Nightmares on Wax shares mini-documentary marking 25th anniversary of ‘Carboot Soul’

Nightmares on Wax has released a new mini-documentary to celebrate the 25th anniversary of ‘Carboot Soul’, his classic, genre-bending album which came out via Warp Records in 1999.

Directed by Pedro Takahashi, the film features behind-the-scenes footage from two recent live shows at The Royal Festival Hall, in which Nightmares on Wax reimagined the album in collaboration with the Outlook Orchestra, including contributions from world-class musicians Tommy Evans and Matt Roberts. Taking place in April, the shows marked exactly 25 years since the album was released.

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Alongside this footage, the documentary - titled Carboot Soul Live at The Royal Festival Hall - delves into the creative process behind the timeless album and reveals the meaning behind its name.

“My journey of digging for samples is at flea markets, car boot sales, second hand stores, this, that and the other. The reason why the album’s called ‘Carboot Soul’ is because I wanted to kind of depict the journey of how these songs came about. From digging for the samples to then using the inspiration from the sample, to creating these songs, then mixing them down in the studio and testing them out in the car… it was like this full circle.” explains Nightmares on Wax, also known as George Evelyn, in the documentary.

Warp Records’ longest-serving artist, Evelyn is a master at sampling and mixing, and ‘Carboot Soul’ remains one of his greatest and most influential pieces of work. Combining electronica, jazz, hip-hop, techno, dub, funk, and soul, the album paved new ground for contemporary music of its time.

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In May this year, Warp Records released ananniversary deluxe re-issue of the album, with two exclusive renditions of the tracks, 'Les Nuits (Hip Hop Reprise)' and 'Keep On feat. De La Soul (Chill Mix)' with hip-hop legend De La Soul.

Aside from the anniversary celebrations, the Leeds-born artist has had a busy summer, performing at Lost Village, Eastern Electrics and Houghton festivals in August alone, as well as Hï Ibiza and Pikes Ibiza in June and July.

Carboot Soul Live at The Royal Festival Hall is out now, watch it below.

Meena Sears is Mixmag's Digital Intern, follow her on Instagram.