Never afraid of embracing the cerebral, Jah Wobble's latest group project, Solaris, is inspired by Stanislaw Lem's 1961 science fiction novel and, especially, Andrei Tarkovsky's film version of it 11 years later. Tarkovsky was a master of the still, lingering shot. Musically, Solaris travels much the same route, following what Wobble calls a "holy minimalist" approach.
The 90 minutes consist of an hour's ambient dub swirl, followed by an encore comprising a further 30 minutes of the same. At its best, it is a dub symphony; at its most tedious, a dub soup; but, when Wobble reads out an eulogy to Essex ("the A13 ceases to be an arterial road"), the evening's only vocals, it becomes toe-curlingly embarrassing.
But Wobble's four fellow travellers add distinct, disparate parts, and when they gel, Solaris truly soars. Bill Laswell, dressed as an elderly revolutionary in leather trousers and beret, is Wobble's chief foil. Their two basses rarely clash, for Laswell's sound sculptures add an other-worldly feel, park Pink Floyd, part Laurie Anderson. Forty minutes in, he sits down and rests awhile.
Graham Haynes (son of jazz drummer Roy) plays harsh cornet and a box of electronic tricks. Former Can drummer Jaki Liebezeit is by turns simple and complex, while minimalist pianist Harold Budd is often lost in the mix, but when audible he adds a much-needed lushness.
A few people sway non-committally, but Solaris is really music to do nothing to. It's undanceable, melody-free and self-indulgent to the point of pretension, yet there are moments of sheer joy - Wobble's innovative bass flicking; the way the whole quintet supports one endlessly reverberating note.
Budd begins proceedings alone, bathed in red light, his fragile piano piece almost shattered by security's walkie-talkies. Haynes joins to add mournful cornet, then Laswell gingerly picks his way across stage (the lighting is as minimal as Budd's piano) and unveils his bass atmospherics before - 20 minutes after Budd began - Wobble and Liebezeit join them. Then they build, twisting the music in every conceivable way. Finally, they stop and Wobble announces, surely mistakenly, "If I enjoyed that as much as you did, then good." Then they are called back for the encore and start up again.
· At Manchester Contact Theatre tonight. Box office: 0161-274 0600. Then tours to Leeds, Kendal, Brighton and Coventry.
