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“Our deepest source of inspiration comes from
our record collections,” says Rob Garza; an apt
reference to their collective nom de plume. Always great
admirers and curators of dusty grooves and all but forgotten
music styles, Thievery Corporation borrow from the classically
sensual and blunted sounds of their favorite Brazilian
bossa nova, Jamaican dub reggae, vintage film soundtracks,
and psychedelic rock to forge into new sonic territory.
Recording at the Consulate studios
in Washington D.C., Thievery Corporation have managed
to blossom in the heart of the empire, a city the duo
often refer to as “the
real Babylon.” The group is a major presence in
a scene legendary for fierce independence, musically
and politically from genre-defying pioneers as Chuck
Brown and Fugazi to grassroots organizations such as
Positive Force and the Future of Music Coalition. Formed
in the summer of 1995 at D.C.’s Eighteenth Street
Lounge – the now world-renowned venue that is still
a creative incubator for DC underground music - Rob Garza
and Lounge co-owner Eric Hilton bonded over strong drinks,
dub, bossa nova and jazz records, then decided to see
what would come of mixing all these in a recording studio.
The duo caught the ears of underground
DJ’s with
their first two 12” offerings, “Shaolin
Satellite” and “2001 Spliff Odyssey” and
with their 1997 debut LP, Sounds from the Thievery Hi-Fi,
they had already begun to define a new genre of electronic
music and connect with an international community of
like-minded souls. Though the terminology has varied
(downtempo, chill out, leftfield and a myriad of other
permutations), they have been at the top of their game
ever since.
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