New studio album from the Ramleh duo of Gary Mundy and Anthony Di Franco, this time out in their power electronics mode. More hi-fi and deliberately nuanced than their early Xeroxed style, Mundy’s delivery is at its most hysterical while the noise is almost technicolour in comparison. Also some great sludge bass noise/rock stylings courtesy of Di Franco. Full colour gatefold sleeve with insert.

Edition of 200 copies with ink-stamped sleeves that reissues the rarest release on the Broken Flag label. Violence was released as a cassette in 1982. It’s a solo recording by Gary Mundy that predates the beginnings of Ramleh, Mundy’s solo Kleistwahr recordings etc. Using the same equipment as on the early Ramleh recordings, Violence is a claustrophobic slice of grainy electronic excess with a murk of psychedelic electronics and tortured vocals in the style of the early BR power electronics sides. Mastered direct from cassette for maximum skin burn.

Edition of only 250 copies reissue of what was originally a limited cassette release (BF3) on the legendary Broken Flag label. Kleistwahr is the solo project of BF head Gary Mundy (Ramleh/S.P.I.T.E./Skullflower/Consumer Electronics et al). One of the earliest releases on the label, Myth more than fulfils the promise of the UK’s power electronics scene to fully deliver on punk’s failure to fully liberate rock/roll from the service of generic form. The first track is massively psychedelic – Ramleh always were the most ‘psych’ focussed of the BF groups, as their later ‘rock’ albums underline – with a churning miasmic appeal that sounds like it’s devouring several decades of outlaw sound with alla the triumphal Non of the first Faust album. Later tracks are a little more pugilistic, with electronics that double all over themselves again and again, generating hypnotic matrices of pulse-based melodies and whooshing outer space F/X. Indeed, the degree of obsessive repeat here makes this a minimalist Industrial classic, doing more with a simple set up of electronics and vocals than your favourite goddamn avant orchestra. Parts of this inexplicably remind me of Alan Silva’s electronics on the Celestrial Communication Orchestra’s classic The Seasons triple LP – go figure! Either way this is another major BF unearthing and highly recommended. 

Edition of only 250 copies reissue of what was originally a limited 1983 cassette release (BF15) on the legendary Broken Flag label. Kleistwahr is the solo project of BF head Gary Mundy (Ramleh/S.P.I.T.E./Skullflower/Consumer Electronics et al) and Arsonicide matches the early hysterical Whitehouse sound with harsh oscillating feedback, electronics and wild vocal assaults. Some amazing bloody-minded noise on this, with the epic second track that combines arcing cracked synth tones and sudden explosions of voice matching the best of Maurizio Bianchi’s ‘symphonic’ work but with a supremely crude UK DIY edge that is particularly satisfying. On the flip the electronics get even more alienated and extreme, with minimal morse code patterns dancing beneath flat-line feedback drones and waves of minimal tone threat. Spectacularly great and highly recommended!

Staggering reissue, long time coming, of what was originally a six cassette box released on Broken Flag in 1985 documenting every last recorded artefact from Ramleh’s original ‘power electronics’ incarnation, here with massively upgraded sound and bonus previously uncompiled material that runs from their inception on 21/5/1982 through to their eventual hiatus on 21/7/1984. The eight CDs contain over 100 tracks that clock in at over 500 minutes of playing time. Each CD is housed inside an individual digipack and all held within a pro-printed 300 x 270 box featuring the classic Broken Flag marine blue and black colour scheme. The set also contains a 60 page glossy booklet featuring artwork, flyer reproductions, lyrics, interviews and other documentation, a large poster and two 1" pins. Limited to only 500 copies, this looks to be the definitive document of the early Ramleh sound and a massive public service event, providing an ear-peeling insight into the genesis of one of the most important UK underground groups. Highly recommended!