Hot on the heels of the Deep Space double live album "Largely Live InHartlepool & Manchester", Jah Wobble has already assembled a newunit, toured and recorded another live album. Solaris is Wobble onclean bass, longtime collaborator Bill Laswell on distorted bass,composer Harold Budd on piano and keyboards, Graham Haynes on cornetand electronics and Jaki Leibezeit of Can on drums. It's almost a caseof too much talent for one group but, as you'd expect from improvisersof this caliber, each and every member knows their place and they sharethe limelight admirably. The starting point is Budd's modal scales onpiano, then Wobble's relentlessly repetitious (yet infectious) basspatterns, then Leibezeit's metronomic snare-centric beat. Haynes,Laswell and Budd then texture wrap the groove with ambient backdropsand kinda sorta solos. The group gels, ebbs, flows and orgasms in equaldoses, their sound more jazzy than Deep Space's worldliness. With threeof the four tracks in the 19 to 25 minute range, it's all about gettinginto the comfort zone of the groove. The two part 'The Mystery ofTwilight', 45 minutes total, is most engaging as overdriven riffs burnalongside a heavy duty rhythmic propulsion. Another winner from Wobbleand friends. samples:
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