Tortoise (ribbon)

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Tortoise
Tortoise in Chicago (2008)
Tortoise in Chicago (2008)
General information
origin Chicago , United States
Genre (s) Post rock , jazz rock
founding 1988 as Simple
Website http://trts.com/
Founding members
John Herndon
Douglas McCombs
Current occupation
Drums, keyboard, sequencer
 John Herndon
Bass, guitar
 Douglas McCombs
Drums, guitar, synthesizer
John McEntire (1991/92; since 1993)
Bass, guitar, percussion , keyboard, saxophone
Dan Bitney (since 1993)
Guitar, bass
 Jeff Parker (since 1997)
former members
bass
 Bundy K. Brown (1991-1994)
guitar
 David Pajo (1995-1998)

Tortoise [ ˈtɔːtəs ] ( English : Landschildkröte ) is a Chicago instrumental band that coined the term post rock in the mid-1990s . Her records appear on the Thrill Jockey label .

Band history

The band's origins in the late 1980s are Douglas McCombs and John Herndon, who would have liked to see each other as a rhythm duo like reggae legends Sly and Robbie . This idea was never put into practice, but their interest in rhythmic music and recording technology as a stylistic device finally caught the attention of John McEntire and Bundy K. Brown and, a little later, Dan Bitney, all three of whom joined the band, which has been together since 1992 - after some renaming - finally called Tortoise . The musicians developed a purely instrumental low-frequency sound in a common style. Although all band members are cited as the songwriters, McEntire quickly became the leading force within the band, even if he is not the recognized leader (at least that's what the media thinks). In fact, his additional artistic influences were primarily felt as a sound engineer and mixer.

The band's first single was released in 1993 and their debut album Tortoise followed a year later. Due to the instrumental style, the moderate tempo and the unusual instruments - two basses , three drums , vibraphones and marimbas  - the album slowly received attention and praise. A remix album -  Rhythms, Resolutions and Clusters  - followed.

Brown then left the band and was replaced by Dave Pajo, who previously played bass with Slint , but also played the first recorded guitar with Tortoise. With him, Tortoise released the more electronically oriented sound carrier Millions Now Living Will Never Die in 1996 , a breakthrough in both quality and audience appeal.

In 1998 Tortoise released TNT , the album that probably shows the most jazz influences. For the album, Pajo was replaced by Jeff Parker , who is a distinguished jazz guitarist . Joint appearances by the band with Fred Anderson , Tom Zé or The Ex followed.

Standards were published in 2001 ; it contains more electronic elements and has been more post-processed than the previous albums. Standards is Tortoise's only album on the electronica label Warp Records . In 2004 the album It's All Around You was released. In 2006 they released The Brave and The Bold , which was created through a collaboration with Bonnie 'Prince' Billy and contains only covers by other bands.
In August 2006, A Lazarus Taxon was released , a set consisting of three CDs and a DVD, the B-sides, singles and remixes from the years 1995 to 2001 as well as the out of print EP Rhythms, Resolutions and Clusters .

The complexity of the overall sound has remained the same across all previous releases, even if pop and electronic dance music are quoted in some pieces - a change in the sound, if you compare it with songs on the self-titled debut album.

style

Tortoise was one of the first American indie rock -Bands that Krautrock , dub , minimalism , electronic music and various jazz investment styles have incorporated into their music, rather than on the then more common styles of rock music -  rock'n'roll and punk  - to put. Typical for the sound of the band is the often collage-like handling of various stylistic elements and their alienation in the studio . Tortoise's almost entirely instrumental music defies simple categorization due to its diverse influences.

Tortoise is often cited as one of the trailblazers for the success and development of post rock .

The band members have roots in Chicago's diverse music scene and have played in several indie rock and punk bands.

Discography

Chart positions
Explanation of the data
Albums
Standards
  US 200 03/10/2001 (1 week)
Beacons of Ancestorship
  US 149 07/11/2009 (1 week)

Studio albums

  • 1994: Tortoise ( Thrill Jockey )
  • 1995: Rhythms, Resolutions and Clusters (Thrill Jockey)
  • 1996: Millions Now Living Will Never Die (Thrill Jockey)
  • 1996: Remixed (Tokuma Japan Communications)
  • 1998: TNT (Thrill Jockey)
  • 2001: Standards ( Warp Records )
  • 2004: It's All Around You (Thrill Jockey)
  • 2006: The Brave and the Bold (Domino Recording Company Ltd.) with Bonnie 'Prince' Billy , cover album
  • 2009: Beacons of Ancestorship (Thrill Jockey / Rough Trade)
  • 2016: The Catastrophist

EPs

  • 1999: In the Fishtank with The Ex

Compilations

  • 2006: A Lazarus Taxon (Thrill Jockey)

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ official band history
  2. ↑ When post-rock becomes a tradition on Deutschlandradio Kultur ( accessed on December 12, 2016)
  3. ↑ Charts US