Nightmares On Wax - Biography - Mind Elevation -- breakmag

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Date Posted: 23:25:29 08/13/02 Tue
Author: PODODARECORDCOMPANYDICKHEAD
Subject: Nightmares On Wax - Biography - Mind Elevation

Nightmares On Wax - Biography - Mind Elevation

You might say that George Evelyn; doe-eyed man behind original Warp
band,
Nightmares on Wax, holds the exact components with which to recreate
summer in a pair of speakers. Once run through his mixing desk
underneath
a terraced street in Leeds, lush strings, heavy, heavy monster bass
and
lolloping hip hop loops are alchemised into dappled city sunlight and
late
afternoon heat. 'It's music to sort your day out,' smiles Evelyn, who
grew
up listening to sound-systems in his friends' basements, and joined
Bradford's Solar City Rockers crew, before diving into music.
'Especially
if you're having a bad one.'

'Mind Elevation', is comprised of urban cyber grooves like
analogue-warm
jam - 'Destiny' and ultra-short but super-sweet 'Mirrorball'; pop
cultural
gems like '70's 80's' where LSK's Lee Kenny toasts about fat laces,
church
discos and Madness over a perma-catchy hook, and blissed-out dub;
thirteen can't-help-smilin' tunes which sweep black clouds out of
mind. To
lovers of down-tempo electronics with roots, Nightmares make real
northern
soul. 'You don't have to get your talcum powder out to listen to my
tunes,' corrects Evelyn, 'unless you're getting out of the bath, that
is.'

It's not, however, just a smokers album. Evelyn, who once judged
Amsterdam's High Times Cannabis Cup has dramatically downscaled his
herb
intake ('I don't want to be stoned, carrying my body around all day.
You've got to respect the weed!'). 'There's no ban on getting stoned
to
this,' he says, ''but it's not a sit-on-your-arse album either. It's
positive, full of love, and - I don't care if it's a clich�! - it's a
journey.'

Mind Elevation is the fourth Nightmares album. First came 1991's,
'Word Of
Science' that established the then duo (with Kevin 'Boy Wonder'
Harper)
beyond their bass-destroying, bleep-rave roots of seminal early dance
anthems 'Dextrous' and 'Aftermath'. 1995's Smokers Delight sold over
100,000 copies, twisted the KLF's Chill Out into new
sound-system-influenced shapes, and became the 90-minute anthem for
hemp-heads in all corners of the world. 'It's funny,' says Evelyn.
'Most
people have got taped versions of Smokers Delight anyway. People would
come up to me and say "I listened to this non-stop in a caf� in
Thailand"
or "it was the soundtrack to our holiday backpacking in South America"
and
I'd ask them if they'd bought it. They'd all say, "no, my mate taped
it
for me." But it was based on word of mouth and you can't buy that.'

1999's Carboot Soul continued N.O.W's tradition of kicking off with
'Nights Interlude',- the signature Nightmares number based on Quincy
Jones'
'Summer In The City'. 'Nights Interlude' shows the journey of
Nightmares'
says Evelyn. 'The first version was all sampled, the second was
part-live,
part-sampled and the version on Carboot Soul was the pinnacle -
totally
live.' Having taken 'Nights Interlude' as far as he could, Evelyn
decided
to kick-start Mind Elevation with the haze-dusted 'Mind Eye'. 'I knew
straight away this would be the first tune on the album. It is
Nightmares.
And it says "we're back."'

The first 10,000 people to buy Mind Elevation will get a limited
edition
surprise - a bonus mix CD of beats, reworked tunes from the N.O.W back
catalogue and snippets of songs worked into new, unused beats. 'It
gives
people a little insight into the Nightmares journey,' says Evelyn.
'It's
our little piece of treasure.' He's also got grand plans for
transposing
his sonic island of happiness onto stage. 'I want to go bigger,
better,
classier. Last time I had a nine-piece band. This time I want a
13-piece set-up. I'd rather do more amazing, exclusive gigs than a ton
of
sub-standard ones. I want to blow people away. It's emotional music -
you've got to see it live!' Nightmares on Wax, - original daydream
believers.

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