It's the first part of 1995. Portishead have just blown the doors of the trip-hop phenomenon wide open with their debut. Tricky's ridin' on the genre's crest with his critically- acclaimed debut, Maxinquaye, as are Massive Attack with their sophomore effort, Protection. Next thing you know, trip-hop's on the stereo at every party and on the lips of every artsy hipster. Finally, knock- off bands like Hooverphonic and Morcheeba start making it big and interest in trip-hop wanes faster than you can say "Everything But The Girl."
Fast- forward to the middle of 1999. Trip-hop's dead and buried, with jungle and drum-n-bass hot on its tail. The sounds of so many credible electronic labels-- Ninja Tune, Looking Good, Astralwerks-- have started to sound less than refreshing. We look to England's Warp Records for a sign that electronic music isn't dead. We receive Nightmares on Wax's Carboot Soul. Is all hope lost?
Sure, Warp's got all the great artists these days-- Squarepusher, Aphex Twin, Jimi Tenor, Autechre, Plaid, Boards of Canada... but exactly where does Nightmares on Wax fit in? Let me explain: Carboot Soul sounds like instrumental trip-hop with a side of soul and a dab of cartoony. Nightmares' main man, George Evelyn, claims to have been raised on soul music. Supposedly, he's more influenced by Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye than by Giorgio Moroder and Ryuichi Sakamoto. But I'm gonna pull a Judge Judy and say, "You know what? I don't think so. Mr. Evelyn, do you think I was born yesterday? Shh! Shh! Shoosh! You were raised on the Carpenters and Abba just like everybody else. Don't try to come off with some ultra- hip sheen like from day one, you were just all that when it came to music. I know. I'm not stupid, George. I find for the plaintiff."
The truth is, while Carboot Soul is indeed a soulful record, it's too often completely derisive of everything that's already been done in electronic and hip-hop music. Yeah, it makes a great soundtrack for a low- ridin' cruise around the city in your convertible 1969 Galaxie 500, but y'know, not many people have convertible retromobiles. And of the ones that do, very few of them actually ever take it for a low- ridin' cruise around the city. And of those people, most will take something a little more original along for the ride than Carboot Soul. I hope.
