Aural Aggravation

Legendary bass player and vocalist Jah Wobble presents ‘Tyson Dub Remix’, a song dedicated to his dear departed Staffordshire bull terrier. This heralds his new exclusive dub album Dub Volume 1, a solo effort that sees him write, play and arrange everything. The album features full-colour outer and inner sleeves based on paintings by Wobble himself, with the Limited Edition vinyl edition being clear with yellow and red colours dropped in to reflect the artwork.

‘Dub Volume 1′ marks Wobble’s first solo release via Peckham-based label Dimple Discs, although he had earlier participated in other collaborative releases put out by the label with Telefís (Cathal Coughlan and Jacknife Lee), and also The Ukrainians, along with former Siouxsie & The Banshees and Specimen member Jon Klein.

Expertly mastered by Anthony Chapman (Collapsed Lung) and cut to achieve maximum clarity and volume, this record boasts astounding top layer sonics, This solo deep dive into dub is guided by the influence of sonic pioneers like Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry and King Tubby, the result being a rich, immersive listen, full of low-end weight and intricately layered textures.

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“Tyson was a very stalwart, typical staffy and very, very resolute. Yeah, he was, the governor, but full of love, full of fun. And he was a rescue dog. We got him from Battersea Dogs Home, and we knew who we wanted. We’d seen him online. I said, “He’s—” and they said, “Well, nice. He’s not dangerous or anything, but he’s just absolutely sort of delinquent, you know, like you have to be. You have to be a very experienced dog handler." But we held out and held out. We were there all day. I had an Uber waiting, we were coming back up north—me, the missus, and me boys. And in the end we got him. My missus and her dad used to just get strays off the street in Liverpool. You don’t really have stray dogs now, but he used to love strays —and he loved Tyson, you know. So that swung it,” says Jah Wobble.

“I’d walk 10–12 miles some days up the hills, and he’d come with me. He’s the family dog, but he was just with me all the time, you know. When I went on tour he couldn’t wait for me to get back. He was lovely. So he had a serious kidney thing. And then a year later, he got sick again. Staffies are so tough. So it turned out he was riddled with cancer. Within a week or two, he had to get put down. And when he had to go, he just went to sleep in my lap. So that was it.”

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