Sheffield in England was the hub of electronic music in the early 90s. Ken Downie, Ed Handley and Andy Turner were releasing music at a rapid rate at the time and under half a dozen pseudonyms. These »Bytes« were released on Warp in 1993 under the project name Black Dog Productions.

In the early 1990s, when the turbines at Warp were cranked up and ambient, techno and IDM became a global phenomenon, it spawned an entire subculture. At Black Dog Productions, all three members took on parallel roles, designing samples, programming drum patterns, sequencing stems and bolting the individual parts together to create wildly fluorescent tracks of timeless quality.

The trio has been working together in this way under a good dozen pseudonyms since the beginning of the decade: The Black Dog, Plaid, Close Up Over, Atypic, Discordian Popes, Balil, Xeper, I.A.O. were all project titles that in many cases only came to life for two or three tracks and then vanished again into oblivion.

As one part of the »Artificial Intelligence« series, »Bytes« was a compilation of three years of studio work under different names, each of which stood for different constellations and approaches. Additionally, it was a self-contained yet eclectic body of work that many considered – and still do consider – to be the first highlight in the rapidly expanding Warp catalogue.

The tracks on »Bytes« hover permanently on the verge of danceability, obey agilely sequenced beat structures and often spew forth ideas like eleven Mentos in a bottle of Coke.

And yet: negotiated between abstract breakbeats, sultry pads and an extraordinary feeling for melody, the productions appear equally thoughtful, almost contemplative. A balancing act that the Warp cadres popularised and perfected early on.

2 x Vinyl, LP, Reissue

Tracklist:
A1 Plaid– Object Orient
A2 Close Up Over– Caz
A3 Xeper– Carceres Ex Novum
B1 Atypic– Focus Mel
B2 Close Up Over– Olivine
B3 I.A.O*– The Clan (Mongol Hordes)
C1 Plaid– Yamemm
C2 Discordian Popes– Fight The Hits
C3 Balil– Merck
D1 Close Up Over– Jauqq
D2 Balil– 3/4 Heart