Mulberry Jam

Mark and I went to a great concert Wednesday night. Thievery Corporation has been playing five sold out shows at Washington’s 9:30 Club this week. They’re a local DC duo at the core, Rob Garza and Eric Hilton. However they perform and tour with a larger band set-up that includes multiple vocalists, guitar, sitar, bass and a small horn section. We’ve followed their music since the mid-nineties, and one of the reasons I love their sound is that they draw on a huge number of musical influences. On any given album you can hear sixties bossa nova, reggae, Brazilian, Indian and downtempo electronica sounds. Among other things.

Plus they are true independents. The ironic name is in keeping with their fierce determination to NOT be a corporate product. So along with creating their music, the two run their own independent music label, ESL Music. I like most of the bands on the label, and would encourage you to give any of them a try. They take the whole independence thing quite seriously, and the one aspect of the band I’m not so crazy about is their fondness for revolutionary imagery in their marketing. Personally, I don’t find Che Guevara at all a romantic figure, but hey. It’s their party.

The best way to hear their sound is to go to the Thievery Corporation MySpace page, which has song files and several videos all in one place. Just as a sample, here’s a video of a song from their newest album, “Radio Retaliation”: