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Chinese Dub Album Reviews |
Songline, Jan/Feb 09. Issue 57 ***** |
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WOMAD's conversation piece this year occurred at the 11th hour, when Jah Wobble's dazzling, circus-like Chinese Dub Orchestra left us spellbound. As the musicians packed up a guzheng zither, Jew's harp electric guitar, classical flute and Chinese percussion, Wobble unplugged the bass which had subtly driven the performance.
By: Sue Steward |
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Record Collector, January 2009 issue 358 ***** |
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Fascinating collusion of East, West and down-deep dub. This could well be one of the greatest things to have come out of Liverpool's status as Capital of Culture 2008. Wobble's commissioned collaboration with a selection of handpicked traditional Chinese musicians came to a wonderful blossoming conclusion with a series of gigs that blended Chinese music with his own hefty dub leanings. This album is the beautiful extrapolation of those unique moments.
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fRoots, December 2008 issue 306 |
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Jah Wobble's monolithic basslines have been the cornerstone of all kinds of global and electronic musical exploration for night on two decades now. But this is the first new recording I've heard from him for some while. The title lets you know what's in store. Wobble's wife is the guzheng (Chinese zither) player Zi Lan Liao, his father-in-law runs Liverpool's Pagoda Chinese Youth Orchestra and this recording came out of a collaboration between Wobble's band and the Orchestra, as part of this year's Liverpool Capital Of Culture celebrations. The PCYO only feature on a couple of tracks here, with remainder featuring Wobble's regular musicians and Zi Lan Liao, plus four contributions from Chinese vocalists. The result is slow to start, only really kicking into gear with the fourth track Solitude, which highlights some lovely melodic playing from Zi Lan, but from then on I was captivated. Kang Ding Love Song is dub heavy and showcases the excellent voice of Gu Yinji. L1 features both the toughest beats and sweetest playing. Easily the best thing I've heard from Wobble since his Invaders Of The Heart heyday. By: Jamie Renton |
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The Observer, 11 January 2009 |
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The 20-strong troupe of Chinese musicians and dancers assembled and toured by bass supremo Wobble was one of 2008's highlights, a more supple fusion of east and west than Damon Albarn's Monkey. Even without the spectacular stage visuals, it's a powerful work, sliding from a slow, atmospheric opening into cascades of zither and ricocheting vocals on L1 Dub and Happy Tibetan Girl. The melodies and glistening female voices are traditional - Cantonese, Mongolian - but the music is of the here and now, underpinned by Wobble's agile, reggaematic pulse. His prolific, varied output has made him a hard man to place, but here the punk wars survivor has produced something special. By: Neil Spencer |
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Mojo, February 2009 **** |
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The 30th release on Wob's own label looks for influences in the East and his own domestic life. Though not as astonishing as the Dub orchestra's live shows (mask-changing dancers have to be seen to be truly unbelievable), Wobble's latest is still a head-spinning experience. It begins quietly, setting the scene a la Shivkumar Shumar's Call of The Valley LP, and it's not until the singer Gu Yinji and Wobble's wife, the guzheng player Zi Lan Liao, appear on the third and fourth tracks that you get a sense of what might be happening. A couple of tunes later, Happy Tibetan Girl pitches you deep into a maelstrom of dub effects. What might have been a novelty purchase suddenly snaps into a brutal hijacking of the senses that demands to be listened to intently. If 2008 was the first time Far Eastern music (Monkey, Sa Dingding, Denue Fever, Onra) made credible inroads towards rock territory, here is the benchmark. Try topping this, somebody. By: David Hutcheon |
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The Observer, Music Monthly. Jan 2009 issue 65 **** |
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| A jaw-dropping performance by Wobble's Chinese troupe was the scene stealer at 2008's Womad. The accompanying studio album, a fusion of Chinese tradition with Wobble's loping bass, is seamless - a mix of stately atmospherics and dub shot through with vocals and dazzling zither playing from Zi Lan Liao (Wobble's wife). Trailblazing stuff. By Neil Spencer |
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The Guardian, Friday 16 January 2009 **** |
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Jah Wobble is one of the great English originals. Thirty years ago, his rumbling bass-playing defined the sound of Public Image Limited, and since then he has used his love for dub reggae to transform anything from avant-garde jazz-rock to English folk songs. Now, influenced by his wife, Zi Lan Liao, an exponent of the guzheng (Chinese zither), he has turned his attention to far eastern styles, with startling results. This album is a brave experiment in east-west fusion; yet it's also a typical Wobble album, thanks to that distinctive bass work and echoing dub effects, and the refreshingly rough-and-ready production. It starts with a perhaps overlong wash of effects against the tinkling of Chinese instruments. Then the British and Chinese musicians hit their stride. On the bluesy and lyrical Yellow Horse Mountain, Wobble eases back to provide a gently insistent bass riff, matched by a rousing workout form the strings, flute and pipes. He's still in a class of his own. By: Robin Denselow |
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Flyglobalmusic.com 6th December 2008 |
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Eclectic former PiL bass man Jah Wobble teams up with wife Zi Lan Liao to produce his best post-Invaders of the Heart album yet, a dubby yang to the yin of Damon Albarn¡¯s Journey to the West Chinese opera Chinese Dub does exactly what it says on the tin, although the listener has to wait till the album is five tracks in before hearing that familiar Wobble bass rumble and (not so heavy this time) reggae dub sound, encasing a mellifluous mix of guzheng (Chinese zither), flute, pipes and various liquid keyboard arrangements and contributions from two excellent female Chinese vocalists (Wang Jinqi and Gu Yinji). Prior to that, we are treated to a spacey, atmospheric overture that has little real bearing on the sharp, sweet and sexy mix of Chinese, Tibetan and Mongolian folk melodies and modern beats to come. The accent is definitively Chinese (there are excellent contributions from Liverpool¡¯s Pagoda Chinese Youth Orchestra), with Wobble and his regular band restrained in their framing of the Eastern elements, a carefully honed appreciation of the roots of the mix inherent in every arrangement. Wobble toured the full orchestra in the summer of 2008, with the band¡¯s performance at WOMAD generally considered to be one of the highlights (and surprises) of the festival, and it¡¯s worth buying (rather than downloading) the album for the full story of how Wobble (and family: his father-in-law and sons also play a part) developed this fascinating collaboration between Eastern and Western cultures. ¡ªCon Murphy |
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Totalmusicmagazine.com 9th March 2009 |
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If Jah Wobble was given the major label support and budget offered to, oh I dunno, let¡¯s say Damon Albarn, the ex east-end ne¡¯er do well, PiL bass monster and World Music champion would be seriously more high profile than he currently is (not entirely sure he¡¯s that bothered by that fact mind), with a string of excellent albums, and numerous successful musical experiments, to his name Wobble is probably the most open-minded, adventurous musician the UK has ever produced. So how does Chinese Dub work then? Bloody brilliantly actually, impossible to describe other than it sounds exactly like the title and you need to hear it. |
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Uncut, January 2009 |
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Multi-cultural mash-up from ex-PiL bassist By: Nigel Williamson |
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Metro, 6th February 2009 |
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Since their live sets stormed festivals in 2008, Jah Wobbles’ latest project, The Chinese Dub Orchestra, has been attracting a lot of interest. Venerable punk bassist/composer Wobble has always had a keen ear for global sounds, and on Chinese Dub he really throws his heart and soul into this extensive ensemble, which includes his talented wife Zi Lan Liao on the guzheng, vocalist Gu Yinji singing in Mongolian and Tibetan, and the Liverpool – based Pagoda Chinese Youth Orchestra. |
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Jah Wobble Chinese Dub supported by The Liverpool Culture Company Limited as part of the 2008 European Capital of Culture programme . Jah Wobble Chinese Dub tour is supported by the Arts Council Northwest |