Search - thievery corporation :: Sounds From The Thievery Hi-Fi

The album to start off your ESL music collection

Jim Yu | San Francisco, CA | 09/19/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"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."

This album ranks among the best of its genre.

M. Miller | 02/18/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"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."

Chillout staples offer a near-masterpiece

John Jones | Chicago IL | 07/19/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"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."