Nightmares On Wax

Since nu-rave has become firmly entrenched in the hipster vocabulary of this decade, perhaps it’s time for its after party brother to come back as well: trip-hop. Earlier this year, Quiet Village got rave reviews for their elegant, cinematic soul samples on Silent Movie but Nightmares On Wax were undoubtedly one of the bands that pioneered that sound. Thought So is pretty minimal funkiness. Often, one sample or riff will play unchanged for minutes at a time, though considering the advances in sampling technology, it sounds more fluid some 15 years after the fact. As was the style of the time, clipped vocals pop up momentarily, buried deep in the mix, just like Burial is wont to do. After a while of trying to get warm from this album, the soulfulness comes shining through with "Moretime.” The low-key approach to vocals in general, along with NOW’s tight and modest funk, makes for a satisfying album, eventually. This is a minor achievement overall but there are likely times of the day when this is the absolutely perfect soundtrack.