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27

FRIDAY

Somehow, Eric Hilton and Rob Garza of Thievery Corporation haven’t gotten old. Between their club (the 18th Street Lounge), their label, their remixes, and their own durable soundplates, they could have gone the way of any other electronica trend. But they’re still here, making their thrift-store collages of downbeat romance, and they’re still working from the same nerd-music files—the ones they had long before David Byrne realized that they were reissue bait: dub, tropicalia, Jackie Gleason cheese, and those soul-funk-fusion cocktails. They are still around and sounding GQ because their easy-listening grooves always have built-in mystery. The music choices are never obvious, the musicians never play clichéd history lessons (the same trumpet notes Miles played on…), and the sometime-singers never sound like note-perfect Astrud Gilbertos. Unlike almost any other local band, Thievery uses intrigue as its main instrument. Come figure the group out when it “plays” a rare live set with opener Blue States at 10 p.m. at the 9:30 Club, 815 V St. NW. $20. (202) 393-0930. (Jason Cherkis)