Dub Volume 1 is the latest album by the totally legendary Mr Jah Wobble, who on this album showcases his deep love for proper 70's dub albums, but with the odd east end twist thrown in, to make it his own. Jah Wobble was formerly a member of PIL and currently is also in Tian Qiyi. The album is written and performed by Jah Wobble and mixed by Collapsed Lung's Anthony Chapman.
The album opens with Dub In The East that has delicate piano lines and swooping strings that sound like they come from the old Indian cinema opposite Mile End station, along with imperious bass and skittery drumming, taking us nearly as far east as Augustus Pablo went.
Tyson Dub Remix has a proper wobbly bassline and almost wood block percussion, the horns and keyboards come in to give the perfect tempo for some boxercise work out routines, when the synth oscillations come in it's time for some downward dog poses.
Existential Dub has a sub bass rumble the piano and keyboards work over, the sub woofers shake your ankles, a distinctly squelchy guitar line arrives, the string stabs are a brief interlude into more of that ocean floor bass, in a Gregory Issacs dub style.
Losing All Sense Of Balance Dub see saws between the heavy dub parts and cool brass interspersed with piano and what sounds like backing vocals at odd with the deep bass line underpinning everything else, with the odd vocal interception of I See.
Lovers Rock Dub is piano heavy with some warped vocals making it clear his love will last forever that are treated and filtered through the bass for the one that will always be yours.
Tragic Slavic Dub has rim shots like bullets flying through the air over a dark bassline and trumpet fanfares for the approaching collapse of another Slavic dynasty signalled by the long violin tones imbued in the pain of the shtetl's and centuries of pointless battles, while the trombone sounds as if it's duchening.
Sweet Dub has sticky fingers from being taken into one of those old Sweet Shops my dad took me into in the early 70's, that made their own boiled sweets on the premises, slow sweet brass and a gently evocative organ this is laid back and would fit on Tappa Zukie's Horns Up Dub album.
Old Jewish East End of London Dub for me must be set around The Flowery and the sweat shops off of Commercial Street and Road where my family fought to set up trade unions for garment workers, the siren like noises signifying the end of another tough shift, have you got enough money to get some food from Garfinkels, with a bit of luck you'll be able to eat at the Kosher Luncheon club, with the bass slowly leading you round towards the congregation of Jacob synagogue once more. Before the spoken word outro that sounds like one of my dads friends having a go while buying bagels from Rinkoffs.
Find out more at https://wardle.bandcamp.com/album/dub-volume-one https://www.normanrecords.com/records/209059-jah-wobble-dub-volume-1 https://jahwobble.com/ https://www.facebook.com/Jah.Wobble.Music/
