Thievery Corporation - The Cosmic Game (2005)

genre: trip-hop, downtempo, worldbeat, dub
1. Marching the Hate Machines (Into the Sun) [ft Wayne Coyne]
2. Warning Shots [ft Sleepy Wonder & Gunjan]
3. Revolution Solution [ft Perry Farrell]
4. The Cosmic Game
5. Satyam Shivam Sundaram [ft Gunjan]
6. Amerimacka [ft Notch]
7. Ambicion Eterna [ft Verny Varela]
8. Pela Janela [ft Gigi Rezende]
9. Sol Tapado [ft Patrick de Santos]
10. The Heart's a Lonely Hunter [ft David Byrne]
11. Holographic Universe
12. Doors Of Perception [ft Gunjan]
13. Wires and Watchtowers [ft Sista Pat]
14. The Supreme Illusion [ft Gunjan]
15. The Time We Lost Our Way [ft Loulou]
16. A Gentle Dissolve

So then, it's a thread highlighting not only a bunch of albums both Zarko and myself like from the last ten years, but also a way highlighting a bunch of albums and/or artists we think more people deserve to be hearing. That being the case, it's about time I gave a shout to the mighty Thievery Corporation - the DC producer/DJ duo of Rob Garza and Eric Hilton making for quite possibly my favourite electronic group on the decade. While their 2000 effort, the Mirror Conspiracy, is without a shadow of a doubt one of the most important albums in my music collection (definitive of my decade if you will - we'll get to that later though ), the Cosmic Game here is an album I haven't listened too quite as often, and I thought now would be a good opportunity to flag up another superb piece of work that the pair are responsible for.

Basically, how the Garza/Hilton duo is they write and recording a backing track and then invite various singers or rappers from all corners of the globe to take care of the vocal overdubs, like how the simmering, synth-heavy Marching the Hate Machine (Into the Sun), features Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips to get the album off to an ominous though fitting kind of start. The pace really picks up with the following Warning Shots with the harsh, gritty, ragga-styled vocals of Sleepy Wonder and the atmospheric tones of Gunjan and, with an absolute killer of a bassline, also introduces us to one of the major strengths of the Cosmic Game - some of the finest bass ever committed to tape. Jane's Addiction's Perry Farrell supplies the silky-smooth vocal for the slower, more synth-oriented Revolution Solution before the track sequence melts into the blissfully dubby title track, the Cosmic Game; one of just three instrumental tracks.

Satyam Shivam Sundaram is another great little tune, and one which introduces a few Indian, sitar-induced atmospherics, and is another of several tracks to feature one of Gunjan's vocal tracks, this time taking the lead part by herself. The slower vibe is carried over to the gently-rolling, more bass-heavy Amerimacka before the beautiful, acoustic guitar licks and polyrhythmic percussion introduce us to Ambicion Eterna. By now, the balance of sonic themes which dominates the album has been well and truly shown - the tracks vary from revolving around some of the coolest basslines that certainly I've ever heard and some gorgeous, synth-laden, world-wary atmospherics and percussion. The gorgeous Pela Janela fits somewhere in the middle though, as Gigi Rezende's has her vocal put over the top of a great backing track, dominated by some giddy percussion, synth and bass and guitar figures which happily mimic one another.

What follows is one of my favourite sequences of tracks on any album, nevermind of this decade. It begins with the terrific, bass-led Sol Tapado before another lively percussion figure brings about the track to feature David Byrne's vocal, the Heart's a Lonely Hunter, with the occasional horn interludes giving it a lively, Latin American vibe. To move on with this little run of impeccable quality is another instrumental, Holographic Universe - another one to walk the fine line of this album's thematic sounds nicely, being propelled by another great bassline and some typically evocative synth atmospherics. Concluding the run is Doors Of Perception, another tune to feature Gunjan's beautiful vocal (although very sparingly in this case), starting with a simple, slow bassline and a repetitive use of the sitar before the track kind of explodes into a faster tempo, with the bassline really taking over the track, while Garza and Hilton's skill as a production duo really shines with how it's all held together.

Despite my getting carried away with all that praise in the above few paragraphs, if there's a flaw with this album it's that it's probably a little too long, and it shows after this point. Wires and Watchtowers is hardly a bad tune, but it's just not one that stands out with any real punch or identity of its own. The Supreme Illusion could also fall under that umbrella too - again, not bad by any means (actually quite good compared to some tunes I could mention), but the album as a unit could have done without it. The Time We Lost Our Way though is where things pick up again, with an absolutely superb, laid-back, slow-burning number led by Loulou's sweet vocal, and is very reminiscent of the aforementioned Mirror Conspiracy album (seeing as she sung a few vocal tracks on that album too). A definite album highlight, and to cap it all off is one more instrumental - the fittingly-titled a Gentle Dissolve.

So then, there aren't any bad moments at all on the Cosmic Game and it definitely is one of my favourite albums of the decade. Not quite my favourite Thievery Corporation album though (that'd be either the Richest Man In Babylon or the Mirror Conspiracy), which says a lot for their output really. If you like great, chilled-out, world-wary vibes and fantastic basslines, this is the album for you. Even if it is a tad overlong (it'd be one of my all-time favourites were it shortened to, say, ten tracks), my thoughts regarding this album can be summed up thusly;