Music : Sounds From The Thievery Hi-Fi

In association with Amazon.com

Rating:

- You'll be hooked...
...on Thievery. It is rare to find an album where every single track is equally AWESOME. There are few tracks in the whole of the chillout genre that are of the same quality as Thievery Corp's, and this album shows their very best work. If you liked "Mirror Conspiracy", this is a must-have. I cannot say enough good things about this album!

Rating:

- TC drops the Big One
Like so many CDs I've purchase due to hearing one or two tracks on internet radio I was utterly amazed at the quality of this album. Now that I have three of Thievery Corporation's CDs I can attest to how deep and broad their talents are. Although their motifs sometimes are a little bit too similar from track to track taken as a whole this album is a must.

Rating:

- The -rare- least favorite of the Thievery cd's...
I really only liked two tracks on this album.

Manha
2001 Spliff odyssey

That's a shame really b/c I have every other album of theirs and truly enjoy them. This was just too off the wall for me. The sounds didn't quite gel together as nicely as other known Thievery Tracks. I'm picky though so read the other reviews and listen for yourself. I'm a huge downtempo fan and this cd goes down at the bottom of the list for me. If you're just getting started with these guys, try the Mirror Conspiracy or the Richest Man in Babylon.

Rating:

- My First and Favourite TC album
If you're not familiar with and are interested in this Duo from DC, it's their best studio album to date. It's a great introduction to 'Mirror Conspiracy', as well as their latest 'Richest Man in Babylon'.

Buy It!

Rating:

- Not as good as THE MIRROR CONSPIRACY, but solid
Rob Garza and Eric Hilton, a.k.a. Thievery Corporation, released SOUNDS FROM THE THIEVERY HI-FI, their debut LP, on their Eighteenth Street Lounge label. Picked up for international distribution by the influential British label 4AD, SOUNDS gained world attention. And it deserved it, this album is an impressive survey of Jamaican dub rhythms, chill-out ambience, and breaks.

Coming from Washington D.C., which has the largest Rastafarian community in the United States, Garza and Hilton are quite influenced by Jamaican traditional music and belief. Several tracks, most notably the tellingly titled "2001 Spliff Odyssey" and "Walking Through Babylon", use vocal samples from RASTAFARI ELDERS, a spoken-word CD that presents Rastafari that was issued in conjuction with the trip of seven Nyabinghi sect elders to the Smithsonian in 1991.

"Shaolin Satellite" is reminiscent of Massive Attack's PROTECTION-era work. Other tracks like "Universal Highness" and "Incident At Gate Seven" are chill-out tracks, with soothing female vocal samples relaxing the listener.

While I'm partial to the upper-class lounge of Thievery Corporation's second LP, THE MIRROR CONSPIRACY, I'd recommend SOUNDS FROM THE THIEVERY HI-FI to anyone who enjoys Jamaican-inspired dub or chill-out.

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