Thievery Corporation - It Takes a Thief: The Very Best of Thievery Corporation [2LP]
Hand-picked by Rob Garza and Eric Hilton themselves, It Takes a Thief: The Very Best of Thievery Corporation condenses a decade of the duo's globe-trotting grooves onto two LPs.
Born in Washington, D.C. in the mid nineties, Thievery Corporation built a sound that refused to stay in one place: dub basslines, bossa nova guitars, Indian sitar, Jamaican toasting and Brazilian rhythms, all stitched together with a DJ's ear for atmosphere. This 2010 collection gathers highlights from The Mirror Conspiracy through Radio Retaliation, making it the ideal entry point for anyone who knows the name but has never quite taken the plunge.
"Lebanese Blonde" is the obvious jewel, its sitar and hazy vocal drifting along before finding a second life on the Garden State soundtrack. "Sound the Alarm" is the funk-heavy firestarter that has opened countless live shows, while "Amerimacka" rolls on a deep, warm reggae pulse. "The Richest Man in Babylon" leans into the duo's political streak, wrapping pointed lyrics in a smoky, unhurried groove.
It plays like a perfectly curated late-night set, the kind that turns a quiet evening into a slow-motion party. Spread over four sides, these tracks have plenty of room to breathe, from the first bassline to the last echoing dub.