Thievery Corporation is a Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

 based recording artist and DJ

Disc jockey

A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...

 duo consisting of Rob Garza, Eric Hilton, and their supporting artists, including current drummer Jeff Franca. Their music style mixes elements of dub

Dub music

Dub is a genre of music which grew out of reggae music in the 1960s, and is commonly considered a subgenre, though it has developed to extend beyond the scope of reggae...

, acid jazz

Acid jazz

Acid jazz is a musical genre that combines elements of jazz, funk and hip-hop, particularly looped beats. It developed in the UK over the 1980s and 1990s and could be seen as tacking the sound of jazz-funk onto electronic dance: jazz-funk musicians such as Roy Ayers, Donald Byrd and Grant Green are...

, reggae

Reggae

Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...

, Indian classical

Indian classical music

The origins of Indian classical music can be found in the Vedas, which are the oldest scriptures in the Hindu tradition. Indian classical music has also been significantly influenced by, or syncretised with, Indian folk music and Persian music. The Samaveda, one of the four Vedas, describes music...

, Middle Eastern, and Brazilian (such as bossa nova

Bossa nova

Bossa nova is a style of Brazilian music. Bossa nova acquired a large following in the 1960s, initially consisting of young musicians and college students...

) with a lounge

Lounge music

Lounge music is a retrospective description of music popular in the 1950s and 1960s. It is a type of mood music meant to evoke in the listeners the feeling of being in a place — a jungle, an island paradise, outer space, et cetera — other than where they are listening to it...

 aesthetic.

History

Thievery Corporation was formed in the summer of 1995 at Washington D.C.'s Eighteenth Street Lounge. Rob Garza and Lounge co-owner Eric Hilton were drawn together over their mutual love of club life, as well as dub

Dub music

Dub is a genre of music which grew out of reggae music in the 1960s, and is commonly considered a subgenre, though it has developed to extend beyond the scope of reggae...

, bossa nova

Bossa nova

Bossa nova is a style of Brazilian music. Bossa nova acquired a large following in the 1960s, initially consisting of young musicians and college students...

 and jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 records. They decided to see what would come of mixing all these in a recording studio, and from this, the duo started their Eighteenth Street Lounge Music record label.

The duo drew attention with their first two 12" offerings, "Shaolin Satellite" and "2001: a Spliff Odyssey" and with their 1997 debut LP, Sounds from the Thievery Hi-Fi

Sounds from the Thievery Hi-Fi

Sounds from the Thievery Hi-Fi was the debut album of the Thievery Corporation, originally released in 1997. Guest vocals include Pam Bricker and Bebel Gilberto.-Original release:This was released by Eighteenth Street Lounge Music on June 7, 1997....

.

In 2002 they released The Richest Man in Babylon on their ESL label. This fifteen track album is similar in sound and timbre

Timbre

In music, timbre is the quality of a musical note or sound or tone that distinguishes different types of sound production, such as voices and musical instruments, such as string instruments, wind instruments, and percussion instruments. The physical characteristics of sound that determine the...

 to their earlier 2000 release, The Mirror Conspiracy

The Mirror Conspiracy

"The Mirror Conspiracy" is a 2000 album by the Thievery Corporation. All songs on the album were written, recorded and produced by Rob Garza and Eric Hilton, although Pam Bricker contributed vocals to "Air Batucada", "The Mirror Conspiracy" and "Lebanese Blonde", which was also on the soundtrack to...

, and features performances by vocalists Emilíana Torrini

Emilíana Torrini

Emilíana Torrini Davíðsdóttir is an Icelandic singer, best known for her 2009 single Jungle Drum, 1999 album Love in the Time of Science and for performing "Gollum's Song" for Peter Jackson's film The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.-Early life:Torrini grew up in Kópavogur, where, at the age of...

, Pam Bricker

Pam Bricker

Pamela Carroll Bricker was a jazz singer, and a professor of music at George Washington University. She was a frequent collaborator and guest vocalist with the group Thievery Corporation, and the voice on their track Lebanese Blonde, which was popularised by its inclusion on Zach Braff's Garden...

, and Loulou.

In 2005 they released The Cosmic Game

The Cosmic Game

The Cosmic Game is the 2005 album release from the downtempo group Thievery Corporation. It features various styles of music, including club, future-bossa, breaks, rock and more. It debuted at #74 in the UK Albums Chart. After the success of their previous album, Richest Man in Babylon, the guest...

, which has a darker, more psychedelic sound than The Richest Man in Babylon. The album also featured more high-profile guest singers on it, including Perry Farrell

Perry Farrell

Perry Farrell is the frontman for the alternative rock band Jane's Addiction. Farrell created the touring festival Lollapalooza as a farewell tour for Jane's Addiction in 1991; it has since evolved into an annual destination festival. Farrell continues to produce Lollapalooza with partners William...

, David Byrne

David Byrne (musician)

David Byrne is a musician and artist, best known as a founding member and principal songwriter of the American new wave band Talking Heads, which was active between 1975 and 1991. Since then, Byrne has released his own solo recordings and worked with various media including film, photography,...

, and Wayne Coyne

Wayne Coyne

Wayne Michael Coyne is the lead singer, guitarist, and principal songwriter for the band The Flaming Lips.-Early life:...

 of The Flaming Lips

The Flaming Lips

The Flaming Lips are an American alternative rock band, formed in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in 1983.Melodically, their sound contains lush, multi-layered, psychedelic rock arrangements, but lyrically their compositions show elements of space rock, including unusual song and album titles—such as "What...

.

In 2006 the group released Versions, a selection of remixes done by Thievery Corporation for other artists. They toured around the United States, playing at Lollapalooza

Lollapalooza

Lollapalooza is an annual music festival featuring popular alternative rock, heavy metal, punk rock and hip hop bands, dance and comedy performances, and craft booths. It has also provided a platform for non-profit and political groups. The music festival hosts more than 160,000 people over a...

. The tour was photographed by Rob Myers, Thievery Corporation's sitar and guitar player, in the Blurb photo book Thievery Corporation 2006. In 2006, the band also recorded "Sol Tapado" for the AIDS

AIDS

Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...

 benefit album Silencio=Muerte: Red Hot + Latin

Silencio=Muerte: Red Hot + Latin

Silencio=Muerte: Red Hot + Latin, the tenth entry in the Red Hot Benefit Series of compilation albums, takes a post-modern look at the contemporary rock en Español scene...

 Redux produced by the Red Hot Organization

Red Hot Organization

Red Hot Organization is a not-for-profit, 501 3, international organization dedicated to fighting AIDS through pop culture.Since its inception in 1989, over 400 artists, producers and directors have contributed to over 15 compilation albums, related television programs and media events to raise...

.

The group released their fifth studio album, Radio Retaliation

Radio Retaliation

Radio Retaliation is the fifth studio album of electronica band Thievery Corporation. Planned to be a very political album, it was recorded in the band's hometown of Washington, D.C. A pre-release of the album was available on iTunes on September 9, featuring an exclusive track entitled...

, on September 23, 2008. It was nominated for the Grammy for best recording package. Thievery Corporation's tour started out with 5 consecutive sold out shows at the 9:30 Club

9:30 Club

Foo Fighters Promise to come back to D.C. and play the 9:30 ClubNightclub 9:30 is a nightclub and concert venue in Washington, D.C. Originally located at 930 F Street, NW, Washington, D.C., in the 1970s it was called the "Atlantis Club", and hosted primarily rock, New Wave, and punk bands...

 in Washington, DC.

The language of the group's lyrics throughout their career include English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

, Spanish

Spanish language

Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...

, French

French language

French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

, Persian

Persian language

Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...

, Portuguese

Portuguese language

Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...

, Romanian

Romanian language

Romanian Romanian Romanian (or Daco-Romanian; obsolete spellings Rumanian, Roumanian; self-designation: română, limba română ("the Romanian language") or românește (lit. "in Romanian") is a Romance language spoken by around 24 to 28 million people, primarily in Romania and Moldova...

 and Hindi

Hindi

Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...

. This reflects the group's world music influences.

They were the opening act on August 1, 2009 for Sir Paul McCartney

Paul McCartney

Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...

 at FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland.

On July 27, 2010, Babylon Central, the cinematic directorial debut of founding member Eric Hilton, was released. Set (and shot) in Washington, D.C., the film follows tripwire events in the interconnected lives of its characters, each influencing power brokers' schemes to manipulate international currencies.

In June 2011, Thievery Corporation released their sixth album, Culture of Fear

Culture of Fear

Culture of Fear is the sixth studio album of trip-hop band Thievery Corporation.-Track listing:# "Web of Deception" - 4:33# "Culture of Fear" Culture of Fear is the sixth studio album of trip-hop band Thievery Corporation.-Track listing:# "Web of Deception" - 4:33# "Culture of Fear" Culture of Fear...

.

Politics

Thievery Corporation has taken progressive political stances on various issues, opposing war and exploitative trade agreements, while supporting human rights and food programs. Tracks such as "Amerimacka" and "Revolution Solution" from their album The Cosmic Game

The Cosmic Game

The Cosmic Game is the 2005 album release from the downtempo group Thievery Corporation. It features various styles of music, including club, future-bossa, breaks, rock and more. It debuted at #74 in the UK Albums Chart. After the success of their previous album, Richest Man in Babylon, the guest...

and Richest Man in Babylon from the album of the same title reveal the group's opposition to the positions and initiatives of former president George W. Bush

George W. Bush

George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....

's administration.

In September 2005, the group participated in the Operation Ceasefire concert, with the objective of ending the Iraq War.

From their press release regarding their album Radio Retaliation, Garza said:
Thievery Corporation are vocal advocates for the World Food Programme

World Food Programme

The World Food Programme is the food aid branch of the United Nations, and the world's largest humanitarian organization addressing hunger worldwide. WFP provides food, on average, to 90 million people per year, 58 million of whom are children...

, seeing hunger as "...something basic, really elemental, that transcends boundaries around the world."

At Lollapalooza 2009 the group spoke out against the IMF

International Monetary Fund

The International Monetary Fund is an organization of 187 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world...

 after playing the politically charged song "Vampires".

Studio albums

• Sounds from the Thievery Hi-Fi
  Sounds from the Thievery Hi-Fi
  Sounds from the Thievery Hi-Fi was the debut album of the Thievery Corporation, originally released in 1997. Guest vocals include Pam Bricker and Bebel Gilberto.-Original release:This was released by Eighteenth Street Lounge Music on June 7, 1997....
  
  (1997)
• The Mirror Conspiracy
  The Mirror Conspiracy
  "The Mirror Conspiracy" is a 2000 album by the Thievery Corporation. All songs on the album were written, recorded and produced by Rob Garza and Eric Hilton, although Pam Bricker contributed vocals to "Air Batucada", "The Mirror Conspiracy" and "Lebanese Blonde", which was also on the soundtrack to...
  
  (2000)
• The Richest Man in Babylon (2002)
• The Cosmic Game
  The Cosmic Game
  The Cosmic Game is the 2005 album release from the downtempo group Thievery Corporation. It features various styles of music, including club, future-bossa, breaks, rock and more. It debuted at #74 in the UK Albums Chart. After the success of their previous album, Richest Man in Babylon, the guest...
  
  (2005)
• Versions (2006)
• Radio Retaliation
  Radio Retaliation
  Radio Retaliation is the fifth studio album of electronica band Thievery Corporation. Planned to be a very political album, it was recorded in the band's hometown of Washington, D.C. A pre-release of the album was available on iTunes on September 9, featuring an exclusive track entitled...
  
  (2008)
• Culture of Fear
  Culture of Fear
  Culture of Fear is the sixth studio album of trip-hop band Thievery Corporation.-Track listing:# "Web of Deception" - 4:33# "Culture of Fear" Culture of Fear is the sixth studio album of trip-hop band Thievery Corporation.-Track listing:# "Web of Deception" - 4:33# "Culture of Fear" Culture of Fear...
  
  (2011)

Compilation albums

• Dubbed Out in DC (1997)
• Covert Operations (1998)
• Abductions and Reconstructions (1999)
• Jet Society (1999)
• Rare Tracks: 18th Street Lounge (1999)
• DJ-Kicks: Thievery Corporation
  DJ-Kicks: Thievery Corporation
  DJ-Kicks: Thievery Corporation is a DJ mix album, mixed by Thievery Corporation. It was released on 10 May 1999 on the Studio !K7 independent record label as part of the DJ-Kicks series.-Track listing:# "Tropicando" - Les Baxter – 2:34...
  
  (1999)
• Thievery Corporation and Revolution Present: Departures (2000)
• Sounds from the Verve Hi-Fi (2001)
• Modular Systems (2001)
• Den of Thieves (2003)
• The Outernational Sound (2004)
• Frequent Flyer: Rio De Janeiro (2004)
• Babylon Rewound (2004)
• Frequent Flyer: Kingston Jamaica (2005)
• Red Hot + Latin: Silencio = Muerte Redux (2006)
• Changed To Lo-Fi (2006)
• Warning Shots: Digibox Set (2007)
• It Takes a Thief
  It Takes a Thief
  It Takes a Thief is an American action-adventure television series that aired on ABC for two and a half seasons between January 9, 1968, and March 24, 1970. It starred veteran movie actor Robert Wagner in his television debut as sophisticated thief Alexander Mundy, who works for the U.S. government...
  
  (2010)

Singles

Singles released on ESL Music, unless noted.

• "The Foundation" (1996)
• "Shaolin Satellite" (1996)
• "2001 Spliff Odyssey" (1996)
• "ESL Dubplate" (1996)
• "Encounter in Bahia" (1997)
• "Lebanese Blonde
  Lebanese Blonde
  "Lebanese Blonde" was a 1998 single released by the Thievery Corporation and later added to their 2000 album The Mirror Conspiracy. It was also featured on the soundtrack to Zach Braff's 2004 film Garden State. It features Pam Bricker on vocals...
  
  " (4AD 1998)
• ".38.45" (A Thievery Number)" (4AD 1998)
• "Halfway Around the World" (1998)
• "So Com Voce" (1998)
• "Incident at Gate 7" (1998)
• "DJ-Kicks EP / It Takes a Thief" (Studio !K7, Rough Trade, 1999)
• "Focus on Sight" (2000)
• "The Lagos Communiqué" (2000)
• "Focus on Sight" (2000)
• "Sound File 001" (4AD 2000)
• "Sound File 002" (4AD 2000)

• "Shadows of Ourselves" (4AD 2000)
• "DC 3000" (2000)
• "Thievery Corporation Vs Nicola Conte - Bossa Per Due" (2001)
• "The Richest Man in Babylon" (2003)
• "The Heart's a Lonely Hunter" (2005)
• "Revolution Solution" (2005)
• "Warning Shots" (2005)
• "The Time We Lost Our Way" (2005)
• "Sol Tapado" (2005)
• "Originality (2006)
• "Supreme Illusion (2007)
• "Radio Retaliation Extras" (2008)
• "Sound the Alarm / La Femme Parallel (Sonik Magazine 2009)
• "Vampires" (2011)
• "Culture of Fear" (2011)

External links

• Official website
• Eighteenth Street Lounge Music