Those of you who've listened to yesterday's London playlist will have clocked Jan Wobble's presence on there with A13 - his love song to the arterial road that takes you from central London to the marshlands of Essex. With its motor factors, motor parts and launderettes it's the sort of stuff John Betjeman would be writing today if he was still with us. I'm kidding, I'm kidding.
Wobble's love of London transport and indeed London Transport extends way beyond his tube driver days. In 2022/23 when sitting on the top deck of several buses (to, thru and from south London) he was recording both the sights and sounds of his journey; amazing what you can do with yer phone these days. He'd fill in the gaps later with some monster bass lines and synth parts that, if you closed your eyes, you could picture yourself on that self same journey. The finished product is called, imaginatively, The Bus Routes of South London. And it really is one of his strongest albums in a long while.
Jah Wobble - 345 Towards South Kensington (2023)
It’s the equivalent of that cliched phrase that (insert name of singer) could sing the phone book & it would still sound great. Wob can do no wrong, musically speaking, in my book and seeing the great man perform Metal Box Rebuilt In Dub last year was unforgettable.
ReplyDeleteHe is now something of a national treasure, is he not? And so prolific.
DeleteExcellent, thanks for the heads up and I shall check out your playlist too. I love all the sights and sounds of a good (and not too busy) bus or train journey. LIstening to this whilst looking out of the window with the landscape and its urban punctuations rolling past would be perfect.
ReplyDeleteIt's such a great concept. I think you'll enjoy it.
DeleteAs Khayem said, Jah Wobble can't do anything wrong. I love this album and the story behind.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Walter. It's a stunning album.
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