Black Dog, The - Temple Of Transparent Balls

I have been an 'occasional' fan of Black Dog & their guises over the years, the first track I heard was 'Virtual' on the Kaos Theory 4 album back in '93. My second visit was the tracks on the seminal 'Objets D'art 92::95' cd on Nu Electronica in '95 as well as 'Repeats' in '96. So it's not that I have closed my ears to them (not in the least), but never really tapped into them in a big way. Until now! Back to this release though, I found this in Beano's the other day for a hefty £25 & thought "Shall I..?" having not heard of this album but had a hunch about it. Oh Boy was i right! It's a classic album & a classic electronica album of it's age & still stands the test of time, despite it's humble sounds in parts, but so much is packed into this album. A thoughtful & memory inducing album of a bygone age. Every track has all the future Dog hallmarks; the wonderful nervy, jittery, tribal beats we have now come to love about them as 'Black Dog' that is. I see now where Lucky & Easy grasped a lot of their inspiration from. The emotional & thought provoking classic of 'Cost II' is one of the best tracks I've ever heard & stands amongst the true greats. An emotional trigger of a track to be sure. Experimental stuff & full of punch but never over the top. Tracks like 'Kings of Sparta' sound very reminiscent of As One in parts, with it's wandering melancholic chords. The uplifting 'Sharp Shooting on Saturn' remind you of great times past & present, play this & you're sure to forget your troubles on a journey via car or train like me. They're playful 'Mango', frenetic & full of their tribal inspirations are another example of their paths as artists. 'The Crete that Crete Made' almost sounds like BoC, again playful yet wistful ends the album well.
I mean, this is 13 years old! It's a truly a great testament to british electronica & they deservedly found their recognition amongst purists alike with this classic album.

Even though The Black Dog’s electronic tinkerings on Temple of the Transparent Balls might sound primitive today, their mastery of abstract melodies is nonetheless influential. On this, their first album for GPR, they deliver forward-thinking techno that most musicians would give their left ear for. Listen to the wistful “Cost II” or the interplanetary funk of “Jupiler” for concrete examples. A few of the tracks lean towards the ambient side of things (the melancholy “Kings of Sparta” or the gorgeously wobbly “The Crete that Crete Made,” for instance), but their keen sense of melody keep them from drifting off into nothingness. An early album to be sure, but one that is astonishing anyway.

In some way a secret Black Dog album. Bytes and Spanners were known classics and regulary mentioned in
the electronic world. But Temple of Transparent Balls was an underground release, released by an underground
label. Originally titled as Temple Of Transparent Walls, but In the time of releasing the album, there were
problems with GPR so, for some reason, Walls became Balls.
A lot of quality stuff on it, but like the Parallel album difficult to get in your collection.Like Parallel, re-released a year ago with some cheap and crappy artwork (Why?)
When you are a Black Dog freak, try to get this album!