Wah Wah, the sixth full-length release by the
Manchester indie rock group
James, was produced by
Brian Eno and
Markus Dravs during the same six-week session as
Laid. Although the group had always been keen on improvisation, both as their principal songwriting method and onstage, this was their first (and, thus far, only) album to be composed entirely of such material. It was Eno's idea that the group's improvisations should be recorded, having told them that he regarded this music as having equal importance to the finished songs birthed from it. However, the group told
Stuart Maconie (for their authorised biography
Folklore) that the album caused disagreements, particularly over
Tim Booth's wish to redo some vocals and over how to deal with the finished record - originally planned as a giveaway with early copies of
Laid, it was eventually issued as a limited edition several months later.