Description
The fulcrum of Chicago's underground musical scene, Tortoise pretty much are the group responsible for plotting the blueprint of what's commonly--if vaguely--referred to as post-rock. Certainly, they are an outfit who, since their inception, have remained in a constant state of flux, their ever-shifting line-up reflecting a constantly mutating musi
The fulcrum of Chicago's underground musical scene, Tortoise pretty much are the group responsible for plotting the blueprint of what's commonly--if vaguely--referred to as post-rock. Certainly, they are an outfit who, since their inception, have remained in a constant state of flux, their ever-shifting line-up reflecting a constantly mutating musical ethos. Where 1996's Millions Now Living Will Never Die largely comprised of maudlin guitar-bass-and-drums instrumentals and 1998's TNT embraced the modern electronic studio as the group's primary instrument, the lofty aim of Standards is to unite both approaches under a pioneering banner: analogue and digital technology used as complementary forces. Sounds thrilling, eh? Well, probably not, unless you puzzle over circuit boards of an evening in. But forget, just for a minute, Tortoise's pseudo-intellectual reputation and just listen to the sounds. It's somewhat appropriate that Standards is the group's debut for adventurous British techno label Warp; this is Tortoise's least categorisable album yet--a kaleidoscope of sound, where Miles Davis glides serenely past Autechre, each individual instrument melding into a hypnotic fog, and then swiftly congealing into sudden, breathtaking movements: the sudden, florid bloom of xylophone from the casual swing of "Benway", or the rumble of warm saxophone, shaking up the electronic foundations of "Monica". Still flying the flag for the experimental vanguard, this might just be Tortoise's greatest album yet. --Louis Pattison
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Performed by
Track listing1. Seneca
2. Eros
3. Benway
4. Firefly
5. Six Pack
6. Eden
7. Monica
8. Blackjack
9. Eden (1)
10. Speakeasy
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3 votes
Favourite Album Art
(28 items) by Grand Assault
Last updated 1 year, 9 months ago  1 comment
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