Albums
aus
Aidan Baker
Big Farm
The Black Dog
Blackshaw & Melnyk
Budhaditya Chattopadhyay
Clockwork
Matthew Collings
Coma
DJ Koze
Djrum
Eluvium
Fredda
Freska
Hanging Up The Moon
Jenny Hval
Jimpster
Rena Jones
Mark Lorenz Kysela
Leonhard + Red
Naph
Petrels
Piano Interrupted
Pursuit Grooves
David Rothenberg
Saltland
subtractiveLAD
Terminal Sound System
Andrew Weathers

Compilations / Mixes
Joy
Kumasi Music Volume 1
John Morales
One Point Three (A & B)
Maceo Plex
Soma Compilation 21
Steffi

EPs / Cassettes / Singles
Alter Echo & E3
Amiina
Badawi VS Ladyman
Bunnies & Bats
Diffraction of Sound EP
Gerwin
Heligoland
Hibea
The Monroe Transfer
Chris Octane
RSD
Katsunori Sawa
Andy Vaz

The Black Dog: Tranklements
Dust Science Recordings

Years ago, Ken Downie aligned with Ed Handley and Andy Turner to form Black Dog Productions before the two left to form Plaid. So it's hard to resist drawing comparisons between Plaid and The Black Dog, the latest incarnation featuring Downie plus Martin and Richard Dust (from Dust Science Recordings), and looking for connections between them. Tranklements, however, suggests that such an approach is misguided as the release succeeds perfectly well on its own terms and deserves to be broached as such.

Issued on Dust Science Recordings, Tranklements (a term, incidentally, that referes to a collection of oft-precious objects) is very much in the tradition, so to speak, of well-crafted electronic music (IDM if you prefer, even if the term is loathed in some quarters) in the classic Warp vein associated with an outfit like, yep, Plaid—something never more audible than in the album's penultimate track “Mind Object.” The release features sixteen tracks, with five miniatures, called “Bolts,” strategically positioned to aid or disrupt the transitions between the lengthier pieces.

After “Alien Boys” inaugurates the album on a somewhat low-key and brooding note, “Atavistic Resurgence” establishes Tranklements' general sound: polished in design and arrangement, the track undergirds its synthetic melodic flourishes with a tight (and typically tightly controlled) groove of clicking beats and bass throb. Equally rooted in melody and rhythm, The Black Dog's tracks have enough bounce and drive that they wouldn't sound out of place in a club setting, though they're hardly conceived exclusively for that context. Whether a short mechano vignette (“Bolt 3533f”) acid-house jam (“Pray Crash I”), or ponderous synthesizer-heavy meditation (“Spatchka”), they're clockwork jewels of construction and design that engage one's attention with their unusual noises and myriad twists.

May 2013