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[rareside]

Any Thievery fans here?

I fell in love with 'em via The Mirror Conspiracy (Indra is still my favorite song by them), but I enjoy all their different styles.

The upcoming album will feature guest artists, which isn't a first for the group, but they're going to be more rock-oriented (The Flaming Lips, Jane's Addiction, Talking Heads) this time around.

 

[Ill Saint]

Sounds like it'll be a bit harder for them to get on all those "Ibiza Lounge Sunset vol. ad nauseam" compilations then.

 

[Dice]

but they're going to be more rock-oriented

Gaaaaahhh, why do people always do this? Hopefully it won't suck like the latest Juno Reactor.

 

[nitewulf]

hmmm, thievery + flaming lips? awesome. hopefully it wouldnt be too rock oriented though. kinda defeats the point of downtempo if you cant relax to the music.

 

[Triumph]

These guys rock live(not their dj set, which is ok). If you have a chance, go see em live, you won't be disappointed.

Good to hear they have a new album due out.

 

[Dilbert]

Not to be a pessimist, but their last album was definitely a step back from their early work, and the single I heard from the upcoming album was SHIT. (Perry fucking Farrell? BARF.)

I will be highly skeptical of the album until I hear some good reviews from people I trust.

 

[rareside]

Not to be a pessimist, but their last album was definitely a step back from their early work, and the single I heard from the upcoming album was SHIT. (Perry fucking Farrell? BARF.)

I will be highly skeptical of the album until I hear some good reviews from people I trust.

I assume you're talking about The Richest Man in Babylon (and not The Outernational Sound or Babylon Rewound), in which case did you not like Heaven's Gonna Burn Your Eyes, Richest Man in Babylon, Exile, Until the Morning Comes, and Resolution?

BTW, on the Amazon link , you can already listen to 30sec clips of each song off the album. Can't really determine much from it though

 

[Dilbert]

Yeah, I'm talking about The Richest Man In Babylon. I loved The Outernational Sound -- Rob and Eric have outstanding taste in music, and mixes/compilations on ESL Records are usually quite good.

Of the songs you mentioned: "Heaven's Gonna Burn Your Eyes" is AWFUL -- boring, limp, predictable. "Until The Morning," ditto that. "The Richest Man In Babylon" is by-the-numbers reggae/dub -- not a big fan of reggae, mind you -- and the lyrics are pretty dumb. "Exile" is OK, I guess. "Resolution" was one of the better tracks off the album. (Our tastes may just be different, though -- you didn't mention any of my favorite tracks in your list.)

I think my biggest objection was that it sounded like leftovers from the brilliant The Mirror Conspiracy. Also, whenever you hear that an album is going to be full of collaborations...that's usually a cause for concern. Hopefully it will be great.

 

[Macam]

Coincidentally, I just recently got into Theivery Corporation a few months back and I only own Mirror Conspiracy and The Richest Man in Babylon, though I have heard Outernational Sound through and through. And frankly, I think -jinx- nailed it right on the head. The Richest Man in Babylon is the lesser of both of the other albums mentioned, and I really didn't care for the new single either. I hope they flesh out their sound more in some manner, because at the moment it feels like a lot of retreading the older material but without the kick. I wanted to pick up the Babylon Rewound album when it came out until I remembered how much I didn't care for the album. Still, here's to hoping.

 

[rareside]

When I first picked up Richest Man in Babylon, I'll admit it wasn't as great at Mirror. I think what has me defending Richest Man more is that upon hearing Babylon Rewound, a few of the songs sounded MUCH better to me. Exilio, Until the Morning Comes, the remix of Richest Man in Babylon on Outernational. I really like Truth and Rights as well, but again, that's on Rewound.

Bah, I just love Thievery and here's hoping they don't disappoint.

What are you favorite 3 TC songs, jinx?

 

[Dilbert]

Coincidentally, I just recently got into Theivery Corporation a few months back and I only own Mirror Conspiracy and The Richest Man in Babylon, though I have heard Outernational Sound through and through.

You HAVE to get Sounds From The Thievery Hi-Fi. It's their first album, and is still incredibly exciting after all these years. The best ESL compilation (with SLIGHT mixing) is Jet Society, at least in my opinion. "Vai Minha Tristeza" by Tom y Joyce is an unbelievable gem.

 

[Dilbert]

What are your favorite 3 TC songs, jinx?

Good question. How about I pick one from each artist album?

"Shaolin Satellite"
"Lebanese Blonde"
"Liberation Front"

 

[Triumph]

I would say there's no way on earth that I could be disappointed with a TC album, but I said that about Massive Attack and 100th Window proved me wrong. :/

 

[Dilbert]

These guys rock live(not their dj set, which is ok).

Actually, I've been to the Eighteenth Street Lounge in Washington, D.C. -- damn cool place, but expensive, and you'd better be dressed well (I went in a suit) to get in. The night I went, Eric Hilton was on the decks for a while...I wished they handed out CD-Rs on the way out, since I would have liked a copy of the mix I heard.

 

[Triumph]

Their dj set was great. But the concert was fucking mindblowing. I didn't know what to expect going in- I expected a bunch of knob turning and such, and that's fine. But they had a horn section, three different percussionists and a sitar player. A sitar player! Everything flowed really well and was very impressive. And Atlanta was the first show on their tour, so it's not like they'd been in a groove with the band for too long I don't think. One of my top 5 shows of all time.

They played a dj set at Club Halo afterwards that was all kinds of awesome as well, but not in the same realm as that live set. Man, I wish they'd tour more often.

 

[nitewulf]

True, no track in Babylon quite reach the brilliance of Lebanese Blonde, hell they dont reach it combined, but Lebanese Blonde is such a brilliant, beautiful track!
I do like Un Simple Histoire and Exilio quite a bit though. And if you're into jazz, their Sounds From the Verve Hi-Fi is a very good compilation of original tracks. Not remixed at all.
I haven't checked out the samples from amazon yet though, I'll do it sometime this week, the collaboration with Flaming Lips has got to be good, at least!

 

[enjoy bell woods]

What do you mean by Talking Heads? Who from the Talking Heads is on this album? I thought David Byrne doesn't like Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth.

 

[Macam]

You HAVE to get Sounds From The Thievery Hi-Fi. It's their first album, and is still incredibly exciting after all these years. The best ESL compilation (with SLIGHT mixing) is Jet Society, at least in my opinion. "Vai Minha Tristeza" by Tom y Joyce is an unbelievable gem.

Consider me sold. I'll pick it up this week.

 

[Exis]

Ah, the joys of living in DC and knowing what rockstars they are...

Good music though, The lounge used to be hip, but now is a bit too upperclass yuppie for my liking.

-Exis

 

[Doth Togo]

Thievery's 18th Street Lounge is across the street from my office. Talk about a bougie crowd in there. That being said, they're always pumping out good tunes.

If you like Thievery, check out Nicola Conte off of their ESL record label.

 

[Dilbert]

Consider me sold. I'll pick it up this week.

Actually, I should probably warn you that Sounds From The Thievery Hi-Fi sounds a bit different from their later work. It's considerably less lush and more beat-driven -- it almost sounds like Mo' Wax channeling international music through a shortwave radio. What I like about the album, though, is that it works as a while. The vibe is consistent throughout, and each track seems to flow well into the next.

In fact, as soon as I get done with my #@%$%$ing telecons, I'm going to fire it up...