Tag Archives: The Black Dog

Switched On – The Black Dog – Loud Ambient (Dust Science Recordings)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story

‘Loud ambient’ is an ironic term The Black Dog coined for music that didn’t quite fit in with their series My Brutal Life – but also took on a humourous bent when they considered how they are seen in some circles as making purely ambient music.

As this album reminds us, that is emphatically not the case, and if anything proves their most instinctive form of music. For Loud Ambient began as a response to Rothko’s artwork, specifically his use of colour fields, blending, mood and scale. The band fed these responses through work on their beloved 909, 808 and 707 keyboards.

As the band say, during recording, “everything just fell into place creatively. Surprisingly for us, the tracklisting never changed, just small tweaks here and there. That rarely happens. It marks a first for us as a band. All the stars aligned and the confidence in this album is the strongest we have ever had.

Loud Ambient was made to dance to, something we have not done in a while. We welcome the return to the dancefloor with both hands. Will you join us?”

What’s the music like?

We will definitely join The Black Dog on the dancefloor if this is the music they are dancing to! The ten tracks are completely free of padding, really satisfyingly worked, instinctive and – as they say – confidently dispatched.

This is a strong set of energised electronic music with a bucketload of melodic interest, bolstered by chunky chords above the quicker beats. There are ambient hints of course, but the likes of They Came For My Head get on with things in a pretty lively fashion. The excellent Double Drop Nightmares nips along, while Reality Comes Crashing Back In charms with its chattering and bleeping, as does the amiable Rumination Romance.

Meanwhile the rich tones of Pamphlet offer warm comfort at the end.

Does it all work?

Yes – and it’s all hugely enjoyable. A real representation of fun had in the studio!

Is it recommended?

It is indeed. The Black Dog are incredibly prolific these days, but Loud Ambient is another example of just how consistently strong their work is, whether you’re in the hammock or on the dancefloor!

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Published post no.2,735 – Monday 1 December 2025

Switched On: The Black Dog – Music For Moore Street Substation (Dust Science Recordings)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

There is a lot of multiform art coming off The Black Dog’s production line at the moment, their Bandcamp page regularly refreshed with new ventures and creative projects. The latest is a limited CD and digital album release of the music accompanying their exhibition My Brutal Life.

For the showing they used the top floor of Moore Street Substation, a space ‘rarely open to the public and often shrouded in mystery’. Their soundcheck revealed the space had a natural reverberation of over 9.7 seconds, meaning the original soundtrack designed for My Brutal Life would not work in such a wide open setting. Therefore they set about a set comprising remixes of the original material and new pieces, ensuring viewers were comfortable as they moved around the space.

What’s the music like?

The reverberation problem has proved a benefit for listeners, for although the music in this sequence is simple in make-up it provides a very effective ambient set.

There is a thick ambience throughout, The Black Dog immediately reflecting the space in their music, either through slow and majestic chord sequences (The Light That Never Goes Out), twinkling motifs that pierce the gloom (Kirk Test Tones Sequence, Béton-Brut (Deconstructed), Hey Serry, The Jefferson Sheard Choir) or drone-based pieces with indistinct voices (Theme Of The Substation, The Mundane)

Elsewhere there are soft, reflective moments such as Busbar Connection and Villa Göth Calling, where the outlook is sombre and grey – but still with an appealing ambience.

Does it all work?

It does exactly what The Black Dog wanted, giving viewers space and perspective as they peruse the art.

Is it recommended?

It is – a complement to the original soundtrack and the visuals. They may be releasing a lot of music at the moment, but The Black Dog certainly aren’t stinting on quality.

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Switched On – The Black Dog: The Grey Album (Dust Science Recordings)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

For The Grey Album, The Black Dog have gone back to basics. Inspired by electronic bands such as Depeche Mode and The Human League in their early years, they went back to much older ways of working, with one keyboard per person and a strict limit imposed on the use of the computers.

These were the confines for an album that continues a rich stream of creativity for the Sheffield trio. Proud of their heritage, they are continuing to explore music and architecture simultaneously – and this latest opus taps into both art forms for its inspiration.

What’s the music like?

As its title implied, this is often an album of sombre colour – but there is also an impressive grandeur to the soundscapes The Black Dog conjure up.

That much is immediately evident from the stark outlines and imposing structure of Ghosts Of Decay, with steely synthesizer sounds reminiscent of the band’s city mates Cabaret Voltaire. As the beats arrive so too does an extra urgency, and the bumpy terrain of Let’s All Make Brutalism draws parallels with the trio’s love of 1980s architecture.

The faster tracks on this album are very impressive. Harder Times puts its pedal to the metal with an excellent, low slung groove, while the cleverly named (We Never Needed This) Fascist Groove Thang is excellent. Thee Difference Ov Girls drives forward with great purpose, as does the superb This Is Phil Talking and I Dare You. The last two are peppered with excellent riffs and generate great momentum – before the album subsides into the attractive coda, Borstal Communications sounding like the throb of steelpans.

Does it all work?

It does. The Black Dog are past masters at gauging the structure of an album and do so again here, moving effortlessly between mood and tempo and peaking with a couple of certified bangers.

Is it recommended?

Yes, enthusiastically – The Grey Album is a fine addition to The Black Dog discography, and confirmation that they are very much at the top of their game.

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Switched On – The Black Dog: Music For Dead Airports (Dust Science Recordings)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

This provocative title of a new EP release from Sheffield duo The Black Dog refers all the way back to Brian Eno’s celebrated four-part ambient work, Music For Airports – and also to the much more recent Music For Real Airports, a successful album from the duo released in 2010.

Here they present four tracks of a deeply personal nature, lamenting the demise of Sheffield’s two attempts at building lasting airports. The recordings were, in the duo’s words, “written in Sheffield airports, car parks and on the land where both once stood, channelling what should have been, instead of the feverish nightmares they became. Once again we find ourselves reflecting on the difference and why it has to be so.”

What’s the music like?

Dark, but also comforting in its ambience. The personal connection comes across, too, especially if you listen with the names of the airports in mind. Each of the four tracks is spread over a broad canvas – appropriate, given the sprawling nature of the sites under musical observation.

Mother Of Mine (GLA Airport) is first, based on a drone but with a slow oscillation between two principal pitches in the mid-treble. The variety comes from the slowly shifting bass and the changing shape of the field recordings in the middle ground.

The template set, the EP moves on to SHF Is Dead, which carries more worrisome feelings within its sharper tones, accentuated by the steady tread of the kick drum, revealing a dub influence. The bleak canvas of ISA DSA is up next, a true drone that gradually reveals more colour and solace as it opens out. Finally Sleep Deprivation Holiday presents a wall of sound, a drone that sounds like operating machinery but which offers an ambience all of its own.

Does it all work?

Yes – the four tracks work well as a thought-provoking sequence, and though they are describing man-made architecture there is a good deal of emotion at their core.

Is it recommended?

It is. The Black Dog continue to draw strong links between music and architecture, revealing in the process the emotion that is often unspoken when we talk about functional buildings. There is a certain beauty in their work, dark but also rather majestic – and because of this, Music For Dead Airports leaves a subtle but lasting impact.

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Switched On – The Black Dog: Music for Photographers (Dust Science Recordings)

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reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Over the last two years, The Black Dog have been documenting their home city of Sheffield in visual form. If you follow them on social media you will surely have seen some of the city’s brutalist architecture featuring in moody black and white. Those images came at a price though, for the duo had the frustration of having to revisit some of their subjects to get the optimum results.

What they needed was a restful soundtrack to help them deal with the frustration or the anguish of developing and choosing the right photos, and so Music For Photographers was born.

What’s the music like?

Over the course of their careers The Black Dog have shown themselves to be incredibly versatile in their music making. This album brings a slower style to the surface, but one that shows the intensity of their working.

Dust Bunnies creates a lovely space, on the bleak side to begin with but gradually revealing a warmer musical language. Sensor is open and beautifully weighted, while Norman Foster Knew sounds like an ancient slow chorale rendered on an old organ. Bokeh Bokeh Bokeh takes a slightly bumpy rhythm as the clouds gather, and it cuts straight to the excellent Re-Pho-Kuss with Oliver Ho, a slightly dubby but highly atmospheric track.

We Are All Memories holds its poise really nicely, suspended on a consoling chord, while by contrast Lightroom Lies, Darkroom Doom is a study in sonic displacement, its long held notes laden with menace and darkly ominous. The clouds do eventually clear a little, however, as the track enters its last quarter, and we end in a suspended nothingness, as though the sky has turned an unusual colour. Finally Lost In Lines enters a trance state, gently pulsing mid range still quite darkly shaded but offering consolation.

Does it all work?

It does. The Black Dog hold a very impressive poise throughout this album, and the statements are shot through with an elegance and intensity.

Is it recommended?

Yes – another successful long player to add to the impressively long list the Sheffield duo have now clocked up. Watching their development is proving to be a rewarding experience – if a slightly expensive one for fans because of their prolific form!

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