{"title":"His Name Is Alive","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHis Name Is Alive is an American experimental rock band hailing from Livonia, Michigan. With a discography spanning several decades, the group has explored various genres including ethereal dream-rock, dub, '60s pop, garage rock, and psychedelic classic rock. In the early 2000s, the band took a unique turn towards experimentally minded smooth urban balladry influenced by gospel and R\u0026amp;B. Continuing to evolve their sound, His Name Is Alive now embraces a distinct psychedelic rock style.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"all-the-mirrors-in-the-house-home-recordings-1979-1986","title":"All The Mirrors in the House (Home Recordings 1979 - 1986)","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe third release on Disciples, a collection of otherworldly drone transmissions from the teenage bedroom of Warren Defever aka His Name Is Alive, best known for his 90s albums for 4AD. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe home recordings compiled here pre-date any previously heard music from the His Name Is Alive universe and reveal something quite different from their more polished vocal-led albums, presenting an immaculate sequence of hermetic instrumental tape experiments from early 80s suburban Michigan. Shimmering FX-smeared piano loops, pastoral acoustic sketches and aquatic strings paint a picture of ecstatic minimalism, long afternoons spent hiding from the midwest winter with a 4-track and a pile of records.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis is the first in a three part series exploring the fertile His Name Is Alive archives and is pressed on clear vinyl with no banding - the artist's intention is for the album to play through as a continuous sequence on each side. Includes liner notes by Mike McGonigal, author of acclaimed books on My Bloody Valentine and Galaxie 500.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLP - All copies pressed on clear vinyl, each side plays continuously with no banding between tracks. Colour reverse board outer and printed inner sleeve with full liner notes. Includes download card for the digital edition of the album which is 15 separate tracks.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Disciples","offers":[{"title":"Clear LP","offer_id":50409863905611,"sku":"1063917","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/bbed27e6-ad23-49a9-819d-3661a5aa81ad_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726630590"},{"product_id":"hope-is-a-candle-home-recordings-1985-1990-volume-3","title":"Hope Is A Candle - Home Recordings 1985 - 1990 Volume 3","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe third and final volume in a trilogy exploring the teenage tape experimentation of \u003cstrong\u003eWarren Defever\u003c\/strong\u003e aka \u003cem\u003eHis Name Is Alive\u003c\/em\u003e. The beautiful ambient sketches and backwards loops of the first two volumes are still in evidence, but this collection sees the artist moving slowly towards more recognisable song forms.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eMuch of the material contained here was duplicated on the infamous demo tape that caught the ear of Ivo Watts-Russell and led to elements being re-worked into \u003cem\u003eLivonia\u003c\/em\u003e, the first \u003cem\u003eHis Name Is Alive\u003c\/em\u003e album on 4AD. Having circulated in poor quality form as a bootleg for many years, it’s a revelation to hear this music transferred from the original reels and mastered by Defever himself (who is one of the head engineers at Third Man’s mastering studio in Detroit).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSome of the sounds here touch on the kind of dreampop which 4AD was known for at the time - the gauzy textures of the Cocteau Twins or This Mortal Coil, and predicts the saturated textures of the incoming shoegaze sound. But there’s also echoes of older, more esoteric sources: early minimalist works, 80s industrial records, even the blues and folk sounds documented by Folkways.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe young Defever trying to interpret formative influences using a primitive home recording set-up and stumbling upon their own unique sound as a result of this tentative experimentation. As the artist recounts in the liner notes: “I wanted to do my own \u003cem\u003eMusic For 18 Musicians\u003c\/em\u003e. But I didn't know 18 musicians; I barely had two friends, and even they couldn't stand me.”\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Disciples","offers":[{"title":"Clear LP","offer_id":50480197927243,"sku":"1111070","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/8bb7aa5b-ab29-4c2d-910f-084ba4b7e4dd_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727517495"},{"product_id":"mouth-by-mouth","title":"Mouth By Mouth","description":"\u003cp\u003eHis Name Is Alive’s third record on 4AD, the first where the band controlled all processes including mixing, saw a marked shift; their most diverse, yet accessible catalogue entry. The project’s soaring growth over time allowed Defever to employ an extraordinarily adventuring approach to the record’s sound and vision, indulging his love for all kinds of music, be it tastes of looped dub (‘Lord, Make Me A Channel of Your Peace’, ‘The Homesick Waltz’), sugar-sweet 1960s pop (‘Baby Fish Mouth’, ‘Lip’), distortion-laden dream-gaze (‘Can’t Go Wrong Without You’), evocative alt-noise (‘Sick’), or strummy folk (‘Where Knock Is Open Wide’). Embracing the surreal and turning their experimentalism up a notch and with Defever’s studio skills truly blossoming, many see this as a high point for the band.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"4AD","offers":[{"title":"LP - Black","offer_id":56850674516299,"sku":"R6722-8732","price":26.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":56850674549067,"sku":"R6722-4087","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/hisnameisalive-mouthbymouth.jpg?v=1774017267"},{"product_id":"home-is-in-the-head","title":"Home Is In Your Head","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe band’s second album with 4AD, recorded in Warren Defever's home studio and remixed by Ivo Watts-Russell and John Fryer (as with their debut), sees 23 songs quick-firing through emotions, with moments of soothing calm soon clashing with white noise and visceral chaos. Highlights include ‘Her Eyes Were Huge’, on which lightly strummed acoustic guitar uplift Karin Oliver’s swooning, gossamer drawl; the synth-led, inquisitive and prickly ‘Are We Still Married?’; and pensive instrumental waltz ‘Siting Still Moving Still Staring Outlooking’ (synced in 1996’s Jerry Maguire). A varied yet grounded compilation of new material and old (some dating back to Defever’s junior high days), it found the band entering a confident creative stride, leaving listeners enthralled by both its beauty and darkness and proving Defever’s inspired productions utterly unique.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"4AD","offers":[{"title":"LP - Black","offer_id":56850684870987,"sku":"R1218-6628","price":26.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":56850684903755,"sku":"R1218-5915","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/hisnameisalive-homeisinyourhead.jpg?v=1774017495"},{"product_id":"livonia","title":"Livonia","description":"\u003cp\u003eHis Name Is Alive’s 1990 4AD label debut \u003cem\u003eLivonia\u003c\/em\u003e cemented the band’s presence among 4AD’s well-established ethereal lineage, reinventing and refracting the label’s sound through a prism. A tender and slightly deranged dream-pop record, it packages nearly ten years of Defever’s home recordings – brought to haunting chorus via the spectral, feminine vocals of Karin Oliver. Produced and mixed by Ivo Watts-Russell and This This Mortal Coil collaborator John Fryer, the record is a powerful opening statement, inviting intrigue via noisy refrains and textural guitar. It examines the dual themes of love and loss, woozily delivered as if dreamlike.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"4AD","offers":[{"title":"LP - Black","offer_id":56850719736139,"sku":"R4977-3867","price":26.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":56850719768907,"sku":"R4977-3315","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/hisnameisalive-livonia.jpg?v=1774017865"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/collections\/test_dbd38954_thumbnail_4096_d798eed3-e5f2-4675-87dd-066b4e0cd69a.jpg?v=1726630572","url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/de\/collections\/his-name-is-alive.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}