Shadows of Ourselves - Thievery Corporation

So far into the seat cushions of easy listening it might as well be cat hair, Thievery Corporation gamely try to convince us of their mid-tempo poignancy with a musical clarity so crisp, so fastidious, that it's dead on arrival. This is the kind of middling trip-hop that knows everything about refining production, but nothing about making music that elevates your life into something -- anything -- better. The inoffensive B sides like "DC 3000" or "Barrio Alto," with their anodyne acid jazz structures, certainly only work for one weaned off James Lavelle bootlegs. Where is the breaking point for these downtempo killjoys anyway? The genre itself certainly isn't flawed, it's rather that there should be more in a chill-out band's intent than manufacturing songs with all the visceral experimentalism of a harmless, stuffed toy. ~ Dean Carlson, All Music Guide