January/February 2001

Thievery Corporation
The Mirror Conspiracy
ESL

By Tony Green

Thievery Corporation's The Mirror Conspiracy offers pleasures that run toward the head-rush variety, the kind that make groups like Portishead and Massive Attack such fun to listen to. From the ragga vocals that kick off the dreamy "Treasures" to the Eastern-inflected "Lebanese Blonde" to the lightly propulsive "Illuminatio," this outfit is living in a timbral world, coaxing unexpected emotional responses with its knowing manipulation of textures that run from dub to house.