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Avg: 4.0 (507 ratings)
- Date Released: September 23, 2008
- Genre: Electronic
- Label: ESL Music, Inc. / INgrooves
The beautiful people get angry atop luscious, elegant music.
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We Say...
The beautiful people are restless. Radio Retaliation retains the glazed-velvet façade, groin-grabbing bass beats, talented guest vocalists and nicely balanced international spice of Thievery Corporation's four prior albums, but this time producer-DJs Rob Garza and Eric Hilton, judging by their lyrics, are pissed. Closer in sound and sense to 2002's reggae-driven The Richest Man in Babylon than to 2005's psychedelightful Cosmic Game, Retaliation is a multinational dancefloor call to arms. There's definitely a party going on, but only after everyone has debated the ballot versus the bullet with their neighborhood MoveOn cadre.
The fightin' words of Fela Kuti, Manu Chao and the Clash echo the loudest through Thievery's righteous (if relatively quiet) riot. Fela's son, Femi, could be quoting his father when he sings of, "Guns and debt/ Life and death/ IMF" over Afrobeat rhythms in "Vampires"; Jamaican crooner Sleepy Wonder rages and croons against Babylon atop the Sly and Robbie-inspired riddims of the title track and "Sound the Alarm"; and Go-Go godfather Chuck Brown is all about "takin' back the power, gonna share the wealth" in "The Numbers Game."
Luscious instrumentals like "Mandala" (featuring Anoushka Shankar's sitar), "Retaliation Suite" (acid afrojazz), and "The Shining Path" (shimmering lounge-adelica) are the less-retaliatory flip side to Thievery's sonic uprising. Likewise, Brazilian singer Seu Jorge's "Hare Krisna" (a plea for inner peace) and chanteuse LouLou's "Sweet Tides" once again find the Corporation smack dab in the eye of a quiet storm, making music so elegantly designed that any corporation would want to attach it to a car, a perfume or a hotel lobby, so universal is Thievery's appeal. -
They Say...
From the title alone, it's clear that Thievery Corporation has more on its mind than just the construction of breezy coffeehouse soundtracks and laid-back global chill. Radio Retaliation is a record of righteous fury (the targets are political, if that even needs to be said) and one that makes their previous efforts sound like Discreet Music in comparison. Thievery amps up their beats, quickens the pace, and unleashes a phalanx of vocal features to attack the D.C.-based Corporation's crosstown rivals on Capitol Hill and at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. (Granted, this is still a revolution mostly in the head.) The mélange of worldbeat influences finds all the usual traces (Jamaica, India, Brazil, Nigeria, Arabia), but virtually all of the locales are charted by natives (Sleepy Wonder, Anoushka Shankar, Seu Jorge, Femi Kuti). On the title track, narcoleptic chatter Sleepy Wonder details his list of grievances, speaking for the entire corporation: "50,000 watts of Thievery hit them like poison darts/And watch the whole system what them build up fall apart." The two most important features are Femi Kuti's and Seu Jorge's; first, Kuti uses the track "Vampires" to call out African genocide throughout history (from Kinshasa to Darfur to Lagos to Malabo, Guinea), then Jorge comes next with the yin to Femi's yang, a beatific ode to peace titled "Hare Krsna." Thievery producers Rob Garza and Eric Hilton haven't quite revolutionized their beat-making or production from the past decade, but they sound energized by the political and social events of the 2000s. Despite the politics, there are still a few more of the ethereal masterpieces Thievery Corporation have made a hallmark in the past, including the sublime "Beautiful Drug" (featuring Slovakian singer Jana Andevska) and "Mandala," a guest feature for Anoushka Shankar that's particularly refreshing as an alternative to the usual Indian atmosphere on downbeat records (sampled, not played). The liner notes are a huge 20" x 30" fold-out booklet, including not only the lyrics but numerous quotes from a variety of world figures -- from Einstein, Chomsky, and Edward Bernays to John Lee Hooker and Mos Def.
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| 01. |  |
Sound The Alarm |
3:41 |
|
| 02. | |
Mandala |
4:00 |
|
| 03. | |
Radio Retaliation |
3:26 |
|
| 04. | |
Vampires |
4:57 |
|
| 05. | |
Hare Krisna |
3:35 |
|
| 06. | |
El Pueblo Unido |
3:28 |
|
| 07. | |
(The Forgotten People) |
3:47 |
|
| 08. | |
33 Degree |
3:10 |
|
| 09. | |
Beautiful Drug |
3:27 |
|
| 10. | |
La Femme Parallel |
4:29 |
|
| 11. | |
Retaliation Suite |
2:53 |
|
| 12. | |
The Numbers Game |
3:03 |
|
| 13. | |
The Shining Path |
3:38 |
|
| 14. | |
Blasting Through the City |
3:33 |
|
| 15. | |
Sweet Tides |
4:48 |
|
15 Total Tracks, 55:55 Total Length
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Credits
- Charles Sullivan - Author // Thomas Jefferson - Author // Timothy Leary - Author // Gore Vidal - Author // Hunter S. Thompson - Author // Terence McKenna - Author // Emiliano Zapata - Author // Fela Kuti - Author // Fela Kuti - Author // Fela Kuti - Author // Morgan Heritage - Author // Eric Hilton - Bass // Eric Hilton - Guitar // Eric Hilton - Keyboards // Eric Hilton - Producer // Frank Mitchell - Horn // John Nelson - Percussion // Frank Orrall - Percussion // Femi Kuti - Vocals // Femi Kuti - Vocals // Femi Kuti - Guest Appearance // Femi Kuti - Guest Appearance // Chuck Brown & the Soul Searchers - Guitar // Chuck Brown & the Soul Searchers - Vocals // Chuck Brown & the Soul Searchers - Guest Appearance // Rob Myers - Guitar // Wayne Wilentz - Keyboards // Brendan Behan - Author // Chief Seattle - Author // Rob Garza - Bass // Rob Garza - Guitar // Rob Garza - Keyboards // Rob Garza - Producer // Anoushka Shankar - Sitar // Anoushka Shankar - Guest Appearance // Albert Einstein - Author // Abbie Hoffman - Author // Neal Ashby - Art Direction // Neal Ashby - Design // Ashish Vyas - Bass // Aldous Huxley - Author // Javier Miranda - Percussion // Seu Jorge - Vocals // Seu Jorge - Vocals // Seu Jorge - Guest Appearance // Seu Jorge - Guest Appearance // Verny Varela - Keyboards // Verny Varela - Vocals // Verny Varela - Guest Appearance // Jana Andevska - Violin // Jana Andevska - Vocals // Brad Clements - Horn // Octavio Paz - Author // Matthew Curry - Art Direction // Matthew Curry - Design // Patrick Donohue - Art Direction // Patrick Donohue - Design
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