Nightmares on Wax

The combined project of George Evelyn and Kevin Harper, Nightmares On Wax were one of the brightest spots on the post-rave British techno map of the early '90s. Although the group was later pared back to just Evelyn and a handful of contributors, Now's debut album, A Word Of Science, was -- along with early tracks by Lfo, Tuff Little Unit, and Tricky Disco -- a crucial bridge between the competing influences of New York house and electro, Detroit techno and soul, London rave and acid, and the burgeoning eclecticism of the years to come. Forming in the late '80s in West Yorkshire as an extension of Evelyn and company's b-boy crew the Soul City Rockers, Now's first singles, "Dextrous" and "Aftermath," were both highly regarded, and the latter shot into the pop singles Top 40. The subsequent album laid a good deal of the groundwork for the downtempo experimental hip-hop/electro-funk worked over by Mike Paradinas, Luke Vibert, Spacer, and others, and earned the group a secure spot among techno's select crew of next-step innovators.