The Black Dog

The Black Dog (often credited with inventing IDM) began life as Ken Downie, with Ed Handley and Andy Turner (of Plaid), but for the past decade, Downie has been performing and recording under the moniker with Martin and Richard Dust. This release is a welcome return for the Black Dog, in the wake of 2010's conceptually interesting but musically underwhelming Music For Real Airports. The aim with Liber Dogma was to create a seamless album that reflected the kind of sets they play live in "big, dark rooms." Some tracks, like "Eden 353," still retain that delightfully noodly, Warp-like sound, but elsewhere the sound is more stripped down and sinister, especially "Drop Kick Kali," which sounds like the perfect sonic backdrop to a robot invasion. It's a great album of dark, hypnotic techno, more physical and danceable than the cerebral bedroom listening that IDM is typically known for.