Thievery Corporation consists of
DJ's
Rob Garza and
Eric Hilton, who operate from their
nightclub/
bar Eighteenth Street Lounge (also the name of their
record label) in
Washington. Their
music is often mentioned in the same breath as
Vienna-based
geniuses
Kruder and Dorfmeister, who remixed one of
Thievery Corporation's early tracks on their
DJ Kicks CD.
The
music of
Thievery Corporation underwent some changes with every
album but is consistently
downtempo, offering
Latin and/or
dub elements over smooth beats. Expect something close to
Kruder and Dorfmeister, maybe slightly less
adventurous but even more smoothly produced.
Garza and Hilton always appear in
suit and
tie, exuding a
sophisticated image which goes together well with the extremely
polished sound of their
music.
Thievery Corporation has produced 4 full length
albums as of 2001:
- "
Sounds from the Thievery Hi-Fi" (1997). Heavily
dub-influenced
downtempo tracks. Features the
track "Shaolin Satellite" which was remixed by
Kruder and Dorfmeister on their
DJ Kicks CD.
- "
Abductions and Reconstructions" (1999). Mainly a
collection of
remixed tracks by other artists such as
David Byrne,
Stereolab,
Black Uhuru and
Hooverphonic.
- "
DJ-Kicks" (1999). Installment in the series of
DJ collections by the
German label Studio K7. Interesting
CD because of the sudden appearance of
Latin elements in the
music of
Thievery Corporation. Some tracks of this CD appeared in major
television commercials.
- "
The Mirror Conspiracy" (2000). Excellent
album which brings all elements of their prior albums together -
dub,
Latin sounds, smooth
downtempo and
trip-hop beats.