When Gary Mundy's Ramleh reemerged in 2009 after over a decade of inactivity, both the recorded output and performances were mostly skewed towards the project’s noise and power electronics history. With long time member Anthony Di Franco, the duo released the excellent Valediction album and embarked on a series of performances, updating the harsh electronic sound Mundy began as a teenager in the 1980s. Circular Time, however, is a return to the idiosyncratic psychedelic rock sound Mundy and Di Franco (along with other collaborators) fully realized in the 1990s. I have enjoyed every variant of Ramleh that I have heard, but I always had a soft spot for this more musical era and, thankfully, Circular Time is a return to form in every possible way.
The 2000s incarnation of Ramleh did not totally abandon their more conventional moments, however.Also in 2009, the 10" of Switch Hitter/The Machines of Infinite Joy was released, to somewhat less acclaim."Switch Hitter" had most of the standard Ramleh sound, but with an almost too traditional sound structurally, with the sound teetering towards far less unique hard rock sounds.The instrumental b-side, however, was more faithful to the band's previous work.The line-up on this double album (just shy of two hours of material) is the same as that single:Mundy on guitar and vocals, Di Franco on bass, and Mundy’s Breathless bandmate Martyn Watts on drums.This time, however, the music contained within touches on all facets of the project’s guitar-centric incarnation.
The opening acoustic strums of "Re-Entry" are at first unexpected, but the humming feedback that punctuates the mix soon takes over, resulting in a fully blown-out bass lead and pummeling, insistent drums.It does not take too long before that aggressive, but loose and improvised sound from the Shooters Hill (half of Works III) album shines through.Mundy's pained, barely controlled guitar tone emanates from the mix as the juggernaut of a rhythm section decimates all around."Incubator" continues, but with the addition of almost 1970s hard rock guitar soloing deep in the mix: an oddly clean and delicate sound compared to the remainder of the mix, which sounds as if it is on the verge of collapse for the song’s six minute duration.
The vaguely blues influenced opening to "American Womanhood" is comparably much more spacious and less oppressive than the two preceding pieces.With Mundy's clean, improvised guitar and fuzz heavy bass from Di Franco, there is more than a passing resemblance to the prog rock influence that appeared throughout the Be Careful What You Wish For album."The Ascent" features the band syncing together in similar complexity, with Watt’s drumming taking on a more intricate, though no less heavy tact, as layered guitar, both dissonant and melodic, is weaved in and out of the song.
At other times, such as on "The Tower," the material stands as some of the most conventional music the project has ever done.With the spiky rhythm and stabbing guitar, shades of early Public Image Ltd. are hard to ignore, and it is one of the few vocal pieces on this set, though like most Ramleh, they are anything but emphasized.These less challenging moments are easily balanced by some of the record's more difficult ones, such as the expansive wall of guitar and pummeling, complex drum rolls of "Renaissance Warfare."With the multilayered guitar and a bass tone that verges on a dull roar of distortion not far removed from their noise work, the entirety piece lies somewhere between structured music and chaotic noise.Both "Entropy" and "Weird Tyranny" are drumless, atmospheric compositions of droning bass and feedback-laden guitar, never too harsh though, and call to mind similar pieces on Homeless.
The final song, "Never Returner," makes for the perfect conclusion for the album.Di Franco's fuzzed out bass, Watts pounding out a nuanced but slower rhythm, and Mundy's guitar generating both beautiful melodies and ugly squalls of noise captures everything that makes this album (and Ramleh) so exceptionally brilliant.If it were not for the comparably cleaner production (which is a characteristic of this entire record), I could easily have thought it a song that was left off of Works III, complete with the strained, depressive vocals.The bit of acoustic guitar that closes the song perfectly ties it back to the opening of disc one, as well.
Everything and anything I could have hoped for on a new release from Ramleh can be found on Circular Time.The perverse psychedelia, the motorik rhythms, and the oppressive, noise heavy ambience all appears here, and hangs strongly with the band’s previous records.I do wish there were a few more vocal tracks, as Mundy's vocals, as well as Consumer Electronics member Philip Best's (a staple of the band's 1990s output that is not on this record, but has performed with the band in recent years) were consistent on my favorite songs from the era.That makes for a minor gripe, however, because this album just perfectly encapsulates everything I have loved about the band, and with an unquestionable freshness and sense of invigoration.Without a doubt on my short list for best albums I have heard this year.
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