Spanners (album)

Last updated

Spanners
Blackdog spanners cover.jpg
Studio album by
Released16 January 1995 (1995-01-16)
StudioBlack Dog Towers
Genre IDM
Length75:40
Label Warp
The Black Dog chronology
Temple of Transparent Balls
(1993)
Spanners
(1995)
Parallel
(1996)

Spanners is the third studio album by English electronic music group The Black Dog. [1] It was released via Warp on 16 January 1995. [2] It peaked at number 30 on the UK Albums Chart. [3]

Contents

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [4]
Entertainment Weekly B+ [5]
The Guardian Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [6]
Mojo Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [7]
NME 9/10 [8]
Q Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [9]
Record Collector Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [10]
Select 3/5 [11]
Uncut 7/10 [12]
Vox 7/10 [13]

Ned Raggett of AllMusic praised Spanners, saying, "The highlights are many, most often achieving a solid combination of dancefloor friendliness and unexpected sonic trickery." [4] David Browne of Entertainment Weekly described it as "a series of antiseptic, hypnosis-inducing machine burbles, but with just the right amount of jarring elements to keep listeners awake." [5] Shana Ting Lipton of CMJ New Music Monthly called it "an epic journey through life in the modern world." [14]

In 2017, Spanners ranked at number 42 on Pitchfork 's list of "The 50 Best IDM Albums of All Time". [1]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Ken Downie, Ed Handley and Andy Turner

No.TitleLength
1."Raxmus"3:03
2."Bolt 1"0:27
3."Barbola Work"6:42
4."Bolt 2"0:27
5."Psil-Cosyin"10:32
6."Chase the Manhattan"5:42
7."Bolt 3"1:36
8."Tahr"3:08
9."Bolt 4"1:06
10."Further Harm"6:18
11."Nommo"6:53
12."Bolt 5"0:22
13."Pot Noddle"7:13
14."Bolt 6"0:42
15."End of Time"3:44
16."Utopian Dream"6:00
17."Bolt 7"0:17
18."Frisbee Skip"5:25
19."Chesh"6:03
Total length:75:40

Charts

Chart (1995)Peak
position
Scottish Albums (OCC) [15] 35
UK Albums (OCC) [3] 30

References

  1. 1 2 "The 50 Best IDM Albums of All Time". Pitchfork . 24 January 2017. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
  2. "Spanners". Warp . Retrieved 4 November 2017.
  3. 1 2 "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
  4. 1 2 Raggett, Ned. "Spanners – The Black Dog". AllMusic . Retrieved 6 February 2017.
  5. 1 2 Browne, David (2 June 1995). "Spanners". Entertainment Weekly . Archived from the original on 2 November 2023. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
  6. Turner, Ben (20 January 1995). "The Black Dog: Spanners (Warp)". The Guardian .
  7. Worthy, Stephen (November 2023). "The Black Dog: Spanners". Mojo . No. 360. p. 103.
  8. Willmott, Ben (14 January 1995). "The Black Dog: Spanners". NME . p. 39.
  9. Aston, Martin (February 1995). "The Black Dog: Spanners". Q . No. 101.
  10. Bowler, Paul (November 2023). "Black Dog Productions: Bytes / The Black Dog: Spanners". Record Collector . No. 550. p. 87.
  11. Grundy, Gareth (February 1995). "The Black Dog: Spanners". Select . No. 56. p. 81.
  12. Martin, Piers (2023). "Black Dog Productions/The Black Dog: Bytes/Spanners". Uncut . No. 320, Review of the Year 2023. pp. 39–40.
  13. Dalton, Stephen (February 1995). "The Black Dog: Spanners". Vox . No. 53. p. 80.
  14. Lipton, Shana Ting (June 1995). "Black Dog: Spanners". CMJ New Music Monthly . No. 22. p. 28. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
  15. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 24 August 2019.