The Black Dog’s Ken Downie has died

Ken Downie, one of the three founding members of The Black Dog, has died.

Sharing the news in Instagram post yesterday (Sunday, 21st September), the Sheffield group wrote: “It’s with great sadness and a heavy heart that we announce the passing of Ken Downie. Rest in peace brother, you’ll be deeply missed and never forgotten. Our condolences to Sheena and his family.” A cause of death has not been publicly disclosed.

Downie founded The Black Dog with Ed Handley and Andy Turner in 1989, with the group’s early releases emerging via their own Black Dog Productions imprint, and the UK-based label General Production Recordings. They were then snapped up by Warp Records, who released their debut album ‘Bytes’ in 1993 and ‘Spanners’ in 1995, both of which channelled the ambient techno and IDM sound that the label championed throughout that decade.

Following the departure of Ed Handley and Andy Turner in order to focus on their Plaid project, Downie continued as The Black Dog through the ’90s and beyond. Later joined by Richard and Martin Dust, Downie continued to release music at a prolific rate moving into the 21st century, through labels such as Soma and their own Dust Science Recordings. They put out their most recent album, ‘Loud Ambient’, in November.

Read The Black Dog’s post in tribute to Downie, and revisit ‘Spanners’, below.