Friday, 19 October 2012
Thievery Corporation - Radio Retaliation
It's ironic that a band with its musical head so firmly in the clouds thinks so
much about what’s happening down here on Terra Firma. Yet, that’s what Thievery
Corporation's Radio Retaliation is all about. The musical approach is
the same; just as they have on releases like 2005's The Cosmic Game,
Rob Garza and Eric Hilton still bring the dub-oriented beats, silky textures,
world musicology and outer spacescapes. And while Thievery Corp have always been
tuned into the strange currents and impulses of the now, words have never been
so central to their work. Femi Kuti lets loose on Africa's long, sad history of
oppression on "Vampires" while Seu Jorge preaches the gospel of peace on "Hare
Krisna." Both those tracks are killers, but the record has a way of topping
itself. In the midst of all the charged slogans and lullaby charm (listen to
LouLou's Gallic flow on "Le Femme Parallel" for an example of the latter), Garza
and Hilton will drop a celestial bomb like the painfully gorgeous "The Shining
Path." So, while there's no missing how politically engaged they are (the liner
notes include relevant words of wisdom from a range of open minds including
Einstein, John Lee Hooker and Mos Def), Thievery Corp can still help us return
to the serenity of nothing.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment