Customer Reviews

Sounds From The Thievery Hi-Fi

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This was the first Thievery Corporation album I've purchased. I also have Abductions & Reconstructions, DJ Kicks, and the Mirror Conspiracy albums. Rob Garza & Eric Hilton are a creative duo who use a combonation to Brazilian Bossa Nova, Dub, Trip-hop, Lounge, Acid Jazz beats to perfection. In comparison to the other Thievery albums, Sounds from The Thievery Hi-Fi and Mirror Conspiracy are similiar. Abudctions & Reconstructions are remixes of other ESL music (18th Street Lounge record label) artists. Their DJ Kicks album demonstrates their artistic versatility.

If you listen to a sample of tracks 5 & 6 on this album you will be hooked. Checkout www.eslmusic.com for more info on their albums, the 18th Street Lounge (where it all started for Rob & Eric). Plus it's a cool place to checkout the next time your in DC.

For anyone new to chillout, World lounge or Brazilectro, "Sounds from the Thievery Hi-Fi" is as good a place to start as any. Still low-key while maintaining a driving sense of rhythm, Thievery Corporation prove themselves an essential electronica act on their first collection of original material (the band is also well-known for their remix and compilation work).

Tracks like "2001 A Spliff Odyssey" and "The Oscillator" beg for a sofa and a shaker of martinis at 2 a.m., and more insistent groovers like "Shaolin Satellite" and "Univeral Highness" are sure to breathe some life into any social gathering. Other cuts aren't so easy to peg; "The Glass Bead Game" spends almost four minutes as a mystical Bossa Nova before introducing a head-bobber of a drum loop, and "Incident at Gate 7" casts an ethereal spell that almost puts a sustaining effect on its funky rhythms.

The only thing that could have been shaken up a bit is the disc's range of tempo...sometimes the tracks are better appreciated when played in a changer rather than taking on all sixteen at once. But either way, "Sounds from the Thievery Hi-Fi" is solid proof that between their own fantastic work and their forward-thinking Eighteenth Street Music label, Thievery Corporation are clearly here for the long haul.

For all those who enjoyed, yet were not completely satisfied by DJ Shadow's Entroducing..., this album possibly your Holy Grail. This is music that blurs the boundaries between acid jazz, ambient, reggae, and trip-hop. Remaining true to the spirit of ambient pioneer Brian Eno,one may listen to this album closely and enjoy its artistic beauty, or effectively ignore it, using its even rhythms to set an amazingly relaxed backdrop. Thievery Corporation have crafted one of the most cerebral musical journeys I have heard to date. This album is a feast for the mind as well as the ears, ranking Eric and Rob alongside Michael Paradinas (mu-ziq) and Paul Hartnoll (Orbital) as some of the most innovative DJ's around. As hyped as this release has been, I was prepared for disappointment, however, this album is every bit as good as advertised. Simply put, you have nothing in your collection without this.

If you like Massive Attack, Portishead, Tricky and you want something new, buy this CD ... Slow, mellow beats, triphoppy sounds - you can dance to this, but you can also sit down and listen to it... It's an excellent CD. A bit more mellow than K&D.

I ordered this CD and the OM Lounge 2 CD after searching for more music in the Kruder & Dorfmeister genre. However, I was somewhat disappointed in the overwhelming drum overlays in nearly ALL the songs on the album. Unlike K&D, the drums stand at the foreground RULING the music, which does not appeal to me personally. I prefer the soothing fluidity of K&D's soft, easy, and well-put-together beats. Although I am not completely disatisfied with my purchase, I would say that this album is a little more reggae and bee-bop than jazzy.

I would put it on before I go to bed at night, or have it on in the background while I work in the afternoon, or simply have it on when I kick back with friends. It is mellow and jazzy, the slow drum beat makes everything seems so lazy. It is not so intense as Massive Attack's Blue Line, certainly not dark as Portishead. It is a "cool" music for a lazy afternoon, or night music for those who never sleep early. Very nice.

Electronica trends and sounds move faster than is at all rational. Pull out any electronic record you liked three years ago and see how it sounds. There are exceptions, but dollars to donuts it souds as dated as the snare sound on a Cameo single.

Sounds From the Thievery hi-fi is one of the dramatic exceptions to that rule. It still sounds fresh, cool, innovative, and just plain good these many years after its release. It manages to take chill out and acid jazz sounds, mix a legit white boy interpretation of dub as well as a pinch of bossa and South American music, and wrap it up in a very stylish package. It reminds me of the best of Ninja Tune but more sophisticated, smooth, and a little less cheeky.

To me, everything they have done since is quite good, but in comparison sounds mannered and a bit forced. I'm also personally way into dub and they seem to be digging deeper into international sounds and less into dub with each passing record. I wonder if they realized how much ground they were breaking when they made this record. A record that changed how I listen to music and how I make music, soulful and inspired, recommended for almost anyone.

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.

Its hard to believe this disc came out in 1996. Depending on which way you look at Thievery Corporation, and which specific aspects you focus on in their later albums, you could say that they've come along way. You could also say they've stayed the course the entire journey.

This, the debut album, was the second Thievery Corporation disc I purchased, the first being Richest Man in Babylon. I've always felt that for newcomers, Richest Man in Babylon is the best starting point - but for what its worth, this disc could be as well.

This disc has the same variety of genres and flavours that can be found in any Thievery Corporation disc. I find that this disc pumps out a little more bass than the others, especially in the first two songs, which kind of flow into one another. Ethnic downtempo is present, (with that unmistakable Thievery Corp. flavour), but some songs are more reggae-influenced, especially with the voice-overs.

As far as replay value goes, this disc is the one that makes an appearance most often. Because of the typical Thievery Corp. song variations, it can be played in a lot of different situations. I find its very appropriate late night music, whether hosting a party or driving through city streets.

If there was any T.C. disc more appropriate in a dark, smoke-filled lounge, this is it. Go grab that martini. Let Sounds From The Thievery Hi-Fi do the rest.

One thing to note: I seem to have the UK edition which does not have the songs "Manha" and "Encounter In Bahia." I can't speak for these two songs.

This is Thievery Corporation's first album, released shortly after the talented "duo" hooked up in DC. If you're familiar with their later works, i.e. The Mirror Conspiracy or the Cosmic Game- then you'll notice this cd is lacking in some of the many intricacies that can be found there. Although still a good cd, it doesn't last as long in my changer as - say - DJ Kicks.