Nightmares on Wax: spaced out in timely fashion

Nightmares On Wax released their first album way back in the ‘80s. Originally a duo, the outfit is now primarily one George Evelyn, and his latest release, In A Space Outta Time, sees a return to form by the producer who derides the term trip-hop in preference for hip-hop.

“A lot of people have forgotten what hip-hop is all about,” asserted George Evelyn down the line from the UK just last month. “More than anything else, it’s a lifestyle thing – and I’ll always be a b-boy.”

For this particular break-boy, however, it’s been a solid 15 years since his first Nightmares On Wax album, A Word Of Science, with then-partner Kevin Harper, and Evelyn was quick to admit that age does play havoc with his lifestyle preferences. “Unfortunately these days I can only break-dance when I’m drunk,” he added, with a resounding chuckle, “and I’ve found myself out there on the dance floor, suddenly realizing ‘shit, that hurt!’”

While his reflexes may be a trifle long in the tooth, Evelyn’s creative panache most certainly is not, and he’s just unveiled the fifth Nightmares On Wax album.

On first impressions In A Space Outta Time seems to utilize the same roadmap as Evelyn’s earlier opus Carboot Soul (1999) – as on that album, the first track, Passion, is more orchestral and cinematic in scale; as before, it’s the fifth track (Finer on Carboot Soul, “Damn!” here) that’s the killer number that virtually blows everything else out of the water – and the other material is far from just flotsam or jetsam. Even the weaker moments on the new album – Flip Ya Lid and African Pirates are nominees for the honor – would be mild standouts on a swag of contemporary releases. While there are more innovative artists out there reconfiguring the hip-hop ethic, Evelyn has found a niche he more than comfortably fills.

There was in fact a N.O.W. album between this one and Carboot Soul – the rather innocuous Mind Elevation (2002). Evelyn himself sees more of a relationship between his new baby and Carboot Soul, and is a shade dismissive of the intermediary one. “[In A Space Outta Time] is a deeper album, and I think I’m a lot more focused. I’m definitely a lot more satisfied this time around. I kind of wonder where I was emotionally on that album…”

Some sticklers, however, will have you believe that Smoker’s Delight (1995) was the landmark N.O.W. long-player, and everything since mere pretenders. “Yeah, it’s funny, isn’t it?” Evelyn mused. “Some people found us through Smoker’s, and some people started the journey through Carboot. With most people I guess there’s a sentimental connection to do with the moment they discovered the record. I’ve had people come up to me and say that Smoker’s Delight was the soundtrack to their life backpacking across South America, you know what I mean?”

For Evelyn himself, Carboot Soul seems to have had the most visceral impact. “That was the moment I suddenly realized I could sample my own musicians and take everything so much further; the moment when I could combine my knowledge as a deejay with that of having a band.” In A Space Outta Sound, he said, is a logical extension of this personal development – while Carboot Soul was the album in which he graduated from DJ tricks and found his musical feet, it seems that this time around he seeks to show he’s learned how to walk.

Sampling has played a huge role in the Nightmares On Wax back-catalogue, and although personally he’s using less samples sourced from other people’s records and using more of his own musicians, Evelyn still considers the process a form of art in its own right – if it’s handled correctly. And he agrees that people like Si Begg, Luke Vibert and Cassetteboy can be hilarious in their off-the-wall plunder-phonics. “The key is how you manipulate it – a creative and innovative use of the sample, and anything that’s stimulating,” he suggested.

One thing Evelyn isn’t so keen on is the mention of two words: trip-hop. Shortly after its release, some music journalists arraigned Smoker’s Delight as the blueprint for that now-defunct stoner lounge muzak genre - and while a decade ago he may have been vehemently opposed to the suggestion, these days the man laughs it off with a kind of tired resignation. “Well, I’ve talked about it before, and I’ve never actually attached myself to that style,” he reported. “I full-heartedly refer to hip-hop, and I think everything I do is an extension of that – hip-hop.”

 
Who: Nightmares On Wax

What: In A Space Outta Time

When: Out now through Inertia