The best of Verve label compiled by Thievery Corporation

Please note! This isn’t the new album from the ever-dapper owners of Washington’s Eighteen Street Lounge (and the label of the same name), but a compilation released under the name of Thievery Corporation, namely Eric Hilton and Rob Garza, who are both big fans of furniture music. And it’s worth it.

There’s nothing shocking about the fact that it’s not stamped “compilation”: “Sounds from the Verve hi-fi is so imbued with the tastes of Thievery Corp, who have gone to the best of the Verve catalog, that it deserves to be mentioned under their name.

Hilton and Garza are fans of the label founded by Norman Granz: according to the liner notes (each wrote a text), the Verve sound brought them together. It was this love of the “beautiful sound” that led them to create their musical project.

Jazz as the cement of an electronic band, a mythical label as the cornerstone of a duo that seeks to sound resolutely classic at a time when your electronic wizards are chasing modernity. Listen to their selection of tropical jazz (Willie Bobo, Astrud Gilberto covering “Light my fire”, Stan Getz and Luiz Bonfa, or Elis Regina) and you’ll understand how Verve’s refined jazz has nourished the duo’s impeccable groove.

The tracks presented here astonish with their modernity, their timeless swing… You’d be forgiven for thinking that these are the kind of electronic lounge tunes that “place” compilations are full of. But no, these are real drums and vintage rhythms.

Beyond being a good introduction for those who want to get into jazz, or a way for others to brush up on their classics, this compilation, “Sounds from the Verve hi-fi”, is the album Thievery Corporation dreamed of signing. In fact, the title is a reference to the duo’s first album, “Sounds from the Thievery hi-fi”.

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Various Artists “Sounds from the Verve hi-fi”, 1 CD (Verve/Universal), 2002