Tag: Thievery Corporation

Thievery Corporation (international DJ and production duo Rob Garza and Eric Hilton) is back with their highly anticipated fifth independent studio album Radio Retaliation. Along with longtime microphone co-conspirators like Sleepy Wonder, Lou Lou, and Notch, the “outernational” DJ and production duo are joined this time by a new cast of musical collaborators including Nigeria’s afro-beat heir Femi Kuti, Brazilian star vocalist and guitarist Seu Jorge, Indian sitar virtuoso Anushka Shankar, Slovakian chanteuse and violinist Jana Andevska, and Washington DC’s own godfather of go-go Chuck Brown. The album has an uncompromising socio-political agenda and richly layered production touching upon the eclectic sounds of Jamaica, Latin America, Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

“Radio Retaliation is definitely a more overt political statement,” says Garza. “There’s no excuse for not speaking out at this point, with the suspension of habeas corpus, outsourced torture, illegal wars of aggression, fuel, food, and economic crises. It’s hard to close your eyes and sleep while the world is burning around you. If you are an artist, this is the most essential time to speak up.” Naturally, the duo decided to raise their voice.
With Radio Retaliation, recorded entirely in their Washington DC-based studio, Thievery Corporation have managed to blossom in the heart of a city they often refer to as “Babylon;” a poignant reference to the traditional Rastafarian distaste and distrust of a corrupt and unjust modern system. Although the city is best known as the seat of an aggressive American Empire, paradoxically Washington DC has long been the home of a music subculture legendary for fierce independence, a staunch do-it-yourself work ethic, and conscientious social activism exemplified by genre-defining pioneers like godfather of go-go Chuck Brown and indie punk rockers Bad Brains, Minor Threat, and Fugazi.

Radio Retaliation finds inspiration in the uncompromising political music of groups like the Clash, Public Enemy, and Fela Kuti and is without a doubt Thievery Corporation’s broadest and most progressive album yet.