With its melting pot of international influences, Washington DC seems a natural place for the birth of Thievery Corporation, a duo fusing dub, ambient, bossa nova, hip-hop and acid jazz into an organic melange that's as fresh as a slap of Aqua Velva in the morning. Favoring three-button suits, Thievery's Eric Hilton and Rob Garza started the Eighteenth Street Lounge Music label, named for the club Hilton co-runs, and have thus released the compilations "Eighteenth Street Lounge: The Soundtrack (Volume One)" and "Dubbed Out In DC", as well as Thievery's own "Sounds From A Thievery Hi-Fi". The future promises a compilation of the group's remixes of David Byrne, Pizzicato Five, gusGus and others, and a collaboration with Baltimore dub innovator Scientist. Thievery Corporation's own music leans as heavily on Brazilian and dub as it does on samples and suffling beats - Hilton and Garza cite both Antonio Carlos Jobim and the Mad Professor as primary influences.
- Lydia Anderson from CMJ New Music Monthly, February 1998
As Matt from 4AD US mentioned earlier, the "Sounds From A Thievery Hi-Fi" album is out now already in the US (on Eighteenth Street Lounge) and can be found at the more adventurous record stores out there. It looks like this album will not be available as a 4AD release in the US but look forward to 4AD UK and other territories making it available sometime during the dark months of April and May...
JEFF KEIBEL TORONTO, ONTARIO CANADA