Femi Kuti sums it up on the song ‘Vampire’ about the state of Africa and those who predate on it: “Lies and death, IMF… You come like a thief in the night, the whole world is ready to fight.” Another Fly favourite Seu Jorge joins them on a funky number called ‘Hare Krsna’, all wah wah and horns. But perhaps it is Sleepy Wonder’s reggae tones on ‘Sound the Alarm’ and the title song that really set the scene for this deliciously diverse but never unfocussed or unfunky outing. It is actually really rare for a record to successfully rifle musical forms as diverse as gnawa, Afrobeat, reggae, Indian music etc without producing a bland and pointless mess. By making sure the beats are there, I think Thievery Corporation have produced a true global punk classic.

What Dreadzone should be but isn’t.

Label: Eighteenth Street Lounge Music
Catalog#: ESL140
Format: CD, Album

• 1 Sound The Alarm (3:41) Featuring — Sleepy Wonder
• 2 Mandala (4:00) Featuring — Anoushka Shankar
• 3 Radio Retaliation (3:27) Featuring — Sleepy Wonder
• 4 Vampires (4:57) Featuring — Femi Kuti
• 5 Hare Krisna (3:35) Featuring — Seu Jorge
• 6 El Pueblo Unido (3:28) Featuring — Verny Varela
• 7 (Forgotten People) (3:11)
• 8 33 Degree (3:48) Featuring — Zee
• 9 Beautiful Drug (3:27) Featuring — Jana Andevska
• 10 La Femme Parallel (4:29) Featuring — LouLou
• 11 Retaliation Suite (2:54)
• 12 The Numbers Game (3:02) Featuring — Chuck Brown
• 13 The Shining Path (3:38)
• 14 Blasting Through The City (3:31) Featuring — Notch
• 15 Sweet Tides (4:48) Featuring — LouLou

Links:
www.thieverycorporation.com
/www.myspace.com/thieverycorporation
www.eslmusic.com/