** The three recent Korm Plastic books in a special discounted bundle ** The 1980s was a particularly remarkable period for underground music. Emboldened by the spirit of the first waves of punk and post-punk, and the ethos of DIY that came with it, countless scenes appeared in various corners of the globe, propelled by small, independent labels and publishing ventures that often embraced experimental tactics and the radicalism of the avant-garde. Among the most noteworthy of these was the Dutch imprint, Korm Plastics, founded in 1984 by Frans de Waard as a cassette label, which ran continuously until 2015 across various formats, before relaunching in 2019 as a vehicle predominately focused on publishing books related to music connected to the scenes to which it belongs. Last year we had the great pleasure to shine some light on three of the imprint’s offerings - “The Annual 2023”, David Elliott’s “Neumusik”, and Adam Morris’ “Losing It”. Now we’re absolutely thrilled to offer the same treatment to their latest batch: Steve Underwood’s incredible immersion into the story of Broken Flag, “Even When It Makes No Sense”; the Kristian Olsson edited and assembled encyclopaedia of esoteric knowledge, dark music and arts, “Giftnalen”, and the 2024 edition of Frans de Waard and Alfred Boland’s Korm Plastics magazine / yearbook, “The Annual”. An absolutely incredible run, we can’t think of a better way to make the most of the dark winter months ahead, than to sink into these three remarkable volumes. Each is essential for any fan of the more adventurous happenings and ideas of the underground of today and the past.


Steve Underwood “Even When It Makes No Sense - The Broken Flag Story” (Book)

Few labels have had the impact or held an influence on the global scenes of radical music, noise, and power electronics as the legendary British imprint Broken Flag. Founded in 1982 by Ramleh’s Gary Mundy and Debbie Thomas, the label initially ran for six years, releasing cassettes, LPs and singles by Ramleh, Sutcliffe Jugend, Consumer Electronics, Un-Kommuniti, Controlled Bleeding, Kleistwahr, TOLL, New Blockaders, Mauthausen Orchestra, and numerous others, helping to entirely rethink the context of underground noise music during that period, before being relaunched in 1994 with a focus on further supporting the scene, as well as handful of magazines, including “King Krown and Kountry” and “Even When It Makes No Sense”. Back in 2007, Vinyl On Demand gave us an incredible and unprecedented retrospective of the label’s early efforts, and over the years since a slow trickle of reissues have continued to illuminate their accomplishments, but to date nothing has taken us as deep into their world as Steve Underwood’s brand new book “Even When It Makes No Sense - The Broken Flag Story”.

Sprawling across 144 pages, “Even When It Makes No Sense - The Broken Flag Story” is sourced from an extensive text constructed by Steve Underwood that was originally published in UK-based noise focused magazine, “As Loud as Possible”, in 2010, built around an extensive interview with Gary Mundy, covering the career of Ramleh and the complete output of his legendary Broken Flag record label, as well as interviews with Broken Flag associates like Maurizio Bianchi, Unkommuniti, Mauthausen Orchestra, Satori, Controlled Bleeding, Irritant, JFK, Mauro Teho Teardo (M.T.T.), Con-Dom, Sigillum S, Agog, Giancarlo Toniutti, Vortex Campaign, Le Syndicat, Krang and many more, threaded by unseen artwork and photographs. While the original version was enough to blow minds, when adapting “Even When It Makes No Sense - The Broken Flag Story” for publication in book form, Underwood took it even further, expanding the volume with an incredible array of additional interviews; updates; a reprint of two issues of Broken Flag’s fanzine, “Even When It Makes No Sense”; and extensive reproductions of many of the label’s cassette releases.

An unprecedented and multifaceted deep dive into numerous aspects of Broken Flag’s incredible activities on the noise scene during its many years of crucial activity, Steve Underwood has done a truly monumental job with the assembly of “Even When It Makes No Sense”. One of the most important and fascinating stories and production outputs in the history of noise and underground music to spring from the UK, this one is pure gold from the first page turn to the last.


Various “The Annual 2024” (Book)

There is a time of making and doing at the cutting edge, and there is a time for the writing of histories and the shoring up of legacies. Remarkably, for just over 20 years, the Dutch imprint, Korm Plastics, has achieved the later. Founded in 1984 by Frans de Waard, until 2015 it pushed the boundaries of music, from early DIY cassettes releases by underground projects like Psychic TV, Asmus Tietchens, Kapotte Muziek, Nails Øv Christ, Comando Bruno, and Narzisse, to it eventually sprawling an ambitious catalog that would include important works of artists like Stephan Mathieu, Steve Roden, Toshiya Tsunoda, Johannes Frisch, Giuseppe Ielasi, Peter Rehberg, Thurston Moore, Z'EV, Audrey Chen, Jim O'Rourke, Lasse Marhaug, The Hafler Trio, and dozens of others. After a brief, four year hiatus, in 2019 de Waard relaunched the imprint, this time focusing primarily on the production of diverse histories via a series of books that illuminate various aspects of the scene to which it contributed and belonged. First came a re-issue of de Waard’s memoir of working for the legendary imprint Staalplaat, “This Is Supposed To Be a Record Label”, the success of which led to the publication of new books, including anthologies of fanzines, “Vital, De Nederlandse Cassette Catalogus 1983-1987” and “Nul Nul”, an English translation of a book about punk in the Netherlands (1976-1982), a book about The Legendary Pink Dots’ first ten years, a collection of letters between Coil’s John Balance and Anthony Blokdijk, Freek Kinkelaar’s musings on music, and others. Korm Plastics’ latest volume of “The Annual” - its second outing - follows this trajectory down another path, taking the form of an incredible 228 pages annual magazine that plums the depths of history with incredible archival texts.

Harnessing a longstanding mutual desire to found a magazine on the part of its two editors, Frans de Waard and Alfred Boland, like so much of what Korm Plastics has produced, “The Annual” slightly defies the natural expectation of what one might expect of its form. Rather than focussing on the present, the editors invited a group of authors from the past and present to contribute an article, culminating as an anthology publication, this time around inviting Audrey Golden to write about early Fall keyboardist, Una Baines; Elodie A. Roy to explore the activities of the New York based underground label, Shimmy Disc; Michel Faber to dive into the world of Extreme Death Metal; Huili Raffo to write about Hotline; Robin Rimbaud to illuminate the world of the Austrian avant-garde filmmaker, Peter Tscherkassky; Erik Quint to write about Radio Tonka; Fred de Vries to unpack the politically radical South Africa outfit, Kalahari Surfers. “The Annual” contains as well explorations by Lukas Simonis of the Dutch art rockers, Dull Schicksa; Richard Johnson on discovering weird music; David Elliott (Dif Juz) and Truus de Groot on arriving in New York in 1981); GW Sok on touring America in 2024; Marthy Coumas’ concert reviews; Frans de Waard on Section 25; Nick Soulsby on noise music, Michael Kopijn on Ricky van Duuren; Frits Jonker writes on various subjects, and Harold Schellinx (The Young Lions) and Richard Foster (Ultra) offer contributions alongside new collages by Miss Printed all packaged within Alfred Boland’s incredible design.

Even more ambitious than its predecessor, the 2024 edition of Frans de Waard and Alfred Boland’s Korm Plastics “The Annual”, is a truly incredible immersion into an astounding array of underground activities over the decades that flourished from the ashes of punk. This softcover, 228 pages edition overflows with rarely accessed information, insights and stories, beyond being a truly remarkable resource for anyone interested in these subjects, it’s simply a joy to sink into and read. Nothing short of a monumental achievement that can’t be missed.


Various / Kristian Olsson “Giftnalen” (Book)

Active on the international industrial scene since the 1990s, the Swedish artist, Kristian Olsson, has continuously carved a singular path across the idioms of noise, industrial, and power electronics, sculpting a vast body of work ranging from the brutal and harsh spectrums of sonority to the sublimely atmospheric, often drawing on the sinister folklore of northern Sweden for his inspiration. In addition to the work produced under this own name he as also worked with groups like Alfarmania, Blood Ov Thee Christ, Gimla, Heid, Kadaver, Poena, RJF, Survival Unit, and Blådåre, released and performed under the monikers Ghoulbog, H.K. Opiat, H.K.S.O., Standar, and Stygg Ghoulson, as well as running the labels Styggelse and Bolvärk.

Given Olsson’s disposition for the darker and more mystical aspects of music and culture, it only seems logical that he would set out to explore and offer access to these worlds with greater depth. This has now culminating as the stunning 480 pages hardcover volume, “Giftnalen”, something of an encyclopaedia of esoteric knowledge, dark music and arts and a great deal more, drawing together a diverse number of apocalyptic culture, anarchic rants, archaic sorcery, damned poets, esoterrorist tactics, forbidden knowledge, libertine lusts, necromantic collages, oneiric musings, outlaw occultism, perversion, sinister arts and visual expansionism, all gathered and edited into a wild totality by Olsson’s deft and incredibly knowledgeable hand.

Overflowing with illustrations, exclusive and rarely seen material, in the words of Korm Plastics: “Giftnålen is the foul arts journal for death-obsessed brutes and society’s outcasts… Sit back and enjoy reading while this world burns…[it’s] a total derangement of the senses.” Bringing beauty and insights into the darker realms that feed so much amazing music, "Giftnålen" is 480 pages of amoral excesses that’s nearly impossible to put down once the first page is cracked.