After negotations broke down between former
Black Doggers Ken Downie,
Ed Handley, and
Andy Turner, what was projected to be a three-disc set with nearly all the existing
Black Dog Productions rarities became instead a two-disc set of
Handley/
Turner productions recorded during the first half of the '90s.
Trainer is still a near-essential document of early British techno, including a raft of rarely heard classics like "Scoobs in Columbia," "Norte Route," and "Angry Dolphin," plus the entirety of their ultra-rare
Mbuki Mvuki mini-LP. The
Handley/
Turner production aesthetic balanced sublime, Detroit-inspired synth with hyper-kinetic drum programs and breakbeat madness years before England's love affair with jungle. Grabbing tracks from far-flung but like-minded labels like ART, Planet E, A13, and Clear,
Trainer includes over two hours of warped acid house from a B-boy perspective -- it's hardly a coincidence that
Black Dog Productions shared initials with South Bronx's finest.