Late Night Tales: Nightmares On Wax

Format: 2x12"

This ain't no regular nightmare, kid. This is Nightmares On Wax, AKA DJ EASE, AKA George Evelyn. Born under a bad sign, with linen in hand, Mr. Evelyn came out into the world and broke-danced (or was it broke-danced?). It was what you did in the 80s when you were young, loved hip hop, and couldn't rap for toffee. When house came along, it got their twist. It was bleeps and beats, everyone said. But there was always more than a bunch of bleeps to what Nightmares On Wax did. The north never really took their name too seriously (Sweet Exorcist even called their album Clonk by way of a jibe). Then George changed the game and dropped Smokers Delight, the beats not so much seed as semolina—thick, slow, sweet, and lovely.

And now we have this: a 2024 reissue of their legendary Late Night Tales compilation. Tom Scott's 'Sneakin' In The Back' — one of the most sampled breaks in hip hop — appears in all its glory, while Quincy Jones, the inspiration for NOW's Nights Interlude, backs up the classics with 'Listen (What It Is)'. Evelyn's hip hop sensibility is present throughout, and never more evident than on Freestylers old boy Mad Doctor X's Intergalactic Throwdown. And can we forget about the darling Dusty's sublime take on Classic IV's Spooky? No, we cannot. Finally—oh, finally!—the now traditional cover version of a classic arrives, with George serving us a mellow take on Brothers On The Slide that pays homage to the original British funk soul brothers, Cymande.

This ain't no nightmare: it's Nightmares On Wax.