Versions [ENHANCED]

Thievery Corporation

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 16, 2006)
• Original Release Date: May 16, 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Enhanced
• Label: Eighteenth Street
• ASIN: B000EQ46E6
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #44,638 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Versions gathers 18 Thievery Corporation remixes from across a music spectrum that only the most eclectic could love. The vinyl-popping digital duo embraces '60s psychedelia with the Doors and '60s kitsch with Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass. They put them all into the mixmaster, usually adding the downtempo jazzy electro-lounge beats upon which they built their early reputation. Alpert's "Lemon Tree," taken from the recent Whipped Cream & Other Delights Rewhipped, is a vintage noirish mood piece, but this doesn't always work. Fear of Pop's "In Love" becomes a tedious vamp, and the Doors' "Strange Days" is a missed opportunity squandered on a Cagian "indeterminacy" moment, like two bands in different rooms. But the Thievery formula usually works wonders on even the most unlikely material. There's an Indian twang to many of these mixes, including the Middle East-via-Bombay grooves of Trans-Global Underground, the Indian singing of Ustad Sultan Khan, and the fragile sitar of Anoushka Shankar. Even the tunes that aren't Eastern, like Nouvelle Vague's Euro-lounge "This Is Not a Love Song," get the full Indian treatment with droning tambouras and tabla percussion. I wonder what it says that no matter whether they're using Astrud Gilberto, Sarah McLachlan, or the Doors as source material, it all comes out sounding like Thievery Corporation. --John Diliberto

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The groove remains consistent, May 18, 2006

By	Enrique Torres "Rico" (San Diegotitlan, Califas) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

The signature sound of Garza and Hilton resurfaces with more cool beats, jazzy riffs, Eastern-lounge and tripped out dub. By now Thievery Corporation has a fan base, including myself that loves their remixes. This disc , like many of their others traverses the globe to give the listener an aural experience that cannot be pidgeonholed; it is a mixture of layered sounds that delights the senses. On this excellent CD you will find a diversity of artsts that includes remixes of the Doors, Sarah McLaughlan, Bebel and Astrud Gilberto, Norah Jones Transglobal Underground, Herb Albert and others for an eclectic assembly that ultimately works because of Theievery Corporations technical expertise with the electronic groove. When putting out something of their own like on "Originality" which features Sister Nancy, the result is a mesmerizing reggae back beat and mashing vocals that sound like they come straight from Kingston. Another TC credit goes to "Revolution Solution" that is a cool mixture of Jamaican electro-vocal stylings with a strong fast paced upbeat clashing with a crashing back beat for a remarkable synthesis. Sister Nancy rapid fires her Jamaican-style-rap, backed by nice laid back horns while maintaining the lazy groove. When TC lends their own version or remixed version it is not all Jamaican reggae or dub as is evident on "Shiva" which has tripped out spacey beats blending with dreamy vocals for a otherworldly musical experience. Speaking of spaced out songs , check out " Angels" which features Norah Jones coming in and out on vocals as the electronic voodoo shimmers and wobbles through it's musical progression. One of the oddest remixed songs is the classic Doors song "Strange Days" that comes off like a reincarnated Morrison playing the dance circuit in a strange new world. The mix is haunting(the voice especially) and comes across like Morrison risen from the dead at the after hours club. If you liked the album "Bebel Remixed" than you wil probably like the Bebel Gilberto remixed "Cada Beijo"(Each Kiss) that features the seductive vocals of Bebel in a electro-samba groove. Probably my own personal favorite song (I hate faves really) is "Who Needs Forever" the Astrud Gilberto composition that is given the TC treatment with loungy-jazzy beats over the original vocals that are revamped with echoes of the original song. I've heard this song on other discs and am so familiar with it that that probably accounts for my fondness of the song. Anyway it is way cool. I love this disc, it is another in a fine line of recording by Hilton and Garza, aka Thievery Corporation that pleases the soul. It is kick back grooves for your summer days to start enjoying now. Get it , you won't be dissappointed if you like TC ; if you've never heard their remixes start now.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars More of the same but welcome, May 17, 2006

By	sniffer8 (Tokyo, Jpn) - See all my reviews

Most of these remixes have been available in various places for a while, especially on Perfect Remixes 4, but it's good to have them gathered on one CD. Fans (and detractors), will know the formula by now; dubbed-up, loungey and/or eastern-tinged beats. All good stuff and the album flows very smoothly. A common criticism of Thievery Corp. is that that their original compositions, mix CDs and remixes are all a bit samey but I think that's why many people like them. They provide a cool, unobtrusive soundtrack to people's everyday lives.
What do reviewers usually write in such a situation; will please existing fans but won't win many new converts? That's spot on

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very good but it depends on what you want..., September 19, 2006

By	nicjaytee (London) - See all my reviews

Thievery Corporation are very good... they can mix a song and, as most of these remixes show, almost any song, into something breathtakingly different and, when they're in the mood, they can produce their own stunningly innovative tracks. But above all, they know how to appeal to a market... which is, in this case, high quality "downbeat" music.

And, as with their "The Mirror Conspiracy" album, they know exactly where they're going here: laid-back, languid beats that are lifted out of the mire of "lift music" and put firmly into the "cerebral experience" category because the production and execution are, as with almost everything they do, excellent. Check out their stunningly beautiful reworks of "Who Needs Forever?" and "Dirty Little Secret", plus their clever and genuinely exciting version of The Doors "Strange Days" - all three of which are better than the originals - to see how good they can be. But, and here's the problem, they can, as albums like "DJ Kicks" and "The Cosmic Game" show, take things so much further.

So, it all depends on what you want. If it's something that breaks the boundaries then you're in the wrong place. But if it's something you can be genuinely "chilled" and "intrigued" by then you've found it.