Thievery Corporation

Versions

[ESL; 2006]

Styles: dub/hip-hop
Others: DJ Wally, Portishead, Morcheeba, DJ Krush, DJ Cam

Every seven years or so, Eric and Rob throw together their favorite remixes of late and quietly release the compilation to an unsuspecting public. This time around, the TC boys put their dub jazz twist on tracks from The Doors and Herb Alpert to Bebel Gilberto and Sarah McLachlan. T.S. Eliot believed that if you could take something old and make it new again, then it would be stronger than just spewing your own BS. In light of the solid but nevertheless not-quite-as-good-as-their-last-two-albums The Cosmic Game, Eliot may have an arguable point there. Though drawn from sources across time and the world, not one reworking here is out of place. Thievery Corporation’s sound is merged with the original creators; these songs don’t merely sample and bastardize like how Black Eyed Peas’ "Pump It" and Nelly’s "N Dey Say" respectively puke on the souls of Dick Dale and Spandu Ballet (though, admittedly, Spandu probably had it coming). So Versions holds together as both an original Thievery Corp product and a brief glimpse into the influences that produced them. The spirit of Jim Morrison is revived by their reverberation of "Strange Days."

1. Ustad Sultan Khan - Tarana
2. Damien - Habanos Days
3. Nouvelle Vague - This Is Not A Love Song
4. Anoushka Shankar - Beloved
5. Astrud Gilberto - Who Needs Forever
6. Emilie Simon - Desert
7. Herb Alpert - Lemon Tree
8. Thievery Corporation - Originality feat. Sister Nancy
9. Fear Of Pop - In Love
10. The Januaries - The Girl’s Insane
11. The Doors - Strange Days
12. Revolution Solution (TC Remix)
13. Shiva (TC Remix)
14. Transglobal Underground - Khalghi Stomp
15. Wax Poetic Feat. Norah Jones - Angels
16. Isabelle Antena - Nothing To Lose
17. Bebel Gilberto - Cada Beijo
18. Sarah McLachlan - Dirty Little Secret

by Alan Ranta

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