(RockAndMetal.com) (07/08/05)

Edited By Michael Bennett

LONDON, UK - Following up last year's successful anthology album, "I Could Have Been A Contender," comes the first commercial release from JAH WOBBLE since 1994's "Take Me To God" album.

"Mu," scheduled to be released on September 12th via Trojan Records, is a 10-track album described by the artist as "Zen Dub."

Jah Wobble, one of contemporary music's more unique bassists and producers, has found a new sensibility on "Mu," drawing on a plethora of inspirations, sounds and techniques that make up the genre-busting set.

For instance, 'Samsara' is a tough Urban track with a deep and spiritual message, while 'Viking Funeral' is a real London-flavored Reggae number and 'Buddha Of Compassion' is a lush, dreamy and cinematic slice of World Dance.

Behind the concept of the album, Wobble explains how "the original idea behind 'Mu' was to make a dub-style Surround Sound 5.1 recording."

However, owing to technical difficulties at a fairly early stage, he aborted the 5.1 sessions and reverted to Stereo.

Despite the switch back, Wobble "retained a '5.1 sensibility' with most of the tracks, i.e. lots of frequencies moving around, stereo image as wide as can be, the sound layered in sonic tiers."

"Mu" also presented itself as a perfect opportunity to showcase the prodigious talents of sound engineer Mark Lusardi (The Orb, David Bowie, Lee "Scratch" Perry, Dennis Bovell, Duran Duran, etc.).

Wobble first worked with Lusardi back in 1978, and have since collaborated together on various projects including "Deep Space" (1999) and "Molam Dub" (2000).

"He (Lusardi) is the most under-appreciated and unacknowledged 'back room boy' in the game that I know of," Wobble comments.

"Mu" continues Jah Wobble's ability to mesmerize, surprise and challenge his audience, his musical direction having always been genuine, from the heart and pure.

According to Wobble, The title "Mu" refers to an old Zen Koan.

"It came into being when a famous Chinese Zen master called Joshu (A.D. 778-897) was paid a visit by an aspirant monk."

"As a dog walked by the Monk asked Joshu: 'Has that dog got Buddha nature or not?" Joshu immediately answered 'Mu!'"

"'Mu,' like the original Chinese 'Wu,' can refer to the original void or state of non-being from whence the universe originated. The front cover is inspired by that idea."

"As depicted on the cover, all things and beings are contained within 'Mu' (I personally tend to use the word God). Then again all these ideas are a form of concept and therefore not really 'Mu.'"

"Which is absolute, and therefore not relative, or quantifiable. Oh dear, there I go again, conceptualizing."

"Look, put it this way: at the moment I hit that low E on the bass... That's 'Mu!'"

Ê Jah Wobble originally met John Lydon, John Grey and Sid Vicious at Kingsway College in London back in 1973.

It was Vicious who originally nicknamed John "Wobble" after a drunken binge, and would also loan him his first bass.

During the heyday of Punk in the mid to late 70s, Jah Wobble earned himself the reputation of being something of a thug.

His original introduction to the bass stemmed from his long-term obsession with Dub Reggae music.

Combined with the D.I.Y. Punk ethos, Wobble embraced Punk and Reggae, and in the process created an original Rock/Reggae hybrid of his own.

After employing his fascination with the bass guitar to actually playing it, Lydon asked Wobble to join Public Image Limited (aka PiL) during the Spring of 1978, after the official breakup of The Sex Pistols.

Wobble's distinctive "low end" bass sound helped to put PiL on the map and became the backbone of the band.

As Lydon once famously commented: "No one listened to bass in rock music before PiL."

The band's debut album, "Public Image Limited," included the band's eponymous first Top 10 hit single.

After two excellent albums, including the mighty "Metal Box," Jah Wobble became increasingly disillusioned by the music scene and the politics of PiL and their reluctance to play live - eventually splitting from the band in mid-1980.

Lydon gave his mutual consent, amid bold claims by PiL guitarist Keith Levene that Wobble had deliberately saved PiL material for his debut solo album, "Betrayal."

After PiL, and before the genre became in vogue, Wobble became a well-respected session and solo artist, with a genuine passion for Eastern and Global music.

Over the past 25 years, he has since worked with a diverse range of musicians and music genres.

In 1986, after a long battle with alcohol addiction, Wobble unexpectedly walked away from the music scene to work for London Transport, but eventually returned with a revitalized line-up of his "Invaders Of The Heart" band.

By the 1990s, Jah Wobble finally achieved public notoriety, including chart success and a Mercury Music Prize nomination for his critically-acclaimed "Rising Above Bedlam" album.

However, after a couple of reasonably commercially successful albums, Wobble fled record company constraints - returning to making more experimental and non-commercial sounding records. In 1997, he started up his own independent recording label, 30 Hertz Records, and has released a number of critically acclaimed records on the imprint.

Having overcome addiction in the mid-eighties, Jah Wobble is now a reformed character.

His wild thug days are now long behind him, and he is now a dedicated family man with a documented interest in spirituality, and in 2000 received a B.A. in Music and Philosophy.

He also writes regular book reviews for the UK's Independent on Sundays.

Meanwhile, Jah Wobble will be performing a series of upcoming live dates, including the Fairport Cropredy Festival in Banbury, Oxfordshire on August 11th, and at the Tartan Heart Festival in Scotland on August 12th.

Additional live dates are expected to be announced soon.

"Mu" Album Track Listing:

1. Viking Funeral
2. Universal Dub
3. Samsara
4. Kojak Dub
5. Mu
6. Buddha Of Compassion
7. New Mexico Dub
8. Love Comes/Loves Goes
9. Softwear
10. Into The Light

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