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Album Review
by SashaS, © MMII
7-1-2003
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| His Name Is Alive's lost nights/new days |
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His Name Is Alive + Airwaves: 'Last Night’/‘Infomaniac'
(4AD)/(Ignition)
Rewind #5: His Name Is Alive – and his surname is CLASS
His Name Is Alive
‘Last Night’
(4AD)
One of His Name Is Alive’s most enduring traits has always been songwriting, despite a mysterious – some might say mercurial - ability to reinvent themselves from one record to the next. Not even their most ardent fans could have expected what their last album delivered. Released in the summer of 2001, ‘Someday My Blues Will Cover The Earth’ was nothing less than a revelation.
The newly-minted partnership between Warn Defever and singer Lovetta Pippen struck gold in the form of a moody yet wonderfully soulful and modern R&B record. It was greeted by universal acclaim. The two met when Warn drafted a local Detroit gospel choir to guest on ‘Stars On ESP’ (1995) and it wasn’t long before they were hatching plans together. Initially, Warn was going to help her produce a demo in return for her guesting on a few HNIA tracks - but he was so smitten by her voice that he wrote a whole album for her to sing.
‘Last Night’ continues the collaboration and despite sharing enough stylistic links with ‘Someday My Blues...’, it ain’t Part 2. Those who loved the last record will approve but it’s not stagnant: sparse, state-of-the-art production touches are replaced with a liver, earthier feel. Some of Warn’s most beloved influences - cosmic jazz, funky 45s and gentle acoustic blues - shine through anew, but the haunting moods are still there, and Lovetta’s extraordinary singing continues to ignite the songs.
Amongst its many original gems – ‘I Can See Myself In Her’, ‘Train’, ‘Some Day My Prince Will Come’, ‘Storm’ – ‘Last Night’ offers a couple of typically Defever-esque raids on the past, a showstopping ‘Teardrops’, Eddy Grant’s Equals penned tune and ‘Maybe’ by Ida. This is timeless, soulful music with a touch of funk. Lovetta calls it a “party record,” but Warn explains he “wanted to get it on with a saxophone and a conga player, you know...” Eazy-beatz, aura, ambient of a late-nite dive where a star of tomorrow is playing for the last time: too good for a club, too early for stardom.
These two are actually ready for big time because ‘Last Night’ is a huge record!
8.6/10
*
Airwaves
‘Infomaniac’
(Ignition)
In the stakes of lo-releases hi-quality funky-thingy types, Airwaves have given us hours of incredible fun and joy. Airwaves are a sextet that likes its cyber-funkyism with a touch of jazz, psychedelia and ethno-music. It is interesting to notice that some tracks on ‘Infomaniac’ were co-written by Colosseum members (‘Monster’) and Mike Bloomfield, Al Cooper and Stephen Stills getting credit for ‘Gotsta’ due to ‘Seasons Of The Witch’, from one-off album ‘Super Session’, being incorporated. One of the most intriguing tracks on the disc is ‘Drifter’ that is sung by someone rather known but his name is a-miss artwork-wise. There are plenty of other sublime moments on this disc that many more of your oughtta buy it pronto and gladden your lives with some loveliness – mad, bad and glad to indulge your senses!
8.3/10
SashaS, © MMII
7-1-2003
His Name Is Alive’s ‘Last Night’ was dropped on 23 September 2002 via 4AD
Airwaves’ album ‘Infomaniac’ is available now on Ignition
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