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TUESDAY

His Name Is Alive headman Warren Defever spins mellifluous pop hooks like a Tin Pan Alley ace bucking for a raise, but without Lovetta Pippin lending vocals that are simultaneously wispy and pissed, lines like “You’re not coming in my room” would be just part of the rhyme scheme. Which is to say that the happy genius from Livonia, Mich., has found his muse. With Pippin playing Martine to Defever’s Tricky, HNIA has produced ’96’s Stars on E.S.P. and the just-released Ft. Lake, both of which are highly conceptual, multilayered, and gorgeous even at their low points. Tonight, come find out what common ground exists between Brian Wilson, George Clinton, and “Silent Night.” Swedish pop group Komeda headlines at 8:30 p.m. at the Black Cat, 1831 14th St. NW. $8. (202) 667-7960. (Brett Anderson)