Record of the Day: Jah Wobble, “Take Me to God”

Jah Wobble
“Take Me to God” (Cd Island 7432120568-2)

A daring organizer of sounds, bassist Jah Wobble has crossed countless different musical genres trying to create a synthesis between apparently irreconcilable musical worlds, from jazz to world music, from dub to punk, overlapping Algerian räi with Latin music, ambient music and dance with the song form.
A chef with too many ingredients at his disposal can make a mess that tastes indistinct, but Wobble is a master.
in avoiding the obviousness that fills such stylistic operations, managing to create his own unmistakable style that truly manages to transcend the individual ingredients that compose it.

His Jamaican-influenced bass lines have graced dozens of recordings with artists from Johnny Rotten’s Public Image to Peter Gabriel, and have established him as one of the leading instrumentalists of his generation. Unfortunately, Wobble’s reckless use of alcohol and drugs during the 1990s has left his recording output, which includes numerous titles, inconsistent.

One of the projects in which Jah managed to better focus his musical personality is that of the group Invaders Of
The Heart, with which in 1994 he created this T”ake Me to God”, in my opinion his most beautiful album despite a horrifying cover capable of repelling any buyer (it depicts Wobble in the guise of a Christ-like figure showing his own bleeding heart just ripped from his chest).

In the company of guests such as Gavin Friday, Chaka Demus & Pliers and Dolores O’Riordan (crystalline voice of the Cranberries) Wobble creates an album that is difficult to describe, with songs that range in all directions while maintaining absolute compositional coherence.

The folk/Celtic refrain of “The Sun Does Rise” ties in perfectly with the techno-Middle Eastern base that supports it and the polyrhythms that intertwine in the base of the title track blend naturally with Abdel Ali Slimani’s voice. In this garden of wonders there is room for both the reggae ditty “Amor” (light as cotton candy) and the chilling atmospheres of “I Love Everybody” that contradicts its title by painting a musical background full of tension.

Carlo Boccadoro, composer and conductor, was born in Macerata in 1963. He lives and works in Milan. He collaborates with soloists and orchestras in different parts of the world. He is the author of numerous books on musical subjects.

This text is taken from “Lunario della musica: Un disco per ogni giorno dell’anno” published by Einaudi, courtesy of the author and the publisher.