The Black Dog

Influential Sheffield, U.K. electronic group 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 during the '90s, with the Warp-issued classics Bytes and Spanners in addition to remixes for Björk. After two of the founding members split in order to concentrate on their own group Plaid, Ken Downie continued the Black Dog with other musicians. Since 2005, the Black Dog's prolific output has focused on darker, more politically conscious techno and ambient. On 2023's The Grey Album, they paid tribute to their home city's electronic music legacy.