Thievery Corporation – Versions

A second collection of remixes from the Thievery Corporation. This selection sees them spreading their net far and wide, giving Ustad Sultan Khan's "Tarana" and Anoushka Shankar's "Beloved" slow, reverb-drenched mixes and utilizing the strings of Damien's "Habaños Days" to great, melancholy effect. And although 18 tracks is a generous selection, after a while they begin to sound the same. Nouvelle Vague's "This Is Not a Love Song," for instance, could have come off any of their first few albums. But there are a few standout tracks from the musical archives, like Astrud Gilberto's bass-heavy "Who Needs Forever" or the slow, nearly beatless, parade of horns on Herb Alpert's "Lemon Tree." Even The Doors get their "Strange Days" an even stranger twist. There's a perkiness on Fear of Pop's "In Love" and a lightness to The Januaries' "The Girl's Insane" that adds a different texture, They even offer some mixes of their own work. But even when they rely on their tried-and-true methods, like on Isabelle Antena's "Nothing To Lose," it's still plenty great. They instill a sense of mystery into Bebel Gilberto "Cada Beijo" and even gives Sarah McLachlan's "Dirty Little Secret" some slow intimacy. There's no version in which this album isn't great.

The dynamic, DC Duo bring us an 18 track collection of their remixes. Their cool, eclectic, funky, sub-heavy, dub influenced beats combined with artists like Sarah Mclachlan, Nora Jones, Herb Alpert, Bebel Gilberto and even The Doors make for a brilliant album that oozes a smooth laidback vibe. There are a couple of nice faster tempo break-beat style tracks on here as well which include some reworks of some of their own material and a new track featuring Reggae legend Sister Nancy. If your looking for cool, cutting edge music. This is where to look.