The Black Dog
About
One of the most influential English electronic groups of all time, Sheffield's the Black Dog played an indispensable role in establishing techno as home listening, as opposed to music created strictly for dance clubs.
First surfacing in 1989 with a series of self-released EPs, their work was heavily influenced by Detroit techno and electro, but their inclusion of complex, often breakbeat-heavy rhythms and playful melodies set them apart from the rest of the electronic scene.
They received their greatest exposure through several releases on Warp. After two of the founding members split in order to concentrate on their own group Plaid, Ken Downie continued the Black Dog as a solo project. Since 2005 the group's prolific output has focused on darker, more politically conscious techno and ambient.