SŌON :: NOISE :: ARMCOMM :: THE DEBUT ALBUM BY ADI NEWTON AND JACK DANGERS IS AVAILABLE AGAIN ON RIZOSHOP
SŌON is a research and experimentation project born from the collaboration between Adi Newton (Clock DVA / TAGC) and Jack Dangers (Meat Beat Manifesto). The name SŌON derives from the Japanese word for Noise / Sound / Discord and is also connected to a temporal dimension. This project is truly unique, unlike anything else released by Adi Newton, thanks to the combined interaction of two unconventional artists, pioneers of electronic experimentation. Newton and Dangers are artists who, over the past 40 years, have consistently produced unique and thought-provoking works. The debut album NOISE consists of rhythmic sequences, experimental electronics, and avant-garde sound and noise samples. It was recorded and produced at the Jack Dangers TapeLab Studio in San Francisco in October 2018, using EMS SYNTHI 100 SYSTEM / Korg PS-3300 Poly Modular / Roland 700 & 100, along with ambisonic recordings of the Water Harp and other analog and digital devices, as well as obscure sound sources.
Adi Newton formed Clock DVA in 1978, another Steel City product making music with English synths and tape loops. Prior to Clock DVA, he’d been in various experimental Sheffield outfits with members of Cabaret Voltaire and future founders of The Human League. The band’s first album, the cassette-only ‘White Souls In Black Suits’, was released by Throbbing Gristle’s Industrial label after which they signed to Fetish Records, alongside 23 Skidoo and Bush Tetras. The first line-up split in 1981, since when Clock DVA has been a sporadically active but abiding project for Newton and various collaborators to explore aspects of electronic music in always interesting and unexpected ways. There was a lavish six-disc vinyl boxset ‘Horology’, released by Vinyl On Demand in 2012, and more recently ‘Noesis’ in 2023 and 2024’s ‘EXT Vol 1’ saw Clock DVA touring again to enthusiastic audiences.
Jack Dangers first encountered a recording studio in the early 80s when he found himself helping fellow Swindonites XTC at a cheap facility in the town. His first band, Perennial Divide, was produced by Andy Partridge and in 1988 he formed Meat Beat Manifesto (MBM) and released the groundbreaking masterpiece ‘Storm The Studio’, before signing to Play It Again Sam and putting out two era-defining 12-inch singles, ‘Helter Skelter’ and ‘Radio Babylon’, which sealed MBM’s reputation as a prime mover in the electronic music underground, with unmatchable beats and bass. Meat Beat Manifesto toured with Nine Inch Nails, and later signed to Trent Reznor’s Nothing Records, while Jack has remixed David Bowie, David Byrne, Silver Apples, Depeche Mode, MC900FT Jesus, Mickey Hart and many more. He has also released more than a dozen albums as MBM and half as many again as Jack Dangers.
