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DJ duo, Rob & Eric, of Thievery Corporation are doing an amazing job on their latest release of Radio Retaliation from ESL Record.
This record came out of nowhere for me, even though I will acknowledge that I did read the press release in early August. They were even in the news for announcing ways to connect to their fans via the iLike application for Facebook. While it's nothing new, regarding social music, it's still worth noting.
Other cool thing: Radio Retaliation is handcrafted in Babylon in Iraq. The entire package is one cardboard with three familiar Thievery Corps colors: red, green and orange. Instead of a lyric book, it's a fold-out poster with the CD inserted in the center. A very interesting package, I might add.
So, if you're not already a fan of Thievery Corporation, you will be shortly after checking out their style of music. They have a vast knowledge of all world music (Indian, French, Brazilian, etc), and they have good ears to pick out the best ones to sample and remix.
I'll be covering some of my favorite on the new album:
"(The Forgotten People)" has definitely a middle-eastern style. The back-beat makes you want to groove to the hand drums. It may sound like a simple formula, but it's not.
I also really enjoyed the the soulful/funk "The Numbers Game" and the Spanish song, "El Pueblo Unido", but my favorite is the French song, "La Femme Parallel".
What's nice about the lyric poster is that they were kind enough to offer in both original French lyrics and English translation. Here is the English translation, for those who don't speak French: |
I was so young when we first me/She took me by the hand/She led me to the first floor/She sent me to the clouds/She showed me the stars/In her room "infectious" perfumes/On the walls the pictures were all parallel/Beautiful like her father, Charlotte was elegant/Beautiful like her mother, Charlotte was audacious/Proud to be holding faith in herself/Always losing herself in the clouds/Forever lost with the stars
The lyrics are lovely, aren't they? According to the liner notes, Ooldouz Ghelichkhani is credit as taking part in the song-writing of this song. She is also listed as co-writer for "Sweet Tides", another lovely song that ends the album. The reoccurring theme of Radio Retaliation is about rebellion, and it's evident in their reggae-inspired songs (but with that certain dub and beats of Thievery Corp): "Sound The Alarm", "Radio Retaliation", "Vampires", "Hare Krishna" (to some extent since it's more dancey on this song), and "Blasting Through The City". Perhaps is the inherit rebellious nature of reggae music from its Rastafari movement (Rasta) - a religious movement to accept Jesus Christ and Haile Selassie I as incarnations of Jah (God). What Thievery Corporation is doing is very exciting and I'm happy to say that the album is out today, September 23 rd on ESL Record.
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