Thievery Corporation Cosmic Game CD

Guests: Perry Farrell,David Byrne,Flaming Lips

Thievery Corporation: Eric Hilton, Rob Garza (various instruments, electronics).
Personnel: Flaming Lips (vocals, guitar); Gigi Rezende, Gunjan, Loulou Djine, Notch, Perry Farrell, Sleepy Wonder, David Byrne, Verny Varela, Patrick DeSantos, Sista Pat (vocals); Robertito "La Guira" Santos (berimbau, percussion); Arjuna Pashwami (sitar); Brad Clements, Rick Harris , Jim McFalls, Bryan Mills (horns); Frank Orrall (tabla, percussion); John Nelson (percussion).
Additional personnel: Frank Orrall, Gigi Rezende (vocals); Perry Farrell, Flaming Lips, David Byrne, Sista Pat, Robertito "La Guira" Santos.
Recording information: The Consulate, Washington DC (2003-2004).
Photographer: Daniel Lima.
The ingredients -- electronic beats, dub, soft Brazilian tones, sitars, and women singing in foreign languages -- are entirely the same, but Thievery Corporation have never sounded so genuine. Despite the same old sound and a busy release schedule leading up to it, The Cosmic Game comes across as fresh as a debut and surprisingly indifferent toward being the in thing. What it is is music for music's sake, all laid out with the utmost care, giving listeners a fully thought-out album that makes the "forward" button on your CD player purposeless. Effortlessly flowing from the indie-grooving "Marching the Hate Machines (Into the Sun)" with the Flaming Lips to reggae to samba to psychedelia and beyond, the album is trimmed of all fat. Instrumentals with clever grooves sometimes overstayed their welcome on previous Thievery albums, but here they're whittled down to interludes when need be and positioned as chillout segues between the more striking numbers. The druggy, Perry Farrell-inna-reggae-style "Revolution Solution" is one of these stunners, but the superstars don't own all the highlights. As dank, Jamaican-flavored horns echo into the distance, siren Sista Pat lures listeners into the deep world of "Wires and Watchtowers" while soulful crooner Notch takes things uptown on the cool "Amerimacka" before the Corp turn the tune into one of their stickiest dub outings yet. The pleasant "The Heart's a Lonely Hunter" deserves mention because David Byrne guests on vocals, and while it's very good, it's the most forgettable number on this outing. The track brings a very slight reminder of when Thievery Corporation have let ambition trump the meaningful and meaty, but the otherwise purposeful and certain Cosmic Game is so darkly delicious you have to admit it's their masterwork. ~ David Jeffries
Washington, DC-based sophisticates Thievery Corporation (producers Rob Garza and Eric Hilton) made several albums of superb down-tempo electronica prior to THE COSMIC GAME, and each release refined the duo's sensuous blend of deep, head-nodding beats, exotic world-music melodies, and lounge-ready atmospherics. This 2005 record builds on the strengths of the Corporation's previous albums, offering more stylish, club-targeted soundscapes to excellent effect. The series of all-star guests that parades through the album raises the Corporation's profile even higher.
The Flaming Lips contribute additional instruments and vocals to the dreamy opener "Marching the Hate Machines (Into the Sun)," while the trip-hop-flavored "Revolution Solution" features Perry Farrell on vocals. Indian themes surface with vocalist Gunjan and sitar player Arjuna Pashwami on "Satyam Shivam Sundaram," and Verny Varela's singing gives the crowning touch to the bossa nova track "Ambicion Eterna." Even David Byrne makes an appearance, on the spacey mariachi boogaloo "The Heart's a Lonely Hunter." This fine mix of elements results in Thievery Corporation's most pop-oriented and accessible release, without sacrificing any of the group's ear-pleasing artistry.

Rolling Stone (No. 968, p.73) - 3 stars out of 5 - "[THE COSMIC GAME] displays much of what we've come to expect from Thievery: lush, down-tempo beats laced with authentic Jamaican and Latin flair. One notable change? Big-time guest spots..."
Uncut (p.108) - 3 stars out of 5 - "[With] some soulful reggae vibes."
Mojo (Publisher) (p.89) - 3 stars out of 5 - "Washington DC's favourite loungecore dubheads embellish their gently pulsating, reggae-tinged house style with Latin and Indian influences."