Ken Downie, founding member of Sheffield electronic outfit The Black Dog, has died

Ken Downie, founding member of seminal Sheffield electronic group The Black Dog, has died.

Downie's bandmates confirmed the news via Twitter yesterday (December 21), explaining that the musician passed away on Saturday, December 20. "It's with great sadness and a heavy heart that we announce the passing of Ken Downie," they wrote.

"Rest In Peace brother, you will be deeply missed and never forgotten. Our condolences to Sheena and his family," the post continues. No cause of death has been confirmed. 

Alongside Ed Handley and Andy Turner, Downie formed The Black Dog in 1989, starting off with a run of EPs on their own imprint Black Dog Productions. In 1993, The Black Dog released their first album, 'Bytes', on Warp — with whom the group would later release 'Spanners' in 1995.

With its original members, The Black Dog became synonymous with low-tempo IDM and techno, creating several remixes for Björk of tracks such as 'Come to Me' and 'Anchor Song', and later collaborating with the Icelandic star on 'Sweet Intuition' in 1995.

While Handley and Turner departed The Black Dog to focus on their duo Plaid in 1995, Downie continued under The Black Dog moniker, before joining forces with Dust Science founders Richard and Martin Dust in 2001, with whom he continued to work with until his death.

Following the addition of Richard and Martin Dust, The Black Dog went on to release four albums, including two LPs this year, 'Loud Ambient' and 'My Brutal Life 2', alongside eight EPs and a consistent run of live performances. 

You can read The Black Dog's full post here.

Megan Townsend is Mixmag's Deputy Editor, follow her on Twitter