Dionysian Dervish
Niklas P. Andersson | Santa Cruz, CA | 10/10/2000
(3 out of 5 stars)
"Since this record was made with "The Invader's of the Heart," I was hoping that it would be more accesible than some of Jah Wobble's latest outings, but Jah is still working in the same old world, tribal themes of Umbra Sumus--only this time minus the irritating organ. I've fallen in love with Jah's musical journey ever since the brilliant Take Me to God and the sublime Heaven and Earth; sometimes, Jah asks a lot from the listener--such is the case with Full Moon Over the Shopping Mall. It would more aptly be called Full Moon Over the Bazaar as Jah's Bass is almost the only electrified instrument in a undulating stew of Pan Pipes, sitar, old world percussion, and voice. The sounds are too discordant to be relaxing, and yet the tensions between the sounds are also the music's appeal. More like jams than songs this Dionysian mix leads us further down jah's musical search, into the forest of his oft-times perplexing, yet always intersting journey. I'm still with this musical madman, but I'm losing him in the distance."