Sound on Sound

The longest serving artist on the Warp Records roster. Originally founded in 1988 by George "DJ E.A.S.E." Evelyn and Kevin "Boywonder" Harper. Harper left before the release of Smokers Delight. When playing live they were also joined by MC Toz 180 and guitarist Chris Dawkins.

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…