Anti-Chancers

 

Clock DVA - White Souls In Black Suits [EX 24 ITA 1982 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC]

My current reading is Gordon King's When Does The Mind Bending Start? which includes some highly informative sections on his part in the Sheffield music scene pre-World Of Twist and their relocation to Manchester. During one of the most interesting anecdotes, King describes his time following early Clock DVA and the Sheffield industrialists' cameo appearance in The Rolling Stones Undercover Of The Night promo video which was partly filmed at Les Bains Douches venue in Paris.

This prompted me to dust off and deep clean my copy of White Souls In Black Suits and make a serious attempt of the best possible rip of an album which is quite difficult to rip. Whilst the pressing isn't great, this is the original 1982 Italian album with untampered audio and it really sounds a whole lot better than any CD, although the evident hiss suggests they used a cassette tape as the source.

The original version of this album was as a cassette on Throbbing Gristle's Industrial Records released in 1980. It also features contributions by the three members of Cabaret Voltaire.

I think you'll agree that this stuff should be heard at its best, so until that deal with Mute Records happens (or not) and Adi Newton shares the original reels, here is the result of my work, all caressed with love & care from very badly pressed vinyl.  It works well and breathes life into what was essentially a fifteen hour jam cut down to an album of work. I will point out that this is not music for headphones

This is Clock DVA under going a change. Under a metamorphosis from industrial tape loops, noise and electronics to more natural instruments with sharp stabbing guitars, plucked bass, sax and flutes. Two or three of the tracks can actually be described as songs. In places, it becomes warped neo-jazz improv, in others, a post-punk drone. Adi Newton even finds time for poetry. This new direction was eventually to evolve on to the band's first proper album, Thirst.

A1 Consent

A2 Discontentment (1&2)

A3 Still / Silent

A4 Non

B1 Relentless

B2 Contradict

B3 Anti-Chance (Soundtrack; Keyboards Assemble Themselves At Dawn)