Thievery Corporation Sounds From The Thievery Hi-Fi CD

Thievery Corporation (producers Eric Hilton and Rob Garza) introduced its sleek, sophisticated brand of down-tempo electronica on 1997's SOUNDS FROM THE THIEVERY HI-FI. Although later offerings by the duo (THE MIRROR CONSPIRACY and THE RICHEST MAN IN BABYLON) would display greater conceptual and sonic diversity, THIEVERY HI-FI lays the blueprint for everything that would follow. Mixing dub, trip-hop, ambient, and various Latin elements, Thievery Corporation makes deeply textured, genre-crossing chill-out music. (Hilton and Garza show a particular penchant for bossa nova--the album is dedicated to the memory of Antonio Carlos Jobim.)

"2001 Spliff Odyssey" works a pulsing programmed beat that plays host to a battery of voice samples and synthesizer effects, and "Universal Highness" employs a call-and-response vocal tag and staccato trumpet notes over an increasingly layered percussion track. The duo's Latin influence can be heard on "Scene at the Open Air Market," and on the intro to "The Glass Bead Game," while the atmospheric sway of "Manha" conjures up the feel of an Astrud Gilberto tune. The tracks flow together remarkably well, making SOUNDS FROM THE THIEVERY HI-FI a sultry soundtrack for anything from swanky social gatherings to solo headphone listening.

Rare groove duo Thievery Corporation may fall under the general classification of electronica, but their album Sounds from the Thievery Hi-Fi, like much of their music, is such a confluence of subgenres that techno fans might not find what they're looking for in it. This record is electronic in that nearly everything heard on it has been tweaked in the studio, but almost all of the actual synth sounds on Sounds from the Thievery Hi-Fi lay in the background. Each song is carried by recordings of actual instruments, either live or sampled, mixed to create the arc of the specific track. Add a smattering of vocal samples, and the result is the love child of Massive Attack and Mondo Grosso, a trip-hoppy, acid jazz mutant that will make you want to dance, have sex, or lounge by the pool (if you're not left walking in confused circles, trying to figure out which one). That seems to be the CD's only real weakness: the seams that bind the various influences involved in the music can be a bit ragged, leading to some songs that come off as awkward rather than eclectic. The amalgamations throughout most of the disc are quite effective, however. The track "Scene at the Open Air Market," for instance, sounds like the melody is played on a xylophone, before switching to perhaps an accordion, eventually coming to sound like a mixture of lounge music, rhumba, and Eastern European folk -- but sexy. The samples of a man yelling reggae-style shout-outs during "2001 Spliff Odyssey," however, are mostly just distracting from the ultra-smooth groove, and can feel like interruptions. In the end, assuming that almost everyone who picks up Sounds from the Thievery Hi-Fi is a fan of trip-hop, acid jazz, club/dance, or electronica, then it is essentially a record for everybody. Its only real fault is that, occasionally, it edges toward being a record for nobody. [This version of Sounds from the Thievery Hi-Fi includes the bonus tracks "Sun, Moon, and Stars" and "Sleeper Car."] ~ Cammila Albertson

Additional Tracks

Thievery Corporation includes: Rob Garza, Eric Hilton.

Recording information: ESL Studios, Washington, SC.

Photographers: Jimmy Cohrssen; Bill Crandall.

Additional personnel: Hutchy.

Spin (10/97, pp.138-140) - 8 (out of 10) - "...not only the deepest groove record since Massive Attack's BLUE LINES but lushly unironic at its core....SOUNDS FROM THE THIEVERY HI-FI is dedicated to the memory of Brazilian legend Antonio Carlos Jobim, which makes perfect sense for a record that swings so hard and sways so gentle."
Option (7-8/97, p.132) - "...Equal parts dub, hip-hop, bossa nova-inflected Latin and reggae, SOUNDS signals a great artistic advance from earlier works..."