Eric Hilton and Rob Garza started the DJ’ed dub and lounge sounds of Thievery Corporation nearly 15 years ago with a minimalistic approach on their debut album, Sounds From the Thievery Hi-Fi. The album featured a mix of mostly DJ’ed dub beats with little live instrumentation, some sampled vocals ,and a couple guest vocalists.

Since then, Garza and Hilton have evolved their sound by encompassing a rotating roster of world music’s who’s who, creating a sound that intertwines the world of down-tempo electrified lounge with the acoustic cultural sounds of planet earth. It Takes a Thief takes 16 of the Corporation’s “best of” tracks and displays them for all to hear. Unfortunately, there is not one track featured from that debut album. What can be found on this album is a collection of tracks mainly from the 2000 release The Mirror Conspiracy all the way to present day, with their newest album Radio Retaliation.

As expected, “Lebanese Blonde” (you know, the one from the movie Garden State), featuring the amazing vocals of Pam Bricker, is on here, along with other great ass-shaking  tracks like “Sound The Alarm,” “The Richest Man in Babylon,” “Warning Shots,” and “Vampires.” There are also some really nice laid-back tracks on here, including “Sweet Tides” and “Until Morning.” The compilation also includes the song “The Passing Stars,” a track that appeared as an instrumental on the album The Cosmic Game under the title of  “A Gentile Dissolve.” This particular version features vocals sung by  Bricker.

In all, It Takes a Thief does a fine job showcasing Thievery Corporation’s style and musical capabilities. A good album for someone who just found out about Thievery Corporation  and aren’t too familiar with their music.

(ESL Music, 1849 Calvert Street, Washington, DC 20009)