Jah Wobble

June 27 - July 4, 1 9 9 6
[Off the Record]

[line image]

**1/2 Jah Wobble

HEAVEN & EARTH

(Island)

The best-named bassist in the world has a huge fondness for Eastern exotica. That and his exquisite taste in guest vocalists (Sinéad O'Connor, Dolores O'Riordan, Natacha Atlas) have sometimes made for a sultry recipe. But on Heaven & Earth his fondness for ambient flourishes gets the better of him, and much of this disc meanders along like a distant soundtrack. The bamboo flutes, gongs, and congas add color, but Wobble has shifted away from the taut pop structures that would have any immediate pull.

"Om Namah Shiva," the briefest number (nearly five minutes), closes out the disc, which is a bit of a shame since it's the loveliest song here. Natacha Atlas's voice is stunning and deserves to be better-known and better-positioned. (She sings on an earlier number, but it blends in with the nondescript surroundings.) "Om Namah Shiva" is about God-knows-what, but the deep groove Wobble kicks up covers miles and miles of territory. If only more of the disc were as compelling.

-- Amy Finch