Latest releases reviewed

NIGHTMARES ON WAX In a Space Outta Sound Warp ****

No one else makes strung-out, slow-motion funk like George Evelyn. If his last album, Mind Elevation, was NOW's fat laces tribute to old-school hip-hop, Evelyn seems to be in thrall this time around to the moody soul and the sonic bump of sound systems. But while this could have been the cue for several pastiches-by-numbers reliving past glories, Evelyn simply lets the strings and the spacey sound effects roll to find a new mellow riot of lush, smoky grooves. The opening Passion is the by now standard tip of the hat to Quincy Jones, with its dubby, orchestral swagger drawing you closer before you get mugged by the hint of Hammond organ in the fabric. You Wish and The Sweetest are classic NOW grooves, right through to their blunted soul centres and gentle scrubs of Rhodes, but Pudpots shows that Evelyn can also draw from other wells as he turns a big band twist into a soundtrack for the souks. www.nightmaresonwax.com

Jim Carroll