Spanners (album)

1995 studio album by The Black Dog

Spanners

Studio album by

The Black Dog

Released| 16 January 1995 (1995-01-16)
Studio| Black Dog Towers
Genre| IDM
Length| 75:40
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]

## Critical reception

[edit]

Professional ratingsReview scores

Source| Rating
AllMusic| [4]
Entertainment Weekly| B+[5]
The Guardian| [6]
Mojo| [7]
NME| 9/10[8]
Q| [9]
Record Collector| [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

[edit]

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

No.| Title| Length

|
|

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

[edit]

Chart (1995)  | Peak
position

|

Scottish Albums (OCC)[15] | 35
UK Albums (OCC)[3] | 30

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b "The 50 Best IDM Albums of All Time". Pitchfork. 24 January 2017. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
2. ^ "Spanners". Warp. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
3. ^ a b "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
4. ^ a b Raggett, Ned. "Spanners – The Black Dog". AllMusic. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
5. ^ a b 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.

## External links

[edit]

* Spanners at Discogs (list of releases)

Authority control databases |

* MusicBrainz release group

|

*[No.]: Number