Nightmares on Wax: Carboot Soul `99, Mind Elevation `02, In a Space Outta Sound `06, Thought So... `08

Four years on from Smoker's Delight and, fortunately, little has changed for George Evelyn's Nightmares on Wax project. While he could've easily been forgiven for following the nu-beat crowd and inserting a few prescient big beats into the blunted trip-hop formula, it's all clear from the opener, "Les Nuits" (a NoW theme of sorts, repeated from Smoker's Delight), that at hand is a return to form, not a turn away from the trip-hop style that took such a beating during the late '90s. The lazy-day soul samples driving tracks like "Morse" and "Finer" are perfect examples that instrumental hip-hop doesn't have to resort to the usual producer's bag of tricks to make for music leagues beyond the average. There's also a focus here lacking from previous material; fewer interludes make for a more concentrated listening experience. All in all, Carboot Soul is one of the best arguments yet for the continuing development of trip-hop beyond mere coffee table fare.

George Evelyn, the Nightmares on Wax producer who provided the template for 2000-2001's downbeat movement almost a decade before it became the bane of mix album fans, returned just in time with another LP of supremely chilled beats. Unfortunately, though, Mind Elevation isn't the unqualified triumph of Carboot Soul or Smoker's Delight, with Evelyn substituting a couple of vocal tracks for the trance-state trip-hop of his previous work. Admittedly, the acid jazz groover "Date with Destiny" and the breezy dub track "70s 80s" prove that Evelyn is surprisingly proficient at crafting a good production for use under a vocal, combining a bare few elements (like the good acid house producer he is) yet weaving them together well. And he can still stop time merely by repeating the right sample and manipulating the bass (as he does perfectly on "Humble" and "Say-Say"). Still, the NoW blueprint of skeletal productions and a clever eye to detail appears to fail him in several places. The faux classical "Bleu My Mind" doesn't even rise to the level of Classical Chillout, and far too many tracks don't even rise above the quality of fair to middling downbeat. Ironically, the fact that there are so many vocals really saves Mind Elevation from being the first bland record by Nightmares on Wax; as it is, there's something to focus on for those few tracks where the old production genius just doesn't seem to be there anymore.

One of the prime architects of the organic grooves later dubbed trip-hop, Nightmares on Wax deserted their early formula in 2002 only when it became respectable and a crossover appeared most likely. With the air cleared of downtempo cash-ins, producer George Evelyn and producer/keyboardist Robin Taylor-Firth went right back to dub-heavy trip-hop with In a Space Outta Sound. Unsurprisingly, Nightmares on Wax remain among the best at constructing simple grooves with endless depths; their only rival is Massive Attack. The centerpiece is "Damn," seven and a half minutes of gently undulating hip-hop courtesy of a reedy Al Hirt sample (familiar from its use by De La Soul) that eventually flowers into an R&B jam with a gospel choir. The other highlight is the hypnotic rocksteady groove of "Flip Ya Lid" with vocals from Ricky Rankin. As with past NoW releases, In a Space Outta Sound boasts an emphasis on sound architecture that requires expensive stereo equipment (or bucket loads of narcotics) to fully appreciate.

Thought So… is a bit of a travelogue for Nightmares on Wax, consisting of tracks recorded in locales ranging from Leeds to Ibiza – and definitely many places in between. Utilizing an intriguing studio named Camper Van Somewhere (as in, "Recorded on the…"), George Evelyn and Robin Taylor-Firth keep their productions painfully sparse, par for the course in the NoW catalog. Sometimes they're a little too sparse, specifically the first few tracks, where listeners might get the feeling they're trapped back in 1996 – when a naked breakbeat and an occasional effect or sample were the only things necessary for an innovative production. By the time they get to "Bringin It," however, it's clear that Evelyn and Taylor-Firth haven't lost their touch for finding grooves that transcend terms like lazy and instead achieve superlatives like effortless. There are a few additional moments of greatness ("Moretime" is a clear highlight), but also a few more tracks on the opposite side – they may make for great background listening, but seem to require altered states to get through while focusing on the music.

Original ripper: thezabs
Original format: 24/96
Direct Drive Turntable: Rega P5
Cartridge: Rega Exact2
Amplifier: Rega Brio 3
ADC: M-Audio 192 TRS Inputs