|
 When
the first 'English Roots' studio album was mentioned back in 2003 I
have to say, I was concerned. Traditional English folk music given the
Wobble treatment? Visions of Aran knit sweaters and morris dancers with
Sally Army style acoustic guitars sprung to mind. However, that's as
big a cliche as punk-rockers with untuned guitars and mohawks. I'm not
saying it doesn't happen, but there is far more to the music
that just that. And 'English Roots Music' proved it. It wasn't as strange
a combination as I first thought. The band managed to keep the traditional
song structures; while bringing new life to the music. Filling the vocal
melodies with bass, guitar and dubby loops; along with more traditional
instruments such as bagpipes and flutes.
Playing these songs live
has probably helped fight the preconceived ideas people have of the
record, once they heard it, it clicked. It certainly won over quite
a few people, myself included. Over the last couple of years the songs
have progressed and a document of the show made perfect sense, but rather
than a live recording Wobble has pulled the band into the recording
studio for an album based on the live set. 'Jah Wobble & The English
Roots Band' is effectively the band playing live in the studio, and
its raw stripped down sound manages to capture their power perfectly.
Don't get me wrong, this
isn't a redux recording of the first album, only an overhauled 'Blacksmiths
Song’ & 'Byker Hill' are repeated. The majority of the tracks
are made up of new material plus other traditional songs given the Roots
Band treatment; such as 'Rocky Road to Dublin' & 'Ploughboys Dream'.
Also included is a new extended recording of ‘Visions of You’
– and one of the highlights of the live set – a
stunning cover of ‘No, No, No’ (aka ‘You Don’t
Love Me’)*. A reggae standard, now a royal Wobble standard.
Of the new material the first
track 'One Day' stands out as my current favourite. The opening bars
sent an erie PiL shiver down by neck before bursting alive with Clea
Rose jazzy vocal. Superb stuff. With this track followed by 'No No No'
the album has an incredibly strong start but still manages to keep its
quality right through to the very end. The new revamped recording of
‘Visions of You’ sees Wob share vocal duties with Liz Carter.
There's no doubt a hint of irony in his voice as he makes a point of
repeating "repetition, repetition…" as the
track separates into a full-on dub.
It's probably worth mentioning
that the artwork by John Freeman is based on Jack Vettriano, but I can
rest assure you, unlike Vettriano the material on this album is more
than a straight copy of someone else’s work. Mr Wobble has never
needed a instruction book for anything. There's a huge difference from
being inspired by something to soullessly copying it… On a lighter
note, I can only presume from the cover that Wobble has been working
out since the last time I saw demolish an Italian meal!
I don't own a Aran knit sweater
but I do own a Sex Pistols cashmere (I'm such a show-off), and when
I think about it, that's the perfect analogy for the English Roots Band… |