(03.28.06) Nightmares on Wax put out their first album with Warp Records, Dextrous, in the late 80s, a combined effort of George Evelyn and Kevin Harper. Soon after, Harper left to pursue other routes, and Evelyn took a break, coming back with Smoker’s Delight in 1995. Since then, Evelyn has continued to mix up and put out a consistent brand of downtempo music, releasing many additional albums including the most recent, In a Space Outta Sound.
In a Space… isn’t new territory for Evelyn. It’s full of soul, groove, funk, jazz, reggae and sweet vocals. But that could be the issue holding NOW back from ever growing beyond the category of “music that’s good to chill to.”
Taking the flavors of other music and amalgamating them into a funktronic sound has become de rigueur of downtempo electronic music. It’s the background music in trendy clothing stores and the soundtrack in commercials for German cars. Evelyn’s talent is obvious, but if he would just break out of that sterile, perfectly synchronized world of downtempo layers, he might surprise himself. Perhaps it’s just a matter of keeping it a little rough around the edges. Maybe if Evelyn let in a little more of the blues raunch and the soul of–well, soul–he could take it to the next level.
This is not to say that In a Space… doesn’t have it’s respected place. It’s just a place that seems to be getting overcrowded with other musicians doing exactly the same thing. Why have five albums from the same artist if they all sound exactly alike? We’re looking for evolution, experimentation–something surprising. Maybe NOW’s next album will let that funk stay funky, rip the edges and keep ’em raw, and show us some soul that’s not so shiny and new. (Buy it at Amazon.com)
In a Space Outta Sound is out now on Warp.
