Search - Kevin Aviance :: Alive

Kevin Aviance's next dance hit

Darshan | Houston, TX USA | 06/18/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is the second Kevin Aviance record I?ve heard, and although I liked his remake of Din Da Da better, this is a good track too. There?s a reviewer known as ?music fan from NY? who seems to have it out for this performer, and I have to admit that his vocals aren?t the strongest part of the record. Here he mostly sings in the upper register of what sounds like his head voice as opposed to a gut voice. His deep voiced vocals, which he does use a bit on ?Alive,? are generally much more powerful and edgy. In portions, his producers mechanized his voice in the same way Cher?s voice sounded on ?Believe.? This effect works well, especially in The Tribalist Mix. The music from the album version reminds me a bit of Martha Wash?s ?Gonna Give It To You.? They have similar energy levels and often similar pitch. Junior Vasquez?s chill-out room Translucent Mix starts to use a nice tribal beat about halfway in. It sounds like he?s using a drum from India called a tabla, but I guess it?s probably an electronic simulation. Either way, it?s very good. I suspect the best mix for a high energy dj would be Tony Moran?s Millennium Funk Mix. (If I counted right, it?s about 129-130 bpm.) The Tribalist Mix is also very hot, and probably the deepest house groove on the record so it?s best for after-hours. (I think it?s the same bpm.) I just have a little Emerson boom-box, so I could only imagine how fierce the bass of this mix would sound on a decent club system. It reminds me a bit of The Hayden-Andre Project?s ?Tribal Life? and the ?Trendy Tribal mix? of Princess Di?s ?Whose D?k Is This?? Warning for all us beginner DJ?s: It?s not as easy a mix as the Millennium Funk ? there?s not as much of a simple bass bridge to help you out and the ending drops on you kind of suddenly. Buy it for the Tribalist Mix, and if you like it, get a second copy because I think after-hours DJ?s could have a lot of fun mixing back and forth between some of the tracks ? Junior?s steady, driving instrumental Homodustrial Beats comes to mind. Emerge/Centaur was smart to release this in June as Kevin Aviance is openly gay. The song?s positive energy makes it a likely candidate for a pride month anthem for the next several years."