12 02:52 [#01028819]
Points: 50073 Status: Moderator



i'd go for bytes as well. their sound is quite close to
plaid i'd say...i like black dog a bit more tho.


 

offline THAXFA from Hähnlein (Germany) on 2004-01-12 03:31 [#01028822]
Points: 1163 Status: Lurker



Unsavery Products...like that one....great !


 

offline Refund from Melbourne (Australia) on 2004-01-12 04:33 [#01028868]
Points: 7824 Status: Lurker



I have bytes and spanners,

I like them both

spanners I think has more long term likability

wheras bytes is instantly likeable


 

offline Zeus from San Francisco (United States) on 2004-01-12 04:36 [#01028870]
Points: 14042 Status: Lurker



would you say black dog is as melodic as some of the plaid
work? is it glitchy? downtempo?

i mean, I really know nothing about these releases... except
its the 2 guys from plaid (plus others?) and sound similiar
(if not better)


 

offline Jarworski from The Grove (United Kingdom) on 2004-01-12 04:36 [#01028871]
Points: 10836 Status: Lurker



I recommend you stick with Plaid and ignore Black Dog
altogether. But that's just me.


 

offline Zeus from San Francisco (United States) on 2004-01-12 04:39 [#01028875]
Points: 14042 Status: Lurker | Followup to Jarworski: #01028871



how come?


 

offline Jarworski from The Grove (United Kingdom) on 2004-01-12 04:40 [#01028876]
Points: 10836 Status: Lurker | Followup to Zeus: #01028875



I just don't like em. I like some earlier IDM but BD just
don't do it for me at all. The latter half of Trainer isn't
too bad, and Angry Dolphin is of course a classic, but the
rest of it I just... nah.


 

offline Zeus from San Francisco (United States) on 2004-01-12 04:41 [#01028877]
Points: 14042 Status: Lurker | Followup to Jarworski: #01028876



well, this isn't too reassuring, because if Im not mistaken,
you are a big plaid fan


 

offline Jarworski from The Grove (United Kingdom) on 2004-01-12 04:46 [#01028883]
Points: 10836 Status: Lurker | Followup to Zeus: #01028877



Yeah, huge... but I did get into Plaid first and worked
backwards. I took to Plaid instantly and really like their
typical sounds a la Double Figure. When I got Trainer I was
like... "Yuk, what the fuck is this?". I downloaded the BD
albums and got rid shortly after... it's not for me, but
that's not to say it's not for everyone, as Bytes is
consistently named as one of the best "IDM" albums ever on
here, often by people who probably know better than I do.


 

offline tolstoyed from the ocean on 2004-01-12 05:10 [#01028904]
Points: 50073 Status: Moderator



black dog sound a lot like plaid, their sound is the same
but the beats are more straight...basically :)


 

offline Refund from Melbourne (Australia) on 2004-01-12 05:19 [#01028910]
Points: 7824 Status: Lurker



bytes sounds all jumpy and happy, almost like plaid 'cross'
early idm 'cross' jazz

the other cd I have,.. spanners, also has the oldschool idm
'cross' jazz thing happening, but with some tirbal beats
added in, like hte sort of stuff you expect them to be
playing in some egyptian jungle


 

offline THAXFA from Hähnlein (Germany) on 2004-01-12 06:09 [#01028964]
Points: 1163 Status: Lurker



sorry but i don't think so....the hole blackdog thing is
more heavier than the plaids.....i would say Techno,
downbeat


 

offline bob from Nottingham (United Kingdom) on 2004-01-12 06:25 [#01028978]
Points: 4669 Status: Lurker



black dog are far better than plaid. bytes, paralell and
spanners are essential. anything after is not.


 

offline goDel from ɐpʎǝx (Seychelles) on 2004-01-12 08:31 [#01029073]
Points: 10225 Status: Lurker



new plaid vs. black dog's bytes is like standard N64 games
vs. classic NES games. it looks/sounds a bit dated but it's
still an evergreen and could easily beat 90% of current
available games/music. and although at first listen it may
sound a bit simple it is possibly the most intricate music
around.

spanners idem minus the 'sounds a bit dated' and it sounds
less like plaid; its more trippy and relaxed.
if you want to buy black dog albums, these two are a must.


 

offline plaidzebra from so long, xlt on 2004-01-12 11:00 [#01029268]
Points: 5678 Status: Lurker



bill hicks is right on this one. if you only buy one, it
should be "bytes," and if two, the second should be
"spanners." then temple, then "parallel."

i'm astonished that anyone who likes plaid doesn't like
"bytes."


 

offline Skink from A cesspool in eden on 2004-01-12 11:09 [#01029286]
Points: 7483 Status: Lurker



Bytes is a corker! Really nice melodic textures
andconstruction very advanced for it's time.


 

offline evolume from seattle (United States) on 2004-01-12 11:33 [#01029313]
Points: 10965 Status: Regular



bytes is my fav black dog but the dated-ness of it is too
much for me to ignore so i rarely listen to any black dog.
so i think I'm with Jarworski on this one.


 

offline plaidzebra from so long, xlt on 2004-01-12 11:47 [#01029341]
Points: 5678 Status: Lurker



i understand that it's important to some that music not
sound dated, but doesn't all music reflect the time and
context of its creation? tracks that are made ten years ago
sound like it, especially with the subsequent rapid
development of technology and applications in music
recording. doesn't all music that's more than a few years
old sound dated in some way? does "dated" really mean
"unfashionable," or is "dated" just a way of saying that you
no longer appreciate a particular sound and style? of
course almost all kraftwerk sounds extremely dated, but i
have difficulty in understanding exactly why that should be
a reason not to like kraftwerk...


 

offline onecaseman from Chicago (United States) on 2004-01-12 14:25 [#01029558]
Points: 374 Status: Lurker



Bytes is freakin' incredible. I need to get Spanners, but
Plaid has no involvement on that one right?


 

offline evolume from seattle (United States) on 2004-01-12 14:31 [#01029571]
Points: 10965 Status: Regular | Followup to plaidzebra: #01029341



i guess i never really appreciated Black Dog stuff. and as
time and technology has progressed, i appreciate it less and
less. Plaid, on the other hand i have always liked. It is
less house, dub, techno sounding. the beats and melodies
are more interesting.

but i'm generally not a fan of Dub or techno or house music
anyway and while Bytes is good, i think a lot of other music
has ruined that sound for me. hence, it sounds dated.

on the other hand, i still love a lot of older bands who's
music has aged more gracefully. like Pink Floyd for
example. or early NIN and Skinny Puppy. Or early Hip Hop
like KRS1.


 

offline plaidzebra from so long, xlt on 2004-01-12 14:44 [#01029603]
Points: 5678 Status: Lurker



i think pink floyd etc has aged gracefully for you because
you like it for what it is...

nutshell: spanners is the last album with plaid's
involvement, and the only album proper (bytes, temple, and
parallel are all compilations of various records by the core
trio of plaid and ken (who carried on as bd after ed and
andy of plaid left)).



 

offline glass_eater from a blind nerves area (Switzerland) on 2004-01-12 14:48 [#01029617]
Points: 4904 Status: Regular



a black bitch


 

offline revpersona from Plainfield (United States) on 2004-01-12 14:58 [#01029640]
Points: 3167 Status: Lurker | Followup to Zeus: #01028813



Good call on picking up some Black Dog...they are true
pioneers to this style of music and are always overlooked by
7\fx and AE, yet they were around first.

Anyway, I'd pick up the albums in this order:

Bytes
Temple of Transparent Balls
Parallel
Spanners

All three are 'true' albums, except Parallel, which is a
collection of their early 12's from the late 80's and early
90's (which has great songs, but it was really a corner
cutter, and is rather cheaply made and mastered). 'Bytes'
is an album as well, but each member worked seperately for
the most part, hence the different aliases (on top of the
fact they didn't want to breach contract with GPR). So
basically they had two 'true' albums where they worked
together, besides their various EPs.

Phobiazero: If your reading this would you please respond,
or perhaps I should E-Mail you....I've got a hunch about a
certain board member whom you may or may not be aware of,
just want to run it past you to see.


 

offline The_Funkmaster from St. John's (Canada) on 2004-01-12 15:00 [#01029644]
Points: 16280 Status: Lurker



I should check out Black Dog too... can never have too much
melodic electronic music!


 

offline plaidzebra from so long, xlt on 2004-01-12 15:21 [#01029698]
Points: 5678 Status: Lurker



revpersona is right, i was mistaken, temple and bytes should
be considered proper albums. i could've sworn many tracks
from each album saw independent 12" and EP release prior to
the albums, but that's apparently not the case...


 

offline revpersona from Plainfield (United States) on 2004-01-12 21:31 [#01030512]
Points: 3167 Status: Lurker | Followup to plaidzebra: #01029698



Yeah, I remember a ways back I thought they might of
released the songs on 'Bytes' and 'Temple of Transparent
Balls' seperately because Ed and Andy released some material
on ART using their aliases. Although, I believe 'Cost II'
from 'Temple.....' had a 12' released before the album.

What I'd give to see Ed start back up 'Balil.'


 

offline hevquip from megagram dusk sect (United States) on 2004-01-12 21:34 [#01030516]
Points: 3381 Status: Regular



black dog = plaid makes soft techno


 

offline Ophecks from Nova Scotia (Canada) on 2004-01-12 21:35 [#01030517]
Points: 19190 Status: Moderator | Show recordbag



Bytes is awesome, I think it's better than the comtemporary
stuff RDJ was doing at that time. Fun shit. It sounds aged,
but endearingly so. I do like Plaid a bit more though.


 

offline Phobiazero from the next Xltronic (Sweden) on 2004-01-13 11:13 [#01031244]
Points: 10507 Status: Webmaster | Followup to revpersona: #01029640 | Show recordbag



revpersona: please e-mail me, mate.


 

offline revpersona from Plainfield (United States) on 2004-01-19 23:31 [#01041293]
Points: 3167 Status: Lurker | Followup to Phobiazero: #01031244



Sorry, just saw this...I'll get you tomorrow with that
Email.


 

offline Erronous from Netherlands, The on 2004-01-20 01:53 [#01041414]
Points: 2519 Status: Lurker



i've listened to the warp-net samples of spanners but
actually i like temple of transparent balls more. Maybe
that's because i've heard that one more often... what do
you think is best?


 

offline str_ph from Cambridge (United Kingdom) on 2004-01-20 02:11 [#01041435]
Points: 779 Status: Regular



I have this 2 mp3s about 1 hour long each. They are called
Plaid, Balil, Blackdog live side A/B and even if I never
managed to get the tracklisting or the origin of it ; I
think it's one of the best ambient techno live set ever...

If anyone can help me find the true story behind this
mp3s... It's the third of fourth time I post this request on
xlt ; I hope this time is the good one.


 

offline Phobiazero from the next Xltronic (Sweden) on 2004-01-20 02:37 [#01041448]
Points: 10507 Status: Webmaster | Followup to str_ph: #01041435 | Show recordbag



interesting.... send me a mail about it. i'd like to compare
it with my current set of black dog liveshows.


 

offline str_ph from Cambridge (United Kingdom) on 2004-01-20 02:56 [#01041461]
Points: 779 Status: Regular



I said everything before: plaid + blackdog + balil live 97.

side A : 56 min 33 sec
side B : 56 min 18 sec

I'm pretty sure it's a legit live (vocoded voices saying
blackdog at 5min side B...)but once again it can be
mislabelled mp3s.


 

offline revpersona from Plainfield (United States) on 2004-01-20 10:26 [#01041757]
Points: 3167 Status: Lurker | Followup to str_ph: #01041461



Hmmm....I don't think Ed and Andy were still part of The
Black Dog in 1997....

Unless Ken had rights to use Ed and Andy's songs from their
aliases? I dunno, I'd have to hear it, lemme know if you
get that up on slsk.


 

offline str_ph from Cambridge (United Kingdom) on 2004-01-21 04:09 [#01042495]
Points: 779 Status: Regular | Followup to revpersona: #01041757



It's inferred by the title that Plaid and Blackdog are 2
different entities. I can't remember which one of Ed or Andy
is Balil and I'm not really familiar with the early albums
but I didn't regonize any of the tracks on the recordings
but the style is def. Blackdog.

I'm sharing the first part on slsk now.


 

offline RedSky from Chicago (United States) on 2004-05-04 15:03 [#01173213]
Points: 139 Status: Addict



"Bytes is freakin' incredible. I need to get Spanners, but
Plaid has no involvement on that one right? "

Plaid is two thirds of the three people who made that album.
Same with Bytes, although in Bytes I believe they all worked
more independently.

Spanners is an absolutely essential album. It's easily as
good as anything else on Warp, ever... certainly as good as
the best Plaid.



 

offline Schika from Heidelberg (Germany) on 2004-06-29 21:02 [#01260810]
Points: 458 Status: Lurker



Spanners is a abolutely must have album.


 

offline weltact from Taiwan on 2004-06-29 21:06 [#01260815]
Points: 1258 Status: Regular | Followup to Schika: #01260810



definitely

after ten years it still kickz azz!


 

offline SPD from United States on 2004-06-29 22:47 [#01260852]
Points: 1090 Status: Moderator | Show recordbag



i've been a huge Black Dog/Plaid fan for probably close to
nine years and my finally 12" (Age of Slack EP) is in the
mail to me now.

i'd really have to say their two highest quality albums
were:

Temple of Transparent Balls
Parallel

basically the two GPR albums. Parallel is 2 1/2 GPR EPs of
material - the Parallel Squelch EP, the Vanttool EP and 2
tracks from the 4 track Vir²l EP. GPR also put out a 5
track version of that EP called Vir²l Remix that had one
extra Virtual remix not even done by them.

Bytes is good as far as the Balil (Ed) and Close, Up, Over
(Andy) tracks were concerned, but it never did for me what
the GPR albums did. Spanners i always thought was better
than Bytes as well, but that was my first Black Dog purchase
ever.

as far as single go the best are:

Virtual EP
Age of Slack EP
The Black Dog EP
Parallel Squelch EP
Vanttool EP
Black Dog Productions EP (as Black Dog Productions)

there are others but i like them less.

The Black Dog Peel Session did envolve all three members.



 

offline revpersona from Plainfield (United States) on 2004-06-29 23:03 [#01260855]
Points: 3167 Status: Lurker



Are you sure Andy was Close, Up, and Over? I'm pretty sure
that was Ken....although, I could be wrong....


 

offline SPD from United States on 2004-06-30 15:12 [#01261346]
Points: 1090 Status: Moderator | Show recordbag



Ken was all of the odd one offs. he was Xeper, I.A.O. and
Discordian Popes.

i take it back. Ed alone was Balil and Close Up Over.

Andy by himself was Plaid and Atypic.

this is what was stated a while back on either the offical
Black Dog site or the offical Plaid site. Discogs.com says
something else but they are wrong (shocking).

i think Ed's work was the best of Bytes. the Andy's Atypic
track was very good as well.


 

offline revpersona from Plainfield (United States) on 2004-06-30 21:58 [#01261726]
Points: 3167 Status: Lurker



Are you serious Ed was Close, Up, and Over? I always
thought discogs had it right, because back awhile ago I read
the same on Plaid's site. And yes you are right, the Plaid
track is just Andy alone (discogs is wrong there). I
remember Ed stating that Andy was the one who came up with
the name. That's crazy if that's true about Ed. Because
without a doubt the Balil tracks are the best, followed by
the Close, Up, and Over. As much as I love Plaid, what I'd
give to hear Ed do some more solo work.


 

offline weltact from Taiwan on 2004-06-30 22:17 [#01261733]
Points: 1258 Status: Regular



wow
im amazed
i always thought i knew a lot about plaid :)


 

offline bogala from NYC (United States) on 2004-06-30 22:36 [#01261741]
Points: 5125 Status: Regular



Raxmus is "THE" black dog track


 

offline SPD from United States on 2004-07-01 01:54 [#01261815]
Points: 1090 Status: Moderator | Show recordbag



yeah Ed is the man, though oddly enough i was never to into
his Parasight EP nor the split EP Pure Plastic 005 w/ his
track "Nine Open".

the Atypic stuff was the best stuff from the Black Dog
Productions EP. i had noticed that the tracklisting on both
Rising High EPs were wrong. they have the sides switched as
to which tracks were which.


 


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