I don’t think I’m what you would call a Thievery Corporation “fan”. I have listened to them before, I have even owned one of their CD’s before, 2000’s The Mirror Conspiracy, but I’ve never been able to fully embrace the diversity of their musical heritage in the same way they do as producers. But I have to give respect to the D.C. duo of Rob Garza and Eric Hilton because these guys know the music they love to listen to inside and out and, in turn, clearly know how to craft the soundscapes they glue together, using bits and pieces from several different Lego sets to generate a sound unlike any one other band in their genre. Definitely a downtempo band from the word go, they have repeatedly engaged in applying elements of Bossa Nova, Reggae, Dub, Trance, and even Caribbean influences in their music. What seperates Thievery Corporation out is that these aren’t just two friends making music together: they are confident producers. The diversity of their experiments comes not just from the music, but from a willingness to challenge themselves on a production level.

2005 brings us yet another Thievery Corporation adventure, The Cosmic Game due on February 22nd, and it features a rousing cast of guest appearances — people like Perry Farrell, The Flaming Lips, and this visit from former Talking Heads frontispiece, and afficionado of the experimental soundscape himself, David Byrne. It seems that The Cosmic Game is eager to please everyone and though they don’t cover much new ground, perhaps they have succeeded in their quest for unification at last. I’ll leave it up to you to decide.

BONUS TRACK: Holographic Universe

This CD Will Be Available February 22nd. Advance ordering is available.

You can buy “Warning Shots”, the first single off the album, direct from iTunes by clicking here.

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