Brian Eno is MORE DARK THAN SHARK

INTERVIEWS, REVIEWS & RELATED ARTICLES

Q APRIL 2015 - by John Aizlewood

JAMES: LAID/WAH WAH

Their sixth and seventh albums. Together at last.

Producer Brian Eno always argued that the concurrently recorded Laid (the album which broke James in America in 1993) and Wah Wah (the album which finished James in America in 1994) should have been released together. He was wrong: the link was of time and location only. Laid was their most luscious album, while Wah Wah was some jamming. No matter, history has done nothing to dim Laid's charms beyond the priapic title track and the spine-tingling Sometimes (Lester Piggott), while Wah Wah's controlled indulgence is more intriguing now than it was then. And there's the bonus of Phill Savidge's epically detailed sleeve-notes and two extra discs which add all sorts of wonder. The sixty-eight-track result is a beautifully presented labour of love which re-states James's already impressive case.