About

- A TAV Essential Listening Album -

This sophomore album from English DJ and producer Nightmares on Wax (aka George Herbert Evelyn) remains one of trip hop’s foundational documents, alongside the likes of Massive Attack’s Blue Lines and Portishead’s Dummy. Released in 1995 on Warp, Smokers Delight offers a summery cornucopia of dubby reggae, hip hop, smooth soul, Latin percussion and jazz-funk fusion layered through Evelyn’s evocative downtempo atmospherics.

As the album title implies, this chilled out record is ideal listening for stoners - bringing the listener on a hazy, super baked joyride that is continuously absorbing from beginning to end. Highlighted by zone out tunes such as the Quincy Jones-sampled “Nights Introlude” and the snare drum-driven, bluesy bass of “Pipes Honour” - Smokers Delight is a subminimal trip into the laid-back grooves of the mid-90s. — The Analog Vault

The first quarter of Smoker's Delight is trip-hop basking in summer's glow. Hooks and breakbeats swing like Cubana's in the quinceanera of their favorite niece.

With that being said, Smoker's Delight is dynamic with a warm analog sound that is well suited for armchair listening (this facet of the album becoming more prominent as the record progresses).

Nightmares on Wax certainly channels that noir atmosphere that trip-hop is known for, but he never ventures as far into that realm as groups like Portishead or Massive Attack; for Smoker's Delight, a little flirtation with this sound is just enough. The drum pattern in tracks like dreddoverboad is undeniably Latin, but the samples of RnB vocals and the saxophone riff keep it from being pigeonholed into any specific genre. These transitions and flirtation with different sounds truly made Warp Records so exciting at the time. 

Smoker's Delight is evocative. Its ability to conjure images and sensations that are palpable and wholly engaging is astounding. These soundscapes are expertly manipulated to assist the listener in total absorption.

Smoker's Delight is good and, at times, even a great album, but this is wholly contingent upon where you are and what you are looking for when the needle drops. -Sputnik Music

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Label: Warp Records
Format: 2 x Vinyl, LP, Album, Repress, 180 gram
Country: UK
Reissued: 2014 / Original Release: 1995
Genre: Electronic
Style: Trip Hop, Dub, Downtempo

File under: Downtempo
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