David Alvarado
Midnight Express
Callin' U
Dis Poem
Stay the Night
Spirit of the Black Ghost
Jazz Love #2
Besos de Los Angeles
The Jumbo Jet Jam
Happiness
It's Getting Bigger
Freaked Out
Dub a Dutch
Stop
What U Feel In Your Heart
Guidance Recordings, 1999
Unfortunately this is the only David Alvarado that i have in my collection 'cause judging from this collection and the little other that i've heard of him and his work, Mr. Alvarado is steeped in righteousness. On Midnight Express, the listener is offered a journey through several flavors of dub and house that starts off as a demure, sensuous voice recalls a love lost (Callin' U :: A-xus) and finishes off with a soulful piece (What U Feel In Your Heart :: Dubtribe) that demands you hold your heart and mind open well after this musical journey is over.
It's hard for me to not get too sentimental about the opening piece. It strikes a chord in me... a series of memories that should have been mine, but aren't. I reach back in my own mind and realize that this song and much of what the rest of this CD has to offer, is positive, urban and something that deserves to be shared with someone who can offer their body to groove and grind to in unison. This is what my life in SF was supposed to have been.
Though the entire CD is excellent, especially tracks like the soulful and uplifting (although WAY too short) Happiness by Free Energy, i simply cannot state how energetic and wonderful the opening and closing tracks are. If this CD doesn't inspire you to get up and shake your groove thing, check your pulse.
All in all, Mr. Alvarado has sculpted some of the nicest urban dub grooves with a serious house influence and a couple of dashes of Latin flavor to cross my path in a long time. If you're not afraid of dancing but aren't looking for the destructive sounds of 160bpm+, give Midnight Express a listen.