THIEVERY CORPORATION – Culture Of Fear

Washington DC’s electronica and down-tempo pioneering duo Eric Hilton and Rob Garza are back with their sixth studio album Culture of Fear. Compared to their past few releases, there’s more of a classic down-tempo flow and feel to this album. While the opening track “Web of Deception” hits you hard with funky guitar riffs, electronic hooks, and effects, and the title track featuring Mr. Lif on vocals features a driving beat with horns, Culture of Fear is full of chill-out tracks.


One of the more mellow cuts featured here is “Take My Soul,” with Thievery Corporation regular Lou Lou on vocals. Sleepy Wonder is back with the dubbed-out reggae track “Stargazer.” While it seems like Hilton and Garza have stepped back from the world beat sound that has defined much of their music since the release of The Mirror Conspiracy back in 2000, they have adopted more of a dub dominated sound to go along with their electronic lounge and trip-hop vibe, especially with the track “Overstand” featuring Ras Puma.

One complaint I have heard from Corporation purists in the past is that they feature too many artists on their albums. This may be true to some extent — there are a total of seven featured guests here — but the flow from artist-to-artist works well in the nine tracks in which they appear. “Fragments,” “Tower Seven,” and the drum solo-driven “Light Flares” are the only instrumentals on this album — kind of a disappointment. The album ends with a smooth cut featuring the poetic styles of Kota on vocals called “Free,” a truly thought-provoking way to end the album.

As with past albums, Culture of Fear presents a commentary on the political climate. In this case, it’s a concept album of sorts about life in our post-9/11 world. The cover of the album is quite poetic in its simplicity: a CCTV camera inside a bubble enclosure. The title track questions the actions of our government in the name of national security, stating “don’t succumb to this culture of fear.” With “Tower Seven” and “False Flag Dub” it seems as if Garza and Hilton have made a subtle comment on 9/11 itself. “Tower Seven” representing World Trade Center Seven, a 47-story building that mysteriously fell at free-fall speed on the evening of 9/11, and “False Flag Dub” referring to the term False Flag (a covert operation made to appear to be the work of another entity). Safe to say Hilton and Garza have opened their eyes to 9/11 Truth? Maybe — maybe not — but this album will definitely open some ears to the sit-back-and-chill sound of Thievery Corporation.

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