Tortoise

Although it's extremely difficult, if not impossible, to pin down a musical stereotype capable of fitting a genre as undefinable as post-rock, a handful of bands have been anointed by critics and listeners alike as founding fathers and models to aspire to. Among these, Chicago, Illinois's Tortoise certainly deserve a place of honor, above all for their ability to create wholly new music starting from kraut-rock, post-punk and jazz. Alien music, years of experimentation and rock avant-garde converge into a brilliant, extremely original mix, the likes of which had never been heard before.

This blend of different styles and timbres is probably the result of the complexity and instability of the lineup itself, which on the self-titled 1994 debut boasts an almost unbelievably talented roster made up of John Herndon, John McEntire (ex-Bastro, at the time also active in the great Gastr Del Sol), Douglas McCombs, Dan Bitney (active in Tar Babies) and Bundy K. Brown, another Bastro alumnus alongside McEntire.

The second album, "Millions Now Living Will Never Die", the product of a 10-day retreat in Vermont and released in 1996, marks the entry into the band of David Pajo, founding member of Slint - themselves pioneers of a certain "post" sound - taking the place of Brown.

The record doesn't abandon the timbral experimentation of the debut; if anything, it doubles down on the willingness to take risks with the lengthy "Djed", the opening track that harks back to the work of Steve Reich and of certain German bands of the '70s, Can and Neu! first and foremost. The track opens with the bass front and center, accompanied by cosmic noises, before the drums kick into an epic gallop worthy of Dinger's motorik pulse. After a dub-inflected interlude, the keyboards take over, repeating the same minimal pattern, over which the bass and then the xylophone are layered. The keyboard backdrop is then replaced by a glitch effect, while the other instruments continue their repetitive march toward infinity.

The influence of the glorious minimalist avant-garde is evident, yet Tortoise pack half a century of musical experience into the 21 minutes of "Djed", managing nonetheless to create something unique and extremely original.

Far from being mere filler, the other tracks recall the first album more closely, both in terms of song structure and in the predominance of bass and dub passages. "Glass Museum" is a spectacular exercise in rhythm and timbre, in which drums, guitar, vibraphone and bass intertwine first languidly, then furiously. "A Survey", on the other hand, is an atmospheric piece for solo bass and "night noises". The fourth track, "The Taut And Tame", is driven by an impetuous drum tremor over which dissonant, repetitive instrumental phrases are built. The use of analog keyboards and the rhythmic effectiveness once again recall the mighty Can and kraut-rock in general. "Dear Grandma And Grandpa" itself, dominated by synthesizer aided by tape loops, draws heavily on the sonic research undertaken in the past by a certain strand of cosmic-electronic rock. The final track, "Along The Banks Of The River", steeped in blues spirit, with its funereal, harrowing atmosphere, closes the album in exceptional fashion, lending it a human warmth usually denied to this kind of sound and leaving the listener open-mouthed.

With Tortoise, once again the limits of what we call rock are stretched, surpassed, and once more heights of unexpected excellence are reached. As with their German forebears, what's astonishing is the incredible foresight and skill with which elements of the past are absorbed to create works that are surprisingly indefinable.

Post, we said - no label was ever more fitting...

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13/11/2006