Customer Reviews

Mirror Conspiracy

5 star:		(104)
4 star:		(26)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Mirror Conspiracy is the latest international down-tempo musical offering from "Thievery Corporation" otherwise known as the dj/production team of Rob Garza and Eric Hilton. Like their earlier releases; "Sounds From The Thievery Hi-Fi" and the inspiring "DJ Kicks", the duo presents a sexy collection of international beats seasoned with an array of jazz, easy listening, lounge, bossa nova, samba, sound track samples and more. Tropical beats and Afro Brazilian rhythms drive the overall late night groove. "La Monde" is a seductive slice of loveliness mixing breathy French vocals with a distinctive Jamaican dub. "Lebanese Blonde" a mysteriously international spy film soundtrack peppered with Baleric beats. "Samba Tranquille" a bit of breezy tropical turntabalism. "Illumination" easily the standout builds hypnotically with its driving indo-pyschedelic drum beats and mysterious middle eastern chanting. These are djs as mixologists, interpreters of world beats, tour guides to a jet setting audio travelogue sampling global styles, genres, cultures and languages. Hip modern day exotica for the modern world. A Must BUY for hip cats!

...and the music throbs slowly but insistently, snatches of melody drawing you in, the beat stimulating but relaxing at the same time. The crowd is young and bright and full of life, smiling and weaving around each other, heads tilting back with easy, cool laughter. Welcome to the Mirror Conspiracy, your ticket to another room, a spacious mood, a place where cares do not exist and pleasure is abundant. The ocean of beats and sounds washes across the shores of your mind, gently hypnotizing away the craggy realities that soon seem many miles behind you. Too good to be true? Not in this case. I've been through at least a hundred so-called chillout albums and discovered, as you by now have, that most of them are bland, same-sounding pap, boring, mealy sonic filler. With today's electronic gear it's all too easy to make wooshy sounds. Any fool can pull the trigger, but it's very hard to get it right. As in all musical genres, only about ten percent of artists are really gifted, let alone brilliant. These guys very much are, at least on this disc. You'll get that spacious feeling, the warmth of the strong but mellow beat, and actual musical artistry. Subtle variations ease you imperceptibly from one track to another without losing interest. This album is a rare gem. It can be played in almost any setting, and will win over non-techno people. If you have any desire whatsoever for that elusive bird called "chillout music," this disc is absolutely essential for your playlist. Money well spent. Enjoy.

If one was to embark on a university program majoring in these guys, The Mirror Conspiracy would almost certainly be Thievery Corporation 101. It was The Mirror Conspiracy that first exposed me to Thievery Corporation, and it's largely due to this album that I subsequently purchased every other album the group has produced.

For nearly 6 months, this album was constantly present in my stereo as I drove, or on deck waiting to be played next. I don't live in a big city, but after just a few minutes of songs like Le Monde, I could imagine I was driving through the streets of New York or Paris at night. I must admit that many of my music choices are based on their value as driving music, as that's where I do most of my listening, and much of this album is perfect for the job.

It's been a while since we've heard original material from Rob Garza and Eric Hilton, the global lounge spinsters known as Thievery Corporation. So what have they been up to? After releasing an excellent edition to the DJ Kicks series last year, showcasing their enthusiasm for dub, jazz, and bossa nova ( wrapped in modern production), one might have guessed this world sound would be carried further on their second full-length release. Well, you'd be wrong.

The duo have decided to change directions, or rather, side-step to a different path. Their tracks, formerly drum layers with samples thrown in the blend, are now fully developed songs, often with singers. They've also studied their equipment, as these pieces reveal extra layers of sound and depth, are fuller and richer. The Corporation have gone from cool to chic, now wooing the café crowd instead of the spliff users.

Most tracks use the same formula: snappy varying percussion, shimmering melodies, warm tones and appearances by French women. It takes a few tunes for them to settle in; "Treasures is a brief step through mellow hues and crisp breakbeat, and "Le Monde," also short, adds thick guitar reverb and chanteuse vocals. "Indra" is the first standout track, with symphonic string pieces, chanting, and soft breakbeats building over time to reveal its' exotic colors. "Lebanese Blonde" a sitar-driven number with horn bursts (released as a single last year) counterpoints with some beautifully accented English. It's not until "Focus on Sight" that TC show some of the hip hop influences of earlier work. "Air Batucada" welds a spicy dance rhythm to a floating, glitterball melody, a nice kick in the middle of the disc.

There is some filler; "So Com Voce," and the cop show soundtrack "The Hong Kong Triad" to name two. "Illumination" is as close to jamming as the duo get, "The Mirror Conspiracy" is a lovely little piece, and "Tomorrow" ends well with a faster beat and wistful musings.

The Mirror Conspiracy is so polished you'll be willing to overlook the lack of distinctiveness between tracks; even at 50 minutes the disc starts to repeat itself. Regardless, those willing to accept their Thievery as more Air or Starseeds than Kruder & Dorfmeister will find this an enjoyable pick-up. A warm and refreshing release for 2000. B+

Thievery Corporation are known for there compilations of produced pseudo drum & bass/dance/lounge music under the eighteenth street lounge label. The problem was that they never had a signature. Be it the eclectic vibe of Tosca, smooth beats of Groove Armada or utter mastery of Kruder & Dorfmeister. However, they finally hit the mark with The Mirror Conspiracy. All songs are written and produced by the boys. There is consistency throughout, as each song reflects varied world influences. While Lebanese Blond and Pam Brickers vocal are featured on the highlighted track, Lou Lou's vocals on Le Monde and Shadows of Ourselves are truly moving. Track for track, the cd will satisfy whether your looking for something to chill you or move you. And this is coming from someone who had all but given up on Thievery Corporation as artists who could ever put out a cohesive collection of tracks that stimulates the mind and body. This time they did it, finally.

Anyone with a music collection has mused about which of the myriad CDs we amass would actually be among the few we really need. This excellent work would be among mine.

Unique in flavor and execution, TC's brilliant blend of styles and moods is a pleaser for fussy 40-somethings as well as their adolescent kids [this CD often makes the cut for tunes accompanying us on road trips]. We have owned this CD for several years now, and it remains one we listen to on a frequent basis. Unlike so many others, it is not a flash-in-the-pan piece of work.

If you enjoy slightly offbeat, not-quite-New Age, not-quite-rock, not-quite-pop music with brilliant instrumentation and arrangement, not to mention flawless engineering, you will enjoy this recording.

After buying Richest Man in Babylon, I was craving more Thievery Corp. This CD is not another Richest Man in Babylon, though. It is much more downtempo and smooth. The first couple of tracks are excellent, with several tracks at the end being quite good as well. On the other hand, the majority of the middle and end tracks are relatively monotonous and not memorable. If you are looking for something that is more relaxing and quieting, then this is your ticket, but if you want something to captivate and groove you, then I might suggest something else.

Thievery Corporation always made good records. For a kind of music that could be named as "Lounge", they offered us this magnificent work of electronic music called "Mirror Conspiracy". Featuring the extraordinaire "chanteuse" Lou Lou on tracks like "Le Monde"(one of the best tracks of the whole record) or the classic "Shadows Of Ourselves", this project has a true deep and smooth vibe. The indian sounds are a constant, like in all the albums of T. Corporation (especially "DJ Kicks"). The soft drum beat rules in all the tracks. Brazilian tunes are also present in this work: we have the excelent Bossa Nova of "So Com Voce" and the hard beat Samba "Samba Tranquille".
Globaly, "Mirror Conspiracy" has a superb production work. It's a work of "easy listening" music that is very accessible for any music fan, including people who like other kinds of music, like Pop, Jazz or Rock. This record is, indeed, a must have!

This recording is perhaps best described as Easy Listening Lite. A little bit of this, a little bit of this - all pasturized, homogenized, pre-masticated, synthesized and blended into an unidentifiable aural pablum. Buy in complete confidence, there is absolutely nothing with enough edge to offend anyone; in fact, you could leave the room in the middle of track one and come back fifteen minutes later and be forgiven for thinking that the same song was still playing.

Novacain for the brain. What's to complain about?

Let's face it--the whole downtempo thing is getting a bit tired. It always was a kind of muzak for hipsters and slicksters, but now it is nearly as ubiquitous as muzak used to be. Every parvenu bar/lounge has got it on; it's seeped into TV commercials left and right (like Groove Armada in that Nike ad). It's become the musical lingua franca of commerce for what used to be called yuppies back in the 80s (too bad that term was killed off). Enter Thievery Corporation. Deliberately ironic name, no? But what about those suits? The jet-setting images? Still irony, or mere advertising for a certain lifestyle? In their case, I'd ultimately have to guess the latter. But what about their music? Sure, it's slick, faux global. Think the whole sitar thing and french female vocals a little cliched? Be warned, you'll find both on this album. Nonetheless, I still find it a very seductive set--and unlike their DJ Kicks album or Abductions and Reconstructions (as far as downtempo mixes go, Kruder & Dorfmeister are far superior), these are all "original" pieces. You can play Mirror Conspiracy as groovy background music to nod along to while you're busy doing something that matters, but, honestly, it can be foregrounded and hold up reasonably well (as long as you can get past the aforementioned cliches). Indeed, nicely layered sounds here, and SMOOTH, oh so smooth: like I'm flying first class on Virgin (Note Virgin marketing employees: you need this album to provide your customers with the "total" first-class experience!). Some of the tracks (see #3) compelled this body to actually get up and move a little. So despite the supersaturation of downtempo and all the heavily commercial schlock out there, this one's worth getting. Even if Hilton and Garza actually own a DC club (a club populated with colored martini drinkers no doubt [still?!]) for which their music seems to be made, "atmosphere" you see--even if they do wear slick suits and have pictures of airports in their cds' foldouts, they still make pretty good music. And this one I think is their best effort. For me, it's just that they aren't at the level of Stereolab (check out Dots and Loops for comparison), but then who is?