Public Image Ltd. icon JAH WOBBLE unearths cavernous 'Dub Volume 1' album via Dimple Discs
FOCUS TRACKS: Tyson Dub Mix, Dub In The East, Tragic Slavic Dub, Old Jewish East End Of London Dub
All tracks FCC clean (no profanity)
'Dub Volume 1' https://wardle.bandcamp.com/album/dub-volume-one
Spotify https://open.spotify.com/album/7iIsLmjITsNeUUOQspbZgM
Vinyl order www.normanrecords.com/records/209059-jah-wobble-dub-volume-1
Vinyl & CD order www.resident-music.com/productdetails&product_id=127177
'Dub In The East' https://youtu.be/MRlyOI5iN8I
Bandcamp https://wardle.bandcamp.com/track/dub-in-the-east
'Old Jewish East End Of London Dub' https://youtu.be/H7sAZPuolj4
'Tyson Dub Mix' https://wardle.bandcamp.com/track/tyson-dub-remix
Video teaser https://youtu.be/ANp1zXhLtTw
Legendary bass player and vocalist Jah Wobble has released his new album ‘Dub Volume 1', a solo effort that sees him write, play and arrange everything. This long-play record features full-colour outer and inner sleeves based on paintings that Wobble created himself. The Limited Edition vinyl is clear with yellow and red colours dropped in to reflect the artwork.
This is Wobble's first solo release via Dimple Discs, having earlier participated in other label releases with Telefís (Cathal Coughlan and Jacknife Lee), The Ukrainians, along with Siouxsie & The Banshees / Specimen legend Jon Klein, and the Irish heritage project Bring Your Own Hammer.
Born John Wardle, his career has encapsulated genres from post-punk, dub and world music to experimental rock and electronic music. An original member of Public Image Ltd (PiL) from 1978-80, he made two groundbreaking albums with the band, which included the iconic ‘Metal Box’ (1979). He continues to tour with 'Metal Box in Dub', presented as a two-hour show with Jon Klein.
Mastered by Anthony Chapman (Collapsed Lung) and cut for maximum clarity and volume, this solo deep dive into dub boasts astounding top layer sonics, guided by sonic pioneers like Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry and King Tubby. This rich, immersive listen is full of low-end weight and intricately layered textures.
In the lead-up to the album, Wobble shared 'Tyson Dub Remix', an ode to his dear departed Staffordshire bull terrier, and the groovy dub offering 'Dub In The East', inspired by his East London upbringing - a deep dive into the historical influences that shaped his community, from the waves of Irish immigration to the perilous lives of his watermen ancestors on the River Thames.
Known for an original rock / reggae hybrid of his own, forged through a deep embrace with reggae, punk, world music and a DIY ethos, Jah Wobble's heavy, hypnotic bass lines have defined a whole musical era and influenced many musicians for over forty years.
Wobble launched his solo career even before leaving PiL, forming Invaders of the Heart in 1982 and collaborating with Can's Holger Czukay and Jaki Liebezeit, U2's The Edge and producer François Kevorkian soon after. By the 1990s, he had achieved public notoriety, including chart success and a Mercury Music Prize nomination for his ‘Rising Above Bedlam’ album. After releasing the top-40 album ‘Take Me To God’ and ‘Heaven and Earth' via Island Records, Wardle fled record company constraints, returning to more experimental and non-commercial sounding records.
He was part of the industrial supergroup The Damage Manual, worked with Julie Campbell aka LoneLady on ‘Psychic Life’, and worked with his wife Zi Lan Liao (guzheng player and harpist) on the award-winning album ‘Chinese Dub’, for which they won the Songlines Magazine World Music Award and toured with a large group of Chinese performers.
More recently, he has been playing and recording with Tian Qiyi, formed by his sons Charlie and John Wardle. Debuting in 2023 with the album 'Red Mist', he once again joins them for their newly-released sophomore effort 'Songs For Workers'.
In 2024, Jah Wobble and Horace Andy released the 'Timeless Roots' album and, this year, Wobble released the 'Old Fashioned Ways' album with legendary Jamaican crooner Ken Boothe. He also played on Richard Russell’s latest album ‘Everything is Recorded', including on the single ‘Losing You’ featuring London rapper/singer Sampha.
Wobble has collaborated with Sinéad O’Connor, Massive Attack, Ginger Baker, Björk, Brian Eno, Baaba Maal, Pharoah Sanders and many others. Wobble published his well-received autobiography ‘Memoirs of a Geezer: Music, Life, Mayhem’ via Serpent’s Tail in 2009, as well as a 2008 radio documentary on his old friend Sid Vicious for BBC Radio 3. 30 Hertz Records, the independent label Wobble launched in 1997, is still active, releasing music in collaboration with Cherry Red, including 'Dark Luminosity – The 21st Century Collection' and 'In Dub II: Deluxe'.
‘Dub Volume 1' is out now digitally on music platforms, including Spotify, Apple Music and Bandcamp, where it is also available on vinyl and CD. Jah Wobble continues to tour extensively with Invaders of the Heart, with a UK and European tour happening in October and November. Tickets can be obtained at https://jahwobble.com/#live
CREDITS
Written & performed by Jah Wobble
Mastered by Anthony Chapman (Collapsed Lung)
Cover artwork & design by Jah Wobble
Released by Dimple Discs
UPC for vinyl - DEEDEE042LP
UPC for CD - DEEDEE042CD
Jah Wobble outdoor photos by David Guttridge
Jah Wobble live photos by Nick Haeffner
Publicity by Shameless Promotion PR
TRACK LIST
1 Dub In The East
2 Tyson Dub Remix
3 Existential Dub
4 Losing All Sense Of Balance Dub
5 Lovers Rock Dub
6 Tragic Slavic Dub
7 Sweet Dub
8 Old Jewish East End Of London Dub
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