Eccentric Soul: Twinight's Lunar Rotation

iTunes Review

This entry into the Numero label’s ongoing Eccentric Soul series delivers a long overdue survey of the overlooked Chicago label Twinight. The double-disc set wisely excludes the work of Syl Johnson, the label’s one outstanding and well-anthologized figure, and instead hones in on the dozens of acts who fell between the cracks. Although many of these singers only made one or two records, their performances encapsulate a unique style. Take, for example, “Main Squeeze” by Nate Evans, which represents all the fresh air and optimism of Chicago soul. Or the lone song by the Schiller Street Gang, “Remind Me,” which presents its own vision of stately blaxploitation jazz. Like most of the great soul labels, Twinight had its own house band, and the Pieces of Peace are the thread that ties all 40 of these tracks together. No band has benefitted more from Numero’s crisp remastering treatment. As if to underscore the notion that the best songs go unnoticed, many of the album’s highlights are previously unreleased gems that Numero has unearthed. Above all others sits Annette Poindexter’s “Wayward Dream,” a magnificent merger of lovelorn humility and dancefloor expertise.