by John Bush
Even more similar to its predecessor, The Mirror Conspiracy, than that one was to the first Thievery Corporation LP, The Richest Man in Babylon provides some beat-heavy, languorous excursions into territory long-favored by Thievery Corporation -- namely, the music of Brazil, India, and Jamaica -- but doesn't have the hooks or the production finesse to compete with The Mirror Conspiracy. On the opener, &Heaven's Gonna Burn Your Eyes,& guest Emiliana Torrini treasures her vocals endearingly, but the backing could've been taken wholesale from any of a dozen Thievery productions (or perhaps Air's Moon Safari). &The Outernationalist,& a bass-heavy trip into ambient-dub headspace, sounds great too, but it also occupies the same territory as a previous track (2000's &Treasure&). Vocalists LouLou and Pam Bricker both return for two features each, practically indistinguishable from their previous tracks. (Of course, it's difficult to resist a bland sound when the bassline for an entire song, &Un Simple Histoire (A Simple Story),& encompasses only four different notes and continues throughout.) Fortunately, a few tracks on the backside do plow new ground, thanks in part to new guests: &Meu Destino (My Destiny),& with the ephemeral falsetto of Patrick de Santos; &Exilio (Exile),& which introduces Afro-Cuban percussion into the Thievery template; and a great feature for Shinehead on &The State of the Union,& while Garza and Hilton throw in a few extra beats (for once). Admittedly, a solid set of treading-water productions is vastly preferred to a bad album, especially on the dancefloor. Sure, it could've been worse, but it also could've been slightly different.