Spanners (album)

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

Professional ratings

Review 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

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

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

References

1. "The 50 Best IDM Albums of All Time". Pitchfork. 24 January 2017. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
2. "Spanners". Warp. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
3. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
4. Raggett, Ned. "Spanners – The Black Dog". AllMusic. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
5. Browne, David (2 June 1995). "Spanners". Entertainment Weekly. 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

• Spanners at Discogs (list of releases)