RAMLEH

[GEWALTMONOPOL]

There is a typically British and not a little bit snooty attitude that PE starts and ends in Britain. It's the same with football. Brits still imagine, or want to imagine, that they are a world class football nation even when they haven't won shit in almost 50 years. They just can't accept when others take on their inventions and do it better than them. Someone described it to me years ago as Post Colonoial Stress Disorder. A very accurate description IMO. It's quaint. Sometimes cute, sometimes sad and almost always counterproductive.

I was the author of 'Bang Out Of Order' well over ten years ago, although I didn't have anything to do with the online bootleg and thought it worked better as an anonymous pamphlet with reprints of rare early 80s material. I remember writing a ridiculously provocative line in the hastily-written afterword there about Britain being ahead of Europe culturally: it was meant to be a joke, a kind of parody of PE extremism. I also wrote over-the-top abuse of Stereolab, Breathless, Taint and Deathpile, none of which was supposed to be taken seriously.

Don't know many people who think the UK is great nowadays. It's a fucking shithole, and I prefer being just about anywhere else in Europe even if this is my home country. OK, maybe not Belgium.

I didn't know it was you who wrote that piece but it's not that important. I've encountered that attitude from quite a few individuals in this country and I treat it with the contempt it deserves.

The problem isn't that Brits think they live in the greatest country on Earth, the problem is knowing too well that they don't and having long given up on the place. It's part of the Post Colonial Stress Disorder. But that is another topic.

All that aside and nothing personal but Ramleh never meant much to me. No revisionist Wire interview, reunion or "going back to their roots" will change that. Quite the contrary.

[HongKongGoolagong]

Received copies today of Kleistwahr 'Myth' and 'Arsonicide' LPs. Generic cover art which I guess will continue for the next two reissues in the series. Stunning mastering and pressing, much better than this material sounded on the Vinyl on Demand box set - can hear detail I've never spotted before.

What a fucking great label Harbinger Sound is, even if he does run it in non-stop chaos and everything is years late.

[Dr Alex]

Just looking at some photos of  Broken Flag: A Retrospective 5xcd boxset. All cds contains excerpts of old tapes. Is it worth buying because only one tape is complete?

[FreakAnimalFinland]

If you don't have complete tapes, then yes.
I have CD box as well as special edition vinyl box for sale in my store... Latter one, not very cheap.

[ONE]

All that aside and nothing personal but Ramleh never meant much to me. No revisionist Wire interview, reunion or "going back to their roots" will change that. Quite the contrary.

Feeling this one.

Three years ago I spent a few weeks in hospital.  All I had on my iPhone to listen to were a clutch of electronic EP's - and damn near the complete works of Ramleh ...

Gutted.

[cr]

I'm somehow repeating myself this weekend - but as I really like both Consumer Electronics and Ramleh - and the new releases were previously unnoticed by my dumb self - any opinions on The Great Unlearning?
I liked Circular Time, but only listened to it once.

[bitewerksMTB]

I listened to short snippets from "The Great Unlearning" last night on a distro site like Cargo. Guitar, drums, lots of electronic-synth sounds mixed in. I haven't heard them in years so can't say how it compares to previous work. I like that cover photo!

Also, got a wild hair late last night & ordered a copy of "A Return to Slavery" once I saw that the 7" tracks were on side 2. It'll be nice to have all of that material on one record.

[Lazrs3]

I very much like all the Power Electronics Ramleh I have from the Broken Flag Box, the Harbinger reissues and Valediction. Ramleh's live show in Nottingham years ago was very loud and good. But tbh I prefer the guitar/experimental more. I think 'Be Careful What You Wish For' is great and 'Circular Time' was an equally great continuation. I haven't played any teasers for the new album, but hope it is as good as that stuff.