Customer Reviews

Carboot Soul

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Nightmares on Wax is one of those legendary one-man bands who crop up every now and then (also known as George Evelyn, but that doesn't sound as cool). Even the "merely good" work by people such as he is astounding, inventive and really fun.

And "Carboot Soul," his third album, is no exception: it's an amazing mixture of chillout electronica and acid jazz. It's a bit less hazy than his 1995 "Smoker's Delight," but that isn't surprising -- here Evelyn pulls on various influences to flavour his music. The title fits this album: it's soulful, yet it has as many influences as a "carboot" rummage sale.

It begins on a symphonic note in the epic "Les nuits," which seems to herald a new music direction. Don't be deceived. The symphonic build-up leads to funky grooves and jazzy flavours in "Morse," which continues to the brassy "Easejimi," the mellow murmurs of "Finer," and the wonderfully peculiar "Argha Noah." Say that last title out loud, and you'll understand the joke.

But there is a slightly more delicate style near the end, when Evelyn switches to the gently rippling guitar of "Fire in the Middle," the melancholy acid jazz of "Survival," and the eerier, more symphonic sound of "Capumcap." Evelyn ends the album on a high note, with those sensitive, lower-key songs.

It's hard to find groups as good as Nightmares on Wax -- scour the top hundreds, and you won't find anything like this. I personally found "Carboot Soul" in a tiny hole-in-the-wall music store, in the "used" bin, although it's hard to imagine why anyone would discard an album like this.

Despite the chillout label, Evelyn's music has a sort of relaxed warmth that counterpoints the icy sound of many other bands. He also has a good ear for samples and beats, lacing them with razor-sharp drums and some wonderful brass instrumentation. Sara Winton's rich voice is used well, crooning, "A bottle like a model shipwreck/where did it come from?/Where will it go?/A face without a name/survival..."

"Carboot Soul" is another triumph by Nightmares on Wax, and another wonderful display of George Evelyn's considerable talents. An absolute joy.

Hands down, this has got to be one of my favorite albums of all time. This album is designed to make your senses tingle and your mind to drift into bliss. Starting out with the classic "Les Nuits", the track eases you into "Morse", the second track and my personal favorite. Layered with warm melodies and beautiful female vocals, the song will surely capture your mind and transport you to a state of pureness. "Ethnic Purity" follows with a nice horn section and bass line reminicent of the Antibalas Orchestra of the black movement. "Jorge" slows down with an easy, relaxing rythmic beat and female vocal, while the popular "Finer" invites your mind to wander with a deep, yet soft bassline and female vocal element. "Ease Jimi" brings the instrumental Antibalas influence back, while the psychadelic "Argha Noah" climaxes the album and send you into a state of euphoria. The three songs that follow are designed to bring you down and conclude the trip, thus the category "trip hop"is fitting in every respect. I recommend this not only to trip hop/chillout enthusiasts, but to anybody who enjoys music.

Literally everyone who has heard this CD wants to buy it or get a copy of it. Gave it to my girlfriend to listen to at work - now the whole office loves it and tells her to turn it up and asks where to buy. Her mother listend to it - now shes getting both "Nightmares on Wax" for christmas. Friends want me to burn them copies. People aske me to borrow it. Receptionist at work bought it. Simply great music that everyone can enjoy. It is DEFINATELY WORTH THE MONEY. I GUARANTEE IT.

Compared to everyone else on Warp Records these days, it always seemed that(Along with LFO) Nightmares on Wax were a bit out of place. But considering the progressive nature of the label, it only seems proper that George Evelyn and his laid back grooves are allowed to breathe on Warp. This is the finest, most laid back album you will ever hear. The Album starts out with the cinematic "Les Nuits", and the laxadazical grooves of "Morse", my presonal favorite, and then grooves on with "Ethnic Majority", "Ease Jimi" and "Finer". If you can find an album that flows better, give it to me, but right now, smoking a jay and listening to "Carboot Soul" seems only right to me. George Evelyn put chill out on the map, and really no one would even think about putting one of those stupid "Chill Mix" cd's without thinking of the man and his work. He's come a long way from his Acid House days and put in perspective a definitive sound that many have tried to copy. I could go on and on (Can you believe I'm 19?) but I'm going to let this review speak for itself.

Carboot Soul is aptly decribes this disc; bleeding with the influence of the Philly sound and James Brown, this disc has yet to leave my car's changer.

Evelyn creates a blend of downbeat techno a breed apart, in fact I cringe from the term which would lump NoW in with K&D. His beats are mainly of the soul and hip hop variety with no four-on-the-floor stuff. The samples are tasteful, and there are some transcendent live elements to the tracks. I find it hard to compare this album to any in the sonic wallpaper business. I love the genre (I have about 40 discs which apply), and yet this disc is singular in its listenability: without dissent, every one of my friends for whom I have played it has loved it, even card-carrying technophobes.

Variety exists in a structure which nevertheless carries a thread. Soulful bass and delicate instrumentation manifest themselves throughout, sprouting as everything from a Delfonics sound ('Morse' and 'Capumcap')to tracks which Jurassic 5 would love to get their hands on ('Ethnic Majority'). 'Ease Jimi' is reminiscent of JB's funk.

Top to bottom, this album is tight and takes its place on the mantle next to Thievery Corporation and Kruder & Dorfmeister for great cruising/ lounging/ afternoon music, though it resembles them only in its application. If repetition has previously driven you away from this type of music, download "Morse," "Ethnic Majority," and "Ease Jimi" as testers, then give this album a try.

I have to disagree with brir@erols.com on this one. Having listened to -- and loved -- NOW's previous CD "Smoker's Delight", all I can say is they must've been too delighted with the smoke to create a new album this time around. Rather than expanding on the brilliantly mellow direction of the previous release, it seems like the guys in the band were in creative suspended animation for the intervening years: The whole thing is literally variations on the tracks from "...Delight" -- and not even interesting variations! At the very least Warp could've promoted this as variations on previous material rather than passing it off as an original release...I guess it sounds really good if you don't know that they're stealing their own work. Buy the 5-star "Smoker's Delight" disc instead!

Truly one of the better discs I've ever heard. "Fire in the Middle" and "Capumcap" alone are worth the price of the entire album. Start to finish, not a single bad song.

Nightmares other albums are pretty good, but this album is head & shoulders above almost all other downtempo I've ever heard (other than St. Germain's "Tourist", but that album is simply mind-boggling).

Other downtempo to explore: Bonobo, Projections, Llorca.

I first heard N.O.W. on Smoker's Delight, and fell in love with it immeadiatly. People who think that Smoker's Delight was too light and boring will probably like this one a lot more. The basslines are much more rich and will fill up your ear with some mellow tunes. The rythms will keep your head bumping through the late hours of the night.

The sound remains smooth and relaxing, but it will keep your attention beter than Smoker's Delight.

Everyone talks about Les Nuits and being the best song, but really it is just a good remix of Nights Introlude from Smoker's Delight. I accually prefer the original Nights Introlude to Les Nuits, but it is still a good mix.

Morse is a great standout track with one of the greatest basslines that I have ever heard in a song - it is so rich and smooth.

Ethnic Majority is quite possibly the coolest song EVER. The drumbeat and bassline is so funky that you just can't help bouncing to it. When the horns and little vocal chants come in, this song really gets going.

Finer is another standout track that received a lot of praise. It is well deserved. Finer is a very beautiful song with some great female vocals.

I love the entire CD, although it is considerably shorter than Smoker's Delight (only 50 minutes long).

Carboot Soul is great for relaxing to while at home, but I find it most interesting to listen to while driving. It seems to be the greatest cruising album that I have ever heard. One thing that I have to recommend is not listening to this CD the same way all the time. If you listen to it on headphones at your computer all of the time, try listening to it on a home stereo, or in your car. You will get more from this CD the more different places you listen to it, I promise.

Also, if you like this CD, and you don't have Smokers Delight, definatly pick that one up too.

I buy at least 100 cd's per year, across many generes.

Nightmares on Wax's Carboot Soul is definitely in my top 5 for 1999, and probably through the millenium.

It is a soothing, trippy soundtrack of life recording that has a place in my cd player morning, noon and night.

If you buy only one "electronica" cd this year (and that term does not adequately define their sound) make Carboot Soul the one.

That's really the only way I can think to describe this cd. Besides the fact that its really, really, good. I haven't been able to stop listening to it. The clips here at Amazon are a good indication of what to expect from the cd. I listened to them over and over for about a month before I actually purchased the cd and I was not at all disappointed. I was actually a bit surprised that it was even better than I had hoped. I hope you enjoy it as well.