The Black Dog Live

The Black Dog are practically synonymous with intelligent dance music, or IDM – the strain of thoughtful electronica they helped bring into being in the early 1990s. Emerging from Sheffield, England, the group’s influential releases on Warp Records – including Bytes (1993) and Spanners (1995) – fused textured rhythms, atmospheric density, and experimental structure into a new electronic vocabulary that, more than thirty years on, continues to serve as a blueprint for producers worldwide. In recent years, The Black Dog have continued to push steadily forward, exploring ambient, techno, and conceptual terrain through albums such as Music for Real Airports (2010) and Other, Like Me (2024), extending practice while retaining a sharply political and textural edge. Following the loss of founding member Ken Downie in December 2025, their live performance at Dekmantel 2026 is sure to honour his enduring legacy: a restless spirit and a lifelong dedication to expanding music's possibilities.