RAMLEH BLOWHOLE LP SKULLFLOWER-WHITEHOUSE-BROKEN FLAG

$

40

RAMLEH

BLOWHOLE LP

Shock Records / Broken Flag

Limited Edition: 500 copies

Rare album from the legendary british industrial group Ramleh (Gary Mundy & Philip Best).

Some info on the release: Rare release from british industrial legends Ramleh on small uk based alternative label Shock (+Broken Flag), a label that released also stuff from Skullflower, Coil, Current 93, Nurse with wound and Thurston Moore, Sol Invictus, The Dead C. and more. Ramleh's member Gary Mundy(Toll, Breathless, Blind Alley) was responsible for the great & legendary Broken Flag label, who released most of the output of the group during the 80's, but also releases from Maurizio Bianchi, Kleistwahr, Mauthausen Orchestra, Un-Kommuniti and Le Syndicat, Giancarlo Toniutti, Controlled Bleeding and Ferial Confine, Con-Dom and others. The other of the group's members were Philip Best (Consumer Electronics, Whitehouse, Iphar Clinic, Libertarian Recordings) & Stuart Dennison. Ramleh have also released works on labels like Zero Cabal, Extreme, Zeal SS, Vis a Vis Audio Arts and Minus Habens, Dirter Promotions, Pure, Majora, etc. Cover art by Savage Pencil.

When Gary Mundy formed Ramleh and the Broken Flag label in 1982, he was a primary participant in the UK power electronics scene, which attempted to outdo the industrial template first drawn by Throbbing Gristle. Very much a product of their time, his recordings were violent sonic bursts laced with proto-fassist and misoginist imagery, given vulgar titles meant to shock. Mundy and co-conspirator Philip Best quickly rose from this noise ghetto by applying the scene's best aspects (experimentation, improvisation, volume) to a more traditional rock format. Along with its sister group Skullflower, Ramleh laid the foundations for improvisational noise rock with a stubborn intensity that catered to no one. The band rarely issued records in quantities greater than 500, live shows were few and far between and cover art and liner notes were filled with cryptic drawings, photographs and abstract writings. Their sound remained reliably rooted in an unwavering formula: plodding heavy drums, an endlessly repetitive low-end bass groove and wave upon wave of guitar screech.

With tracks by Ramleh, Consumer Electronics (a solo project by Best, who was 14 at the time), Whitehouse and others who followed their lead, the Neuengamme compilation was a pivotal release in the Broken Flag catalog, and established the label in the experimental noise scene. Also from the same era, when most of the label's releases were cassette-only, the We Created It, Lets Take It Over series provides a glimpse into the early work of Mundy/Best. (Beyond the tape realm, the vinyl A Return to Slavery split LP is included on Vol. 2, and "The Hand of Glory" 7-inch is on Vol. 3.) These recordings display a savage, raw intensity distinct from the pink noise tirades of Whitehouse and that ilk. Musically close to Hanatarash, Prick Decay, John Duncan and Merzbow, Organum, Boyd Rice and New Blockaders. Ramleh's work was more wall-of-sound, with electronics constantly pushed into the red, alongside indecipherably shrieked vocals. The tracks appear to have been improvised; overloaded circuits and feedback abound as they cut out and begin again at random, with variable velocity and intensity. The slow, bass throb of "Phenol" stands out on Vol. 1, displaying the first signs of Ramleh's future direction. A migraine is guaranteed for the uninitiated.

With the exception of a few compilation appearances and small-issue cassettes, Ramleh was inactive from 1984 to 1989 as Mundy (without Best) focused on other projects. He formed Toll and began utilizing guitars with electronics, recording Christ Knows with Paul Lemos of Controlled Bleeding, Tim Gane (McCarthey/Stereolab) and others. The tracks have a post-punk feel, with a healthy dose of sprawling noise workouts. Although credited as Matthew Frith, the significant new participant was Matthew Bower, who had released cassettes of his guitar noise as Total on Broken Flag and would shortly form Skullflower with Mundy. In that band, Mundy provided the deep bass riffs to anchor the torrents of droning noise (on the first two albums).

When Mundy launched the second phase of Ramleh in 1989, with Best again on hand, he focused on this sludgy drone with singular precision. Grudge for Life cements that formula on relatively short tracks that reached straight for the jugular. Muscular drum/bass work provides the foundation for blasts of frenzied guitar. Mundy took the sound of Skullflower and trimmed away what he could. The refined and confident Blowhole stretches out for more than ten minutes of "Shiiit of the Alchemist." After collaborating with Italian noise artist M.T.T. on his Caught From Behind album, they shared a split release. Crystal Revenge mines similar terrain as Blowhole, with "Caligula" providing a particular heady stew of droning intensity. One of their most noteworthy recordings.  

Condition: Cover lies in excellent- condition with beggining of split on top and the slightest storage wear, while vinyl lies in mint- condition, a near new copy. 

Tracklist

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