Temple of Transparent Balls

'Temple of Transparent Balls' was the first album released by The Black Dog on the avant-garde, forward-thinking GPR label in 1993, two years before their signing with Warp Records. At this time the album was a blueprint for the emerging UK techno scene and even to this day sounds as futuristic as ever. Lost in time, the album has now been refreshed and given a new lease of life in the digital age, completely remastered, playing to new ears, finding new fans, and at the same time carrying nostalgia for those already familiar with The Black Dog sound. Tracks like '4,7,8' display the side of Black Dog that loves to experiment and play with the listener's expectations. With the track in a 7/8 time signature, an alien concept to much of dance music, you find yourself drawn in by the complexity of the rhythms and mesmerised by the haunting melody. Meanwhile, tracks like the breakbeat madness that is 'Mango' and 'The Actor And Audience' exhibit a playfulness to The Black Dog's work suggesting the group took a great deal of enjoyment from their inventiveness. In stark contrast to these, 'Kings of Sparta ' and album-finisher 'The Crete That Crete Made' are darkly ambient, peacefully insane. As Ken Downie of the group states, '20 years or 200 years, it makes no difference how old a tune is, a good tune is a good tune'. His words certainly ring true for this timeless classic.