Iso-Erotic Calibration

Once Adi Newton restarted Clock DVA in the late '80s, output by this more experimental side of him has been far more infrequent. Recorded from 1991 to 1994 and released in 1994, Iso-Erotic Calibrations showed that he wasn't ready to give up on T.A.G.C. The work, supposedly a study of human sexuality, though you wouldn't guess it from much of the music, falls closer to the ambience of Burning Water than the more rhythmic earlier works, though often it seems like a more subdued version of DVA where Newton's singing is replaced by snatches of vocal sound bites. "Mercurius," with its haunting chants over an ominous synth drone, is somewhat effective, as is the more eerie and ambient "Psychophonophilia," creating music that's soothing and edgy at the same time. There are also electro-rhythmic tracks like "Annals of Sancity" and "Nuerological Engineering," and though the latter has a nice vocal snippet about being brainwashed and manipulated over repetitively brainwashing beats, it still treads too much into familiar territory. Sure, there's some nice work here, and even a provocative picture and piece of writing in the CD booklet to go along with each track, just not the far-ranging experimentation that T.A.G.C. were capable of in the late '80s. ~ Rolf Semprebon