ERIC HILTON Vinyl & CDs

Review: Thievery Corporation member and co-founder of Eighteenth Street Lounge Music Eric Hilton is here with his latest full album titled Sound Vagabond. With 14 songs in total, Eric gathers his cast experience with fusing genres into a more singular vision on this long player. Fans of Thievery Corporation will definitely feel at home with this, like seeing an old friend. The sounds are crisp, clean, laid back and a perfect balance of a loose fusion yet jazzy and patterns constructed with sharp beats. The creative instruments introduced into many of these are perhaps the most impressive thing about these tracks. It makes this style come alive anew. This album is presented on fantastic looking blue vinyl.

Review: Thievery Corporation co-founder Eric Hilton is adept at many different produciton styles and he calls on most of them on this new Present Past & Future EP for Montserrat House. First up is a future jazz and jungle fusion with steamy sax motifs drifting up high over the slick drums. The tempo drops to nothing on the lush downtempo sounds of 'Put Em' Down' and 'Something For Byrd' (feat Brian Jackson) is a star-gazing after dark masterclass with wispy synths and soulful vocals. There is squelchy synth funk on 'E Plays It Cool', blissed out trip hop on 'Cold Gemini' and another 90s era acid jazz and breaks fusion to finish with 'Mind Archelogy' (feat Brian Falkowski).

Review: Thievery Corporation veteran Eric Hilton is on a roll with his Montserrat House label, operating out of DC and adding new layers to his considerable legacy in downtempo sounds. As was teased by the 'Amor Astral' single from 2023, this new album finds Hilton working closely with long time Thievery collaborator, Argentinian singer Natalia Clavier. Her coolly soulful tone hovers over the buttery funk jams Hilton lays down, where the drums are tight and crisp and the basslines wrap themselves around the groove with snake-like grip, all the better to sink into when you need a little chill-out time from a certified master of the art.