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1
Album Review

Tortoise: The Catastrophist

Read "The Catastrophist" reviewed by Enrico Bettinello


Tornano i Tortoise e subito gli affezionati della prima ora iniziano a sudare freddo. Non è infatti che i lavori del gruppo di Chicago prodotti nel nuovo millennio avessero convinto troppo, impelagati in una terra prog-fusion in cui si stentava a rintracciare l'urgenza dei primi, fantastici dischi. Sebbene infatti, anche in qualche recente intervista, Doug McCombs e soci si premurino di ricordare come l'etichetta di gruppo (per antonomasia, diremmo) post-rock fosse più una convenzione critico/giornalistica ...

215
Album Review

Tortoise: Beacons Of Ancestorship

Read "Beacons Of Ancestorship" reviewed by Glenn Astarita


Part of the Chicago-based Tortoise's appeal and loyal following is fabricated upon its many-sided musicality, where bits and pieces of retro psychedelia, Euro space-rock, pop overtones and Pink Floyd type walls-of-sound come to fruition. Through it all, and somehow or another, the band propagates a singular identity via probing fuzz-toned guitars, deep bass grooves, streaming synth effects and cohesive thematic overtures.

With only its sixth full-length album, given the unit's twenty-year existence the tantalizing fabrics of sound, featuring ...

360
Album Review

Tortoise: Beacons Of Ancestorship

Read "Beacons Of Ancestorship" reviewed by Troy Collins


Beacons Of Ancestorship is the first release in five years from revolutionary post rock innovators Tortoise and the sixth full-length record of their almost two decade existence. A longstanding Chicago institution, Tortoise single-handedly spawned the post rock genre in the early nineties--a post punk fusion of Krautrock, minimalism, dub, electronica, world music, and avant-garde jazz.

In addition to their vast array of influences, virtuosic multi-instrumentalists Dan Bitney, John Herndon, Douglas McCombs, John McEntire, and Jeff Parker have long ...

206
Album Review

Tortoise: A Lazarus Taxon

Read "A Lazarus Taxon" reviewed by AAJ Staff


Tortoise celebrates its fourteenth anniversary this year with this four-disc box set of rarities and live performances, and it's just as strong as any other release the group has put out. That's saying something, given the quality of what the Chicago outfit has put on wax. Critics and fans have always struggled with a way to label Tortoise, generally agreeing on the term “post-rock" (previously and alternatively known as “kraut-rock," because one of the style's progenitors was the German group ...

169
Album Review

Tortoise: It's All Around You

Read "It's All Around You" reviewed by AAJ Staff


There's always been something dreamy about Tortoise's fusion of rock, improvisation, and studio manipulation, and that quality reaches an all-time high with It's All Around You. In the intervening period since 2001's rough- edged Standards was released, the members of this Chicago collective have pursued a number of other projects--what is a side project, anyway?--ranging from out jazz to digital sound manipulation.

The five-strong membership of Tortoise this time around includes John McEntire, John Herndon, Doug McCombs, Jeff ...

97
Album Review

Tortoise: It's All Around You

Read "It's All Around You" reviewed by Mark Corroto


These days the rantings of prophets and first class doom sayers are all but coming true. I’m not getting on a soapbox here, but the future of civilization (actually our civilization) is tending to mimic or at least adopt the predictions of the movie Koyaanisqatsi. Our living environment has become packaged, sealed, and artificially scented.

Why am I telling you this? Because Tortoise dwells in this netherworld, making music for our claustrophobic future.

Well, not ...

144
Album Review

Tortoise: Standards

Read "Standards" reviewed by AAJ Staff


With its '94 self-titled release, Chicago's wunderband Tortoise carved out a comfortable niche for the genre now known as post-rock. In the intervening years, other groups have borrowed from Tortoise's seminal ideas, but precious few have managed to get it right. Several sides later, Tortoise is still redefining the magic.

The title of Standards might suggest a misleading double entendre to jazz fans, so don't go into the disc expecting to hear tunes like “Autumn Leaves" or “Nardis." ...

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3

Recording

Instrumental Bass & Vibes Duo Cliffwalker Can Be Compared To Steve Reich, Philip Glass As Well As Contemporaries Such As Tortoise, Death From Above 1979

Instrumental Bass & Vibes Duo Cliffwalker Can Be Compared To Steve Reich, Philip Glass As Well As Contemporaries Such As Tortoise, Death From Above 1979

Source: Fanatic Promotion

“Delightfully teeters on the edge of chaos...” says music discovery blog Independent Clauses in its coverage of “Punching Clocks,” the debut single by Portland-based duo CLIFFWALKER. Punching Clocks is the sort of thing that the word post-rock was made for. It’s rock put in the service of other moods. The interplay of the leads produces the experience of a spy-movie chase scene.” The Portland, Oregon-based instrumental duo of Cliff Hayes (Bass, Keys) and A. Walker Spring (Vibes, Drums, Keys, Guitar), ...

Performance / Tour

Jazz this week: Tortoise, Jazz at Lincoln Center Group, Anat Cohen, and more

Jazz this week: Tortoise, Jazz at Lincoln Center Group, Anat Cohen, and more

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

Unpredictable weather is just one reason that a lot of touring acts like to stay home in early January. But whether St. Louis this weekend ends up with the spring-like temperatures we're enjoying at midweek, or with the ice storm being promised (threatened?) by Friday, the calendar of upcoming live jazz and creative music performances in St. Louis features several shows that definitely are worth leaving the house to hear. Let's go to the highlights... Wednesday, January 11 Five young ...

Performance / Tour

Jazz this week: Cyrus Chestnut, Tortoise, Denise Thimes' Mothers Day show, and more

Jazz this week: Cyrus Chestnut, Tortoise, Denise Thimes' Mothers Day show, and more

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

This week's calendar of jazz and creative music in St. Louis features sounds ranging from straight-ahead jazz to “post-rock," with plenty of other styles in the mix, too. Let's go to the highlights... Wednesday, May 4 Drummer Montez Coleman plays the first of two nights at Jazz at the Bistro, with a bit of help from pianist Adam Maness, bassist Bob DeBoo and singer Anita Jackson. Elsewhere in Grand Center, saxophonist Dave Stone takes over Bob DeBoo's hosting duties for ...

130

Performance / Tour

Forgotten Series: Tortoise - Tortoise (1994)

Forgotten Series: Tortoise - Tortoise (1994)

Source: Something Else!

By Tom Johnson I suppose the most effective argument I could make to indicate that this album got under my skin is that during the fourth track, titled “Onions Wrapped in Rubber," I was imagining scenes from the 1986 sci-fi thriller Aliens. Static-ridden visions of the Marines making their way through the dark recesses of the powerplant crossed my mind as the dull bass and drums ebbed and flowed in a mesmerising pattern. A chiming beep sounds throughout the track, ...

220

Recording

Tortoise / Isotope 217 / Causa Sui : Special Release

Tortoise / Isotope 217 / Causa Sui : Special Release

Source: Michael Ricci

Adluna Records is announcing the release of the Chicago Odense Ensemble album as a subscription, offer a FREE track from the album, and talks about a special contest.

Chicago Odense Ensemble is a unique collaboration that came together in the winter 2008, the band is : Rob Mazurek, Dan Bitney, Jeff Parker, Matt Lux, Brian Keigher, Jonas Munk and Jakob Skott.

As Jonas Munk says: “The result is something quite unique: a musical blend that exists somewhere in between the ...

123

Performance / Tour

Tortoise: February Tour

Tortoise: February Tour

Source: JamBase

TORTOISE SETS FEBRUARY TOUR DATES IN SUPPORT OF BEACONS OF ANCESTORSHIP

Tortoise Tortoise, the world-renowned Chicago music pioneers, announces their first 2010 dates, hitting several cities that they didn't get to visit in 2009. Beacons of Ancestorship is the band's first record in over five years and continues to demonstrate their ability to push boundaries, remold their sound and yet still retain a sense of cohesion - a singular Tortoise mood/feeling/sound that is truly their own.

The band recently completed ...

123

Performance / Tour

Jazz This Week: Mulgrew Miller, Rasul Siddik, Tortoise, Dave Black, and More

Jazz This Week: Mulgrew Miller, Rasul Siddik, Tortoise, Dave Black, and More

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

Though this week's schedule of jazz and creative music in St. Louis isn't quite as jam-packed as last week's, there are still a number of notable performances happening over the next few days that are worthy of your attention. Let's go to the highlights:Tonight, the very fine pianist Mulgrew Miller opens a four-night run that continues through Saturday at Jazz at the Bistro. Miller was the subject of one of the very first concert reviews on StLJN four ...

149

Performance / Tour

Tortoise to Perform at the Firebird on Tuesday, September 29

Tortoise to Perform at the Firebird on Tuesday, September 29

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

The Chicago-based instrumental “post-rock" band Tortoise (pictured), whose members are also involved in their hometown's sprawling improvised music scene, is coming to St. Louis* on Tuesday, September 29 to perform at the Firebird, 2706 Olive, just west of Jefferson.Together since 1990, the members of Tortoise have developed a sound that incorporates influences from jazz and alt-rock to techno and dub, and as a result have attracted an equally diverse fan base, ranging from young people who frequent rock ...

74

Interview

Tortoise: 20 Years of Evolution

Tortoise: 20 Years of Evolution

Source: JamBase

By: Ron Hart

Tortoise It's been five years since Chicago's intrepid instrumentalists Tortoise released new material, but that hasn't slowed fan appreciation or band reflection. Following 2004's It's All Around You, Tortoise released The Brave and the Bold where they backed Bonnie “Prince" Billy on a series of totally inventive covers, as well as their career-spanning 2006 rarities box set, A Lazarus Taxon. The band has also kept busy on the road, recently performing the 1996 masterpiece Millions Now Living ...

115

Recording

Tortoise:Beacons of Ancestorship

Tortoise:Beacons of Ancestorship

Source: JamBase

By: Dennis Cook

Listen to this loud.

From the siren whine and skydiving dub drop of the opening notes of “High Class Slim Came Floatin' In" on through the delightful analog stroke and circular spin of closer “Charteroak Foundation," there's a strong sense of funky mischievousness to Tortoise's sixth album, and it's best heard at skeleton vibrating volumes for maximum efficiency. A true original's original, the band moves with the tight, limber motion of healthy muscle under smooth skin on ...

Sonic Liberation Front
band / ensemble / orchestra
Adrien Baudrimont
guitar, electric
Kannon
band / ensemble / orchestra

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

The Catastrophist

Thrill Jockey
2016

buy

Beacons Of...

Thrill Jockey
2009

buy

A Lazarus Taxon

Thrill Jockey
2006

buy

It's All Around You

Thrill Jockey
2004

buy

Standards

Thrill Jockey
2001

buy

TNT

Tokuma Japan Communications
1998

buy

Similar

Brian Eno
synthesizer

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