SOUNDS FROM THE (LP)

Thievery Corporation includes: Rob Garza, Eric Hilton. 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.