aaamusic | On 16, Nov 2010

Blending aspects of lounge, trip-hop and world to create a relaxed ambient flavour, Thievery Corporation are celebrating fifteen years of work with a best-of compilation, ‘It Takes A Thief’.

Opening with the warm smoothness of ‘Air Batucada’, with its bossa nova funk draped luxuriously over a samba/jazz bassline and synthesised chimes and string sections, the tones and settings are clearly established: we are in a classy hotel, it is summer, and the naked percussive action provides the ink outlines for the rest of the instrumentation to fill in.

The trip-hop aspect is unearthed in the rather alluring ‘All That We Percieve’, where languid hip-hop beats are slicked over a horn section and bassy funk. The vocals are light and airy, and the results of this are entirely smooth with not a single corner to catch ears on, relying instead on mesmerising loops to draw people in. Similarly, despite the edgy connotations a rather hip-hop intro might bring in, ‘Amerimacka’ is a silken song with a strong dub reggae influence that takes all the clatter from percussion but leaves in the distinctive, melodic basslines, and introducing an understated yet undeniable lounge feel in the echo placed upon the keyboards and the ambient reverb. However, it must be said that the problem with intent listening to ambient cuts out of context is that they can begin to get soporiphic, no matter how well-constructed they are. For example, the pseudo-twangy funk of ‘Holographic Universe’ is fun at first, but as it lopes in, it simply becomes artistically sound background noise.

However, there are perks held in the compilation. ‘Exilio (Rewound)’ adds some much-needed vitality with its fast-paced Latin drumming. Thievery Corporation’s fingerprints are everywhere in the perfectly smooth keyboard chimes and simple yet forwards basslines, but the spark and vitality injected here wake up the listener for a smiling and welcome invitation to dance. Same with the sprightly cool of ‘Shadows Of Ourselves’.

Elsewhere, there are other world music hints. ‘Facing East’ draws in several Asian and Middle Eastern influences for an exotic, percussion-heavy stomp. The entirely smooth production can make the whole affair feel sterile, yet the use of diversity in melody and instruments used, along with the strong, almost physically palpable atmosphere created save the track from fading into background music, as does the shimmering sitar moments in ‘Satyam Shivam Sundaram’. ‘Lebanese Blonde’ has a similar feel, albeit with a more downtempo lounge overtone that pushes the more wide-reaching intrigue into a corner.

The glacial, echoing jangle of ‘Sweet Tides’ adds some much-needed textural variation, coupled with dreamy vocals and a pulsating yet flowing bassline. The inclusion of this track highlights the pacing issues apparent in this collection; to create a career of ambient tracks is one thing, but to compile a best-of is a very high hurdle, as it entails making sure the listener has a heavy dose of the artist’s trademark style, but this needs to be broken up evenly with other, more unusual moments, and this borderline pop song provides a dreamy respite. Similarly, the soulful dazzle of ‘Vampires’ is a moment of real power, only a little too late to make sufficient impact despite its percussive intensity.

Overall, I would say that it is evident the Thievery Corporation are masters of their craft, and each track is effortless, smooth and appealing as quality silken underwear or the idealised jetset lifestyle with champagne and first-class travel. However you simply can’t pick out stellar moments in music that is designed to provide setting rather than the events, and so as a result ‘It Takes A Thief’ is a series of initially alluring yet unevenly-joined backdrops that end up tilting into the realms of the uninteresting when stripped of album context or single release brevity.

Author: Katie H-Halinski