Rare-groove duo
Thievery Corporation
may fall under the general classification of
electronica
, but their album
Sounds from the Thievery Hi-Fi
, like much of their music, is such a confluence of subgenres that
techno
fans might not find what they're looking for in it. This record is
electronic
in that nearly everything heard on it has been tweaked in the studio, but almost all of the actual synth sounds on
lie in the background. What carry each song are recordings of actual instruments, either live or sampled, mixed to create the arc of the specific track. Add a smattering of vocal samples, and the result is the love-child of
Massive Attack
and
Mondo Grosso
, a trip-hoppy,
acid jazz
mutant that will make you want to dance, have sex, or lounge by the pool (if you're not left walking in confused circles, trying to figure out which one). That seems to be the CD's only real weakness: the seams that bind the various influences involved in the music can be a bit ragged, leading to some songs that come off as awkward, rather than eclectic. The amalgamations throughout most of the disc are quite effective, however. The track
"Scene at the Open Air Market,"
for instance, sounds like the melody is played on a xylophone, before switching to perhaps an accordion, eventually coming to sound like a mixture of
lounge
music,
rhumba
, and Eastern European
folk
-- but sexy. The samples of a man yelling
reggae
-style shout-outs during
"2001 Spliff Odyssey,"
however, are mostly just distracting from the ultra-smooth groove, and can feel like interruptions. In the end, assuming that almost everyone who picks up
is a fan of
trip-hop
,
club/dance
, or
, then it is essentially a record for everybody. Its only real fault is that occasionally, it edges on being a record for nobody. ~ Cammila Albertson