Archives

Babylon (Remastered)

Posted on 4th September 2026 in Releases

I don’t remember talking to Ken about this album very much. I do remember his manager sending me the album and singles, along with a bit of chat about the quality of Jimmy Cauty’s remixes. Beyond that, it was one of those records that quietly appeared and then slowly disappeared again.

Looking back, this feels like Ken’s second solo Black Dog album. It has always sat slightly outside the main Black Dog story and, because of that, it never seemed to receive the attention it deserved. Over the years it became increasingly difficult to find, and for many people it simply vanished.

We’re making it available again because it deserves to be heard. We also want Ken’s work to remain available as a complete archive, rather than leaving important releases scattered across deleted CDs, out of print vinyl and disappearing digital services.

One thing that has always puzzled us is why the release ended up consisting mostly of remixes of Ken’s original recordings. We’ve spoken to people involved at the time, but nobody seems able to remember exactly how or why that decision was made. The original DAT tapes are still safely stored away and, one rainy day, we may return to them and finally release the original versions as they were first recorded.

Originally released on Warner ESP in 1998, Babylon became one of the last projects that Ofra Haza worked on before her untimely death on 23 February 2000. Her voice, combined with Ken’s production, created something that still sounds unlike anything else from that period.

A few years after its release, Ken reflected on the project and said:

“Out of everything I’ve ever done, I think the Babylon project is the one thing that I’m most proud of.”

Free for our Patreon supporters, sign-up and download now at:
https://www.patreon.com/theblackdogma

Buy Direct:
DustStore.com
The Black Dog @ Bandcamp

Stream
Spotify
Apple Music
Tidal
Amazon Music
Deezer

Fragments (Remastered) – Shipping 7/11/2025

Posted on 8th October 2025 in Releases

Completely remastered and pressed to limited edition double vinyl, for the first time, and now with 6 extra bonus tracks.

Pre-Order Now:
DustStore.com
Bandcamp

“Fragments was a completely new way of working for us. We’ve always worked with an internal brief, creating documents, pictures and videos, simply because keeping an idea on track with three individuals can be difficult. It’s easy for someone to be edged out of the creative process when the focus is not clearly defined.

It’s a formula we’ve used since the early 2000s, but things have changed a lot since then, particularly when we decided to dip our collective toes into supporter memberships with Patreon. It made us think about what we could do directly for our supporters rather than just the next album or project. At first, the whole thing felt odd and uncomfortable, but we decided that we’d try a few things and ask for feedback.

“Fragments” was initially a way for us to see how we could include others in an ongoing creative process. There was no over-arching concept, no defined characteristics or purpose, just the promise that there would be at least one new track for members to download every month. Consequently, we never knew what was coming next, so the old, very focused working method was irrelevant. It was difficult for us to let individual tracks go without knowing what was coming next, but this also made the project more interesting.

And then C19 hit and we were forced to continue the project remotely from our home studios. As difficult as the disruption was, it was during this period that we realised we could re-organise and remaster the individual tracks into a coherent album, capturing a specific moment in time and drawing a line under the first phase of the project.

Like our “Allegory” EPs, we’ve tried to keep everything stripped back. We used to hide many subtle elements within the layers, but not so much this time.

Fragments is our journey through many changes, both self-imposed and those imposed upon us, and it ultimately led us to create things differently. We hope you like it.”

Ships on the 7th of November 2025.

Further Vexations (Remastered) – Out Now

Posted on 14th February 2025 in Releases

Our 2009 album “Further Vexations” has been remastered at Abbey Road and reissued as digital downloads, streaming, CD and a limited edition 2×12″ purple vinyl.

Our supporters over at Patreon can get the downloads free right now, and the physical objects can be ordered right now:
DustStore.com
Bandcamp

Out In The World:
Kompakt
Juno.co.uk
Juno Download
Boomkat
Bleep
Norman Records
Rough Trade
Spotify
Apple Music
Beatport
Deezer
traxsource
Amazon

Further Details:
Full details and previews at Dust Science

Further Vexations (Remastered) – February 2025

Posted on 14th January 2025 in Releases

Our 2009 album “Further Vexations”, has been remastered and recut at Abbey Road Studios, and is available to order now on digital download, CD and a very limited edition 2×12″ coloured vinyl pressing. Shipping on the 14th February 2025.

Order Now:
DustStore.com
Bandcamp

Further Vexations picks up from what was started in Radio Scarecrow, moving beyond the world of open secrets and the bemusing transmissions of number stations, to exploring the dark cynicism of Orwellian practices carried out by our Governments, institutions and corporations.

Martin Dust from tBd explained, “Our main concern was and still is the amount of personal freedoms being surrendered under the banner of “for your own safety” – CCTV, Biometrics and the World Wide Databases being the latest inventions to save us from ourselves. What is it going to take for people to wake up? How much further can the people we’ve put into power go before something finally snaps? We’ve had enough now! We believe that people have become lazy and accepting of “beige” political parties who have realised if they stand for nothing, people will fall for anything.”

10 years on, the references to George Orwell’s 1984 appear to be naive and wholly inadequate. From billion-dollar corporate entities openly mishandling our data for profit to highly targeted and manipulative political propaganda campaigns, the misuse of our data and communications is far more sophisticated and devious than originally envisaged.

The stark omens of Further Vexations are now more prophetic than ever.

Silenced (Remastered) – Out Now

Posted on 14th April 2024 in Releases

The remastered version of Silenced is out now and ready for immediate download. If you’re after a tasty real-world object, then the CD and a lovely, exclusive double orange vinyl edition, are shipping now. The first 400 orders of the vinyl or CD from us will get the bonus art poster and sticker set. There are a few left at the time of writing, so get in quick.

Order direct with exclusive bonus extras:
DustStore.com
Bandcamp

And of course, our lovely supporters at Patreon can get the downloads right now. You can join too and get all of the recent releases, just for the price of a nice beer:
https://www.patreon.com/theblackdogma

In The Rest Of The World
Kompakt
Boomkat
Juno Download
Norman Records
Bleep
Spotify
Apple Music
Beatport
Deezer
traxsource

Silenced (Remastered) – Pre-Order Now

Posted on 1st March 2024 in Releases

Almost two decades on from its initial release, Silenced has been remastered and re-issued for digital download, streaming, CD and a lovely new limited edition, double 12″ vinyl package. Available to order now and shipping on the 12th of April 2024.

Order Now:
DustStore.com
Bandcamp

In the enigmatic realm of electronic music, The Black Dog stands as a visionary act, responsible for crafting, among other things, the mesmerising album “Silenced”. Notably, this release marks a significant milestone in the band’s evolution, being the first album from the new line-up and their collaboration with the fledgling label Dust Science.

Defying industry norms, The Black Dog embodies a Do-It-Yourself (DIY) ethos. Their artistic journey remains steadfast, with a commitment to originality and creative freedom, unfettered by the limitations imposed by the commercial music industry.

The record label Dust Science takes pride in championing The Black Dog’s musical prowess, with its first release being the band’s 4-track EP “Bite Thee Back”. However, this EP was only a prototype for the revitalised collective, eventually leading to the composition of Silenced, which followed soon after.

This creative period denotes a fresh start for The Black Dog, a testament to their resilience and a commitment to evolving their sound. The resulting album represents a new beginning, celebrating and transcending the echoes of the past. It redefines the band’s sonic landscape and establishes a distinct musical narrative that resonates with dedicated followers and newcomers alike.

Radio Scarecrow (2023 Remaster) – Out Now

Posted on 19th November 2023 in Releases

Our 2008 album Radio Scarecrow has been remastered and recut to a lovely pair of red 12″ vinyl and CD, both now available to order from DustStore.com and Bandcamp:
https://www.duststore.com/pages/radio-scarecrow-2023-remaster
https://theblackdog.bandcamp.com/album/radio-scarecrow-remastered

Our supporters on Patreon can download the remastered digital files for free, right now:
https://www.patreon.com/theblackdogma

Bytes & Spanners (They’re Back!)

Posted on 15th June 2023 in Releases

Bytes & Spanners – two fan favourites that we’ve endured endless questions about over the years.

Finally, they’ve been lovingly remastered and repressed with some tasty new vinyl cuts. If you’d like a little piece of our history, go get your order in now. They’ll ship on the 4th of August 2023.

Bytes
The third album in the Artificial Intelligence series, Bytes was originally released in 1993 and this reissue marks the 30th anniversary. Black Dog Productions were Ed Handley, Andy Turner and Ken Downie. For this record, Handley, Turner and Downie appear under various guises: Atypic, Balil, I.A.O, Close Up Over, Xeper, Discordian Popes and Plaid.

DustStore.com
Bandcamp

Spanners
Originally released in 1995, Spanners is the second album from The Black Dog and their first for Warp Records. In 2017 it was selected by Pitchfork as one of ‘The 50 Best IDM Albums of All Time’. The reissue will be the first time the vinyl is available since its original pressing in 1995. After this release the original trio of Ed Handley, Andy Turner and Ken Downie went their separate ways – Handley and Turner formed Plaid, whilst Downie carried on with The Black Dog name, initially by himself, and latterly with the assistance of brothers Martin and Richard Dust.

DustStore.com
Bandcamp

Music For Real Airports – Repress On Dust Science

Posted on 2nd December 2022 in Releases

Our 2010 album “Music For Real Airports” has been re-pressed and re-issued on Dust Science. We have a lovely limited edition package comprising of 3 x 12″ records, pressed on 180g heavy-weight vinyl, using brand new, great-sounding lacquers from Air Studios. Along with this, we’ve also re-pressed the CD and got a tasty special edition cassette.

Released on the 20th of January 2023, pre-order at:
DustStore.com
Bandcamp

Music for Real Airports is a multimedia art project and album by electronic musicians The Black Dog and interactive artists Human. It is a response to the reality and experience of airports and air travel. It’s also a contemporary reply to Brian Eno’s idealistic ambient works from the 1970s.

The Intent
Airports are important and revealing. They are dystopian microcosms of a possible future society. The necessity of safety requires that they be systems of human control which only elevate the stress of their transient occupiers. Airports promise travel, exploration and excitement but endlessly break that promise with their stale, tedious pressure. They are intense and overwhelming environments. Anyone who travels by air will have been puzzled by the way that airports tend to reduce us to worthless pink blobs of flesh, the human equivalent of the bags on the conveyor belt. Yet despite the frustration of being in that atmosphere, some of the best aspects of human nature are revealed, alongside some of the very worst.

Airports make for great “people-watching”. Airports have some of the glossiest surfaces in modern culture but the fear underneath remains. Unlike Eno’s Music for Airports, this is not an album to be used by airport authorities to pacify their customers. It’s not a utilitarian accompaniment to airports, in the sense of reinforcing the false utopia and fake idealism of air travel.

The Album
The resulting album is bittersweet, enveloping and engaging the listener. It is ambient in tone but highly focused. This is not sonic mush, nor is it adolescent noise. Much of the raw material was made in airports over a three-year period. While on tour, The Black Dog made 200 hours of field recordings, much of which was processed and combined with new music in the airport itself, waiting for the next flight. This vast archive was slowly distilled into a set of particularly evocative pieces of music. Composed in large degree of methodical drones, there is little in the way of beats until halfway through – yet rhythm is plentiful within the buzzing synthetic warmth.

This record is not necessarily a comfortable listen, it captures the spectrum of emotions stirred by airports. There may be tension and disappointment, but there is also romance and excitement.