Tortoise

Sue Shellenbarger, Wall Street Journal, March 15, 2000
an Internet-age "Romeo & Juliet"

Product Description
Tortoise, a musical comedy, is an adaptation of Aesop's timeless fable to the time-starved present. Against the backdrop of feuding computer companies, the hero pursues the heroine while competing against her for the greatest prize in software.

Tortoise

Tortoise,Jeff Flaster,Melodic Music,"***** Refreshing musical that lingers after the initial fizz." "Madame Butterfly flies into a computer screen."

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Average customer rating: Best of the best We Love It!! wonderful for our 2-yr-old Beautiful....and different Excellent entertainment!

Gift Of The Tortoise: A Musical Journey Through Southern Africa Ladysmith Black Mambazo Manufacturer: Music Little People ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Africa | International | Styles | Music South Africa | Africa | International | Styles | Music General | International | Styles | Music General | Children's Music | Styles | Music Music for Little People | Children's Music | Styles | Music Stories | Children's Music | Styles | Music Similar Items: I Got Shoes Choo Choo Boogaloo Shaka Zulu Journey of Dreams Papa's Dream ASIN: B000002M6S Release Date: 1994-03-08

Tracks:

1. Intro
2. Kanje Kanje
3. Rain Chant
4. There Come Our Mothers
5. Nomyekelo
6. Finger Dance
7. Thekwane
8. Vulani Ringi Ring
9. Boy Who Turned Into A Cat
10. Paparam Vingo
11. Shabalala
12. Two Shelleni
13. Mbube (The Lion Sleeps Tonight)
14. Peace Be With You

Amazon.com

The jewel in the crown in the Music for Little People catalog, Gift of the Tortoise is stunning in its beauty and uncompromising in its delivery of excellence. Expressed from the viewpoint of a very wise tortoise, the lush harmonies of Ladysmith Black Mambazo are supported by renowned guitarist Johnny Clegg and storyteller Gcina Mhlophe, creating a captivating blend of Zulu lore, South African history, and that country's brave optimism in the post-Apartheid era. As the drama unfolds, the listener is drawn into the spell cast by this marvelous group of players as they carry out the chant of ancestral names on "Two Shelleni," the folk legend of the "Boy Who Turned into a Cat," and the classic "Mbube (the Lion Sleeps Tonight)." --Paige La Grone

Customer Reviews:

Best of the best.......2007-05-13

For anyone wishing quality for their children I've yet to find anything better. This is a magical CD. When it was stolen from the car, my son(now 18)requested I reorder it. The voice of the storyteller transports us to places and feelings we've rarely experienced and yet share a common human experience of joy and hope.If I could only purchase one CD for my child - this would be it...and I would be listening.

We Love It!!.......2006-01-16

I put this on my 19month old daughter's Wish List for Christmas and we just listened to it today. She loved the animal sounds in the beginning and danced to some of the music. It's not something she'll sit down and just listen to as a storytime yet, but I think it will be a timeless addition to our CD collection. As an adult, I enjoyed listening to the stories and the music. A good buy for younger and older children as the music is very rythymic, but not too loud (I think my daughter would have liked it as an infant).

wonderful for our 2-yr-old.......2004-11-25

This album is a great hit with our toddler. Many, many nights she requests to listen to this CD as she goes to sleep. The rhythms are wonderful for young ears, she loves to sing the choruses with the children on the recording............it tickles me to see my daughter respond so positively to lyrics in a language foreign to her.

Beautiful....and different.......2004-11-17

My 2 year old son LOVES music - all types. Laurie Berkner has been a fav for a while now. But this cd is DIFFERENT!! In a good way!!!!! It is simply beautiful and fun.

Excellent entertainment!.......2004-11-08

I bought this CD because it was geared toward children, but it had the beautiful acapella harmonies of Ladysimith Black Mombazo, which I enjoy. I found the stories to be enchanting, and my 2.5-year-old loves to sing and clap along to the songs. This is a wonderful CD to have in your own library as a break from nursery rhymes and traditional children's songs. It also makes an excellent gift for friends and family.

Average customer rating: After hearing Mogwai, Explosions, Sigur Rós... Like finding gold. Jazz, fusion, samples, post-rock... and then some -a masterpiece Exquisite four-and-half star Ambience Solid all around

TNT Tortoise Manufacturer: Thrill Jockey ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Indie Rock | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Experimental Rock | Rock | Alternative Styles | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music Experimental Music | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music General | Alternative Rock | Indie Music | Stores | Music Similar Items: Millions Now Living Will Never Die Tortoise A Lazarus Taxon Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven Slow Riot for New Zero Kanada ASIN: B000006A97 Release Date: 1998-03-10

Tracks:

1. TNT
2. Swing From The Gutters
3. Ten-Day Interval
4. I Set My Face To The Hillside
5. The Equator
6. A Simple Way To Go Faster Than Light That Does Not Work
7. The Suspension Bridge At Iguazu Falls
8. Four-Day Interval
9. In Sarah, Mencken, Christ And Beethoven There Were Women And Men
10. Almost Always Is Nearly Enough
11. Jetty
12. Everglade

Amazon.com

Like their moniker suggests, Tortoise wield a thick exterior of styles while the essence of their sound smoothly beats on. They brazenly titled their latest endeavor TNT as if to signal a break from their former shell. But don't be deceived by explosive associations, for the acronym is meant to stand for "Tough-N-Tender." The album displays a tenacious level of technical proficiency and creative divergence from five Chicago guys doing what they love. Tortoise avoids the experimental minimalism displayed on earlier releases in favor of a more accessible and upbeat turn of the collective dial. Rooted in jazz structures, the dripping electronic treatments on most of the tracks further distinguish the sound. Because the thematic expressions jive with unassuming clarity, no vocal or lyrical elements are needed nor occur. While darker sides of psychedelic guitar emerge, the loungy low end sections evoke intrepid fantasies of isolation on the swankiest of desert islands. --Lucas Hilbert

Album Details

Japanese Release featuring Exclusive Bonus Tracks.

Customer Reviews:

After hearing Mogwai, Explosions, Sigur Rós..........2007-01-01

I decided it was time for me to look into post-rock roots. Tortoise caught my eye. This album blends rock, electronica and jazz flowing over an ambient soundscape. The difference between tracks is incredible. It's as if Aphex Twin, Do Make Say Think and Miles Davis got together and layered their source file tracks into one studio release. Look into this one.

Like finding gold........2006-10-17

A guy at a video store gave me this record, because I had given him a Brian Eno Album for free. From the moment I put it in, the first thought I had was.."now this is what I've been looking for". Having been burned on music for a while, this album filled the tank back up and lit the sucker on fire.
Simply one of the best albums I've heard in 2 years. This album and this group seem to never stick to one genre. ranging from abstract ambient to soft coffee shop jazz, it moves and drifts through a totally unique blend of music and sound.
I now own all the tortoise albums.
Every one with any sense of art and beauty in music should own this record.
five stars. Buy this album!
Right now!

Jazz, fusion, samples, post-rock... and then some -a masterpiece.......2006-06-05

I am a newcomer into Tortoise territory. However their sound fits in my mind as a blend between elements I could find in Godspeed You Black Emperor! (the post-rock samples), Brand X and Medeski Martin & Wood (the jazz and the fusion), Flaming Lips (the experimentation)... and then some. In a showcase of musicianship, they accomplish in TNT a magnificent album that eludes tags and typical paradigms. Take "I Set My Face To The Hillside", for example. This is a track where you can even hear influences from French music, making it one of the most beautiful tracks on the album. Still, it only stands out just a bit because the entire album is a masterpiece.

Exquisite four-and-half star Ambience.......2005-02-21

Where their debut had been a mixed and largely unstructured collection of leftfield soundscapes, followed by Millions Now Living's surprising love-letter to Krautrock, the third Tortoise release, the all instrumental TNT, was almost a lounge album - but lounge for thinkers. You certainly couldn't call this a rock album, any more than you could call it techno, acoustic, ambient or jazz, but Tortoise take all of those styles and more, building fabulously fat beds of bottom end, overlaid with gorgeous multi-layered guitars, vibes and sampled found sounds, and emerge with one of the last decade's most endlessly satisfying releases.

With it's frantic, sampled drum pattern, `Jetty' could almost be trip-hop, (in fact trip-hop is the lasting after-image of the album), `Swung From The Gutters' has a vague jazz structure to it, at the same time throwing in backward tape effects, `I Set My Face To The Hillside' combines - almost unbelievably - both Spaghetti Western and oriental themes¼ and so it goes, constantly bewildering, constantly enchanting. And then there's the divine beauty of the title track... (sigh)

And it gets better with every listen.

Kim Porter
Forté Magazine, Australia

Solid all around.......2004-05-26

A very solid record, not a bad track found here. This is not music you would listen to with friends, but it is perfect for mornings or evenings alone as well as for driving at night. I think the song "the Equator" is the finest electronic song I have ever heard. I imagine this would be the music that would play in the background of a movie as someone ran through the rain forest at night. Very vibrant and imaginative textures. You won't be dissapointed.

Average customer rating: My favorite Music for being Within Music to soothe your spirit Tortoise - Chinese Feng Shui Music Wonderful soothing music!

Tortoise: Chinese Feng Shui Music Shanghai Chinese Traditional Orchestra Manufacturer: Wind Records ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD China | Far East & Asia | International | Styles | Music General | International | Styles | Music China | Far East | Compilations | International | Styles | Music General | International | Indie Music | Stores | Music Similar Items: Dragon: Chinese Feng Shui Music Tiger: Chinese Feng Shui Music Phoenix: Chinese Feng Shui Music Sleeping: Music for Efficient Sleep Serpent: Chinese Feng Shui Music ASIN: B000005ARV Release Date: 1996-04-16

Tracks:

1. Track 1
2. Track 2

Customer Reviews:

My favorite.......2006-08-10

I ordered this CD over a year ago, and to this day it is the most wonderful music I have ever heard. I highly recommend it.

Music for being Within.......2002-10-04

Quiet, tranquil notes spill from the cd player, easing tensions. Like water running over a stone, gradually, the hard edges are worn away, and you are left feeling smooth and refreshed. The rhythmic flow of the violins, the soothing, bird-like tones of the flute...you feel as though your mind and body are being transported downstream towards a large accepting sea of tranquility.

We use this album a lot to ease down after a tense day, and use it almost every night to lull our six-month-old baby to sleep. She finds it very relaxing as well.

Music to soothe your spirit.......2002-05-31

I added this wonderful CD to my office Feng Shui. I play it, and others like it, throughout the workday to keep me calm and able to handle the stressors in my work environment. I am so pleased with this CD that I will purchase the other Feng Shui titles by the Shanghai Chinese Traditional Orchestra.

Tortoise - Chinese Feng Shui Music.......2001-02-07

You can believe this music releases the energy associated with the element of water because it just flows from your player. From tinkling brooks to hidden mysterious streams to rushing torrents, what ever knots you have formed in your muscles during the day, dissolve in it's eglaic tones. At one point I felt convinced I was hearing the patter of rain outside , got up to check and realized it was still the CD. I practice Chen man Ching's yang style of Tai ji to this and the pacing and mood is excellent. It's wonderful for Qi Quong, for meditation, not intrusive and a definite aid to focusing your awareness, and you'll also think it's a soundtrack to a film you saw long ago..and always remembered.

Wonderful soothing music!.......2000-04-08

My whole family (including 9 and 10-year old children) loves this delicate, soothing music. It is perfect when we arrive from a tiring day, or to settle everyone down before bed. There are many interesting chimes and instruments within the songs. It would also be great to meditate to.

Average customer rating: Where are they! "Compelling" (4.5 Stars) Now! BUY IT NOW Eh, the first album was better

The Tortoise & the Hare Jazzyfatnastees Manufacturer: Coolhunter ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music General | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music General | Soul | R&B | Styles | Music General | Rap & Hip-Hop | Styles | Music Experimental Rap | Rap & Hip-Hop | Styles | Music Pop Rap | Rap & Hip-Hop | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music General | Rap & Hip-Hop | Indie Music | Stores | Music Similar Items: The Once and Future Conscious Groove Theory Infinite Possibilities Sweetback ASIN: B00006H1IP Release Date: 2002-09-03

Tracks:

1. Something In The Way
2. El Medio
3. All Up In My Face
4. Four Lives
5. Adolescent Blues
6. Compelled
7. Tumbling
8. Show Your Face
9. Tortoise And The Hare
10. Give A Dog A Bone

Customer Reviews:

Where are they!.......2005-04-18

Pleasurable harmony! That's what these ladies represent! Only one problem..their CD's just aren't long enough! Just when you are sinking deeply into their groove and lyrics..it's over! I'm amazed that not more people know of these ladies...and I also want to know where the heck are they...

This CD remains in heavy rotation for me! They are two divine creatures that sing like heavenly angels! To break the CD down track by track isn't necessary..believe me the entire CD is worthy of continuous play!

"Compelling" (4.5 Stars).......2004-05-16

Just like their debut, "The Once and the Future", Jazzyfatnastees' sophomore album, "The Tortoise and the Hare" is only limited to ten tracks. And just like their debut, it's "short but sweet". The flawless production itself literally smacks you in the face with its fresh-sounding diversity. The vocal harmonizing by Tracey and Mercedes is still instantly intriguing. The album is very consistent, despite the variety of sound types and different subjects. The Latin flavored "All Up In My Face" is a song about backstabbers, basing the story of the song by making biblical references to "Judas". "El Medio Del Misterio" (which translates to "The Middle of the Mystery") has a certain "mystique" in the beat and is about confusion. "Four Lives" is a song that exploits secrets of each family member in a "modern-day picture-perfect" family ("...The love, the hate, the irony/They're living, but they can't be..."). The opening song "Something In The Way" has an old school R&B vibe to it while "Compelled" is in inbred that fuses rock with disco, with the result being a surprisingly catchy song. Though I like pretty much all the songs on the album, my favorite is the "Once and The Future"-esque "Adolescent Blues". It's funny how sometimes the most simplistic track becomes the most liked one; the beat is straightforward and easy to flow to and I can personally relate with the lyrics, which is mainly about how adolescents mentally struggle with problems including drugs, finding their identity, and finding love:

Here I am stuck in this place
I don't know how I got here
Woke up one day
And there I was stuck... waiting
Tryna make a move on what I should do...
I should do?
I've fallen and I can't get back up...

One of the few minor problems I had with the album is that they tended to be repetitive with the hook (like towards the end of "All Up In My Face"). Another is the title track "The Tortoise and the Hare". I understand they were going for an "atmospheric" thing, but I personally think they wasted a good beat with the song consisting of only two lines. But in general, the album is both musically and lyrically exceptional. Calling Jazzyfatnastees underrated artists would be an unfortunate understatement since they have yet to have disappoint, evident with this album.

Now!.......2004-03-12

If you have heard of these ladies, just wondering what they're all about...Come on in! The sophomore LP is everything their name represents, jazzy, fat and so nastee!

The opening track, "Something in the Way" is a smooth ballad about holding on to love for a reason you just can't put your finger on, but you can't let go. "All up in my face" represents the hating phoniness many of us see all the time in our everyday lives. "Adolescent Blues" is just that- blues for a person striving to be free to be herself. "Compelled" starts with a rock beat then switches to a quick dance tempo, keeping you wired from start to finish. The dark "Show your face" is haunting yet intriguing in the sense that the singer may be a little too confident for her own good. One of the best dancehall, hip hop fusions for energetic folks is "Give a Dog a Bone" We've all been there. This song must be played repeatedly. For those more mellow sessions, "El Medio", "Four Lives", "Tumbling" and the title track are perfect.

This album has something for everyone, especially listeners who love soul, jazz and soft ballads. Listen to it from start to finish- it is a rare treat.

BUY IT NOW.......2003-09-17

I absolutely love this CD. I heard them live in Philly and they were awesome. I just happened to be in philly and decided to go to the 5 spot. I love the energy of the music. It has soul, hip hop, and a bit of rock. They have a unique sound. I was a little late hearing about them but I'm glad that I have been introduced to this interesting and refreshing music. Only one track is so-so- MEdio.

Eh, the first album was better.......2003-08-18

The first album was captivating. This album was good but ole gals got repetitive. I wasn't suprised. And that's not always a good thing.

Average customer rating: 2008 elevator music Millions now Living will Never Know the Wonder of this Record Great music by great musicians!! toto Don't listen to the negative reviews

Millions Now Living Will Never Die Tortoise Manufacturer: Thrill Jockey ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Indie Rock | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Experimental Rock | Rock | Alternative Styles | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music Experimental Music | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music General | Alternative Rock | Indie Music | Stores | Music Similar Items: TNT Tortoise Neu! Young Team A Lazarus Taxon ASIN: B000004B2T Release Date: 1996-01-30

Tracks:

1. Djed
2. Glass Museum
3. A Survey
4. The Taut And Tame
5. Dear Grandma And Grampa
6. Along The Banks Of Rivers

Amazon.com

Tortoise's sophomore release, Millions Now Living Will Never Die shows off an unlikely blossoming of talent. The Chicago instrumental band makes clear with Millions what their eponymous debut brushed in broad strokes: this is the musical legacy of the ties between experimental art music and postpunk. The sonic environments are entirely woven from percussion, basses, and occasional keyboards--all of it thrown through the blender of electronic sampling and manipulation at various points. Hypnotic, some would say, and an attempt at mirroring Steve Reich or even Can, others would note. But Tortoise demonstrate their singular vision, one that would spawn many more all-instrumental alt-rock visions. Dub bass hints, keyboard darts and dashes, strange flashes of heartbeat rhythms--it all comes together on Millions in a manner that's hard to forget and easy to dive through. --Andrew Bartlett

Album Description

Japanese edition of Chicago-based lo-fi outfit's 1996 albumwith three rare cuts from singles as unmarked bonus tracks:'Gamera', 'Goriri' and 'Restless Waters'. 'Millions NowLiving Will Never Die', a mixture of hardcore, dub and otherelements, reached #1 o

Album Details

Japanese Version featuring Three Bonus Tracks.

Customer Reviews:

2008 elevator music.......2006-08-18

Tortoise are NEU rip offs. It's your basic i'm sticking my rock sound into something else. Pseudo, dubbed "avant-garde" music for art and super indie kids. The music is lame and boring, your basic elevator music

Millions now Living will Never Know the Wonder of this Record.......2006-05-27

If one wants to know how prog and jazz fusion changed to assume a 90s still then they just need to listen to this fascinating double CD! A group from Chicago that starts from the premise of cold, atmospheric sound and departs to the point of improvisation and the stretching of their original musical ideas. The scenes evoked by this wonderful set of "program music" include (in my most sober mind) camp fires in the middle of pasture at night with fireflies bugging the night-glowed campers. Happy happy mystical joy! Ice space and the sudden interruption of a rail road in the distant distance. (The video for one of this record's tracks featured a very homey looking home video of icecles forming on trees in the middle of a mostly barren field and the formation is speeded up to show the process via elapsed time photography like, man man man . . . this album and its music is just too cool, it forces one to renew that term, steal it back from the little brats who use it now to describe their silly video games or whatever garbage they be into now. `Cause this album is jost so smooth and delicious and COOL to be ignored without superlatives. BUY IT BY ALL MEANS mlost especially if you are an alumnus of the Happy the Man/Kit Watkins school of spaciouis, lightly improvised sound textures.
Served up best, again, COLD. TORTOISE-SICLE . . . delish

Great music by great musicians!!.......2005-08-22

A great cd to start with if you have never heard Tortoise before. A excellent addition if you have. From the beginning to the end, Tortoise takes you through many moods. You can't help but be amazed at the talent from these five guys. If you like Tortoise check out June of 44, The Sea & Cake, Dianogah, or the Reach the Rock soundtrack.

toto.......2005-06-28

I agree with the other reviewers who said "Djed" is a phenomenal, life-changing track. It starts out with roughly 10 minutes or so of a droning bass-riff accompanied by gentle electronic effects and atmospheric guitar, very Neu!-ish (or for people who are unfamiliar with Neu!, very early Stereolab-ish.)It then goes into an electronic organ and guitar duet that is accompanied unexpectedly by vibraphones that continue a pretty, rolling melody until they crash and disentigrate into cosmic ambience, and it continues through several more sections until finnaly giving way to the next track. Very nice, indeed...
....the other tracks are much shorter and to the point, but are equally indiscernable from each other..."Glass Museum" and "Along The Banks Of Rivers" are great guitar-driven mini-epics where one can see the influence on bands like Do Make Say Think and Godspeed. The latter is a spaghetti western influenced pondering that could've been the more strait-forward precursor to what Godspeed would do on F#A#, although much less emphasis on the whole ambience thing. "A Survey" is a bass-driven creeper that reminds you that member(s?) of Slint make up this band. "The Taut and Tame" is an avante-jazz-metal heavy song remeniscent of John Zorn and Mr.Bungle (albeit more emotional). "Dear Grandma and Grandpa" is a nice, little psych-dub electro-excursion that leads into "Banks of..." All in all, you don't have to be a musical guru to appreciate this. An open mind, or should I say a stoner's mind, will probably do just fine.

Don't listen to the negative reviews.......2004-12-09

I've had TNT for awhile now, and I love that album. I wanted to get this album because of djed. This album is shorter than TNT, but I think its better that way. If your a fan of Can, Faust, Neu, or Tangerine dream, you'll want to get this album. If your a fan of post-rock, you'll want to get this album. I don't know what kind of music the negative reviewers listen to. But if you love music that dares to be different,music that comes from the underground, from the indie scene, from people who also love music, you will want to check out this cd.

Average customer rating: This is a wonderful drum lesson If You're new to Tortoise.....(Then Start with this, their Debut!!!) Arrrrr, Tortoise be good, matey! At a loss for words the beginning of greatness

Tortoise Tortoise Manufacturer: Thrill Jockey ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Indie Rock | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Experimental Rock | Rock | Alternative Styles | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music Experimental Music | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music Similar Items: Millions Now Living Will Never Die TNT A Lazarus Taxon Young Team Mars Audiac Quintet ASIN: B000004B2I Release Date: 1995-05-23

Tracks:

1. Magnet Pulls Through
2. Night Air
3. Ry Cooder
4. Onions Wrapped In Rubber
5. Tin Cans & Twine
6. Spiderwebbed
7. His Second Story Island
8. On Nobel
9. Flyrod
10. Cornpone Brunch

Customer Reviews:

This is a wonderful drum lesson.......2005-11-14

I remember being floored by this album when it came out in the mid 90's. There is so much to take in, two bassists, intense arrangement, electronic tweaking, amp reverb taken to new heights and of course for me.....drums. This, (combined with Fugazi's In on the Kill Taker) could be considered the post Jazz drummer's album of the 90's. If you're a drummer it's a feast, playing along with these slowed down but intricate syncopations teaches you to handle complex rhythym but still stay where you belong, in the background. Like a tatoo artist that first learns how to deal with Celtic Knotwork, you need to play along and practice to really appreciate the subtleness and grooves of this album. My playing went to a new level after hammering along to this for a while....incredible cd. If you're not a drummer, fine....put it on and let your creative spirit flow....this music is the definition of moving, pulsing, breathing art.

If You're new to Tortoise.....(Then Start with this, their Debut!!!).......2005-08-19

So the joke goes...."Jazz!!!...Is God's way of saying, that a Musician has become too proficient with their instrument". You can take a little grain of truth from that joke, in the fact that Jazz musicians (depending on the type of Jazz), can occasionally be considered a little scholarly & Precise in their studious composition. "Tortoise" are (in theory) a studious instrumental indie band, consisting of members that have previously excelled in other bands, and have come together to form a 'Indie Supergroup' (of sorts). Consisting of multi-instrumentalists: Dan Bitney, John Herdon, Douglas McCombes & Bundy K. Brown, and centre around linchpin (and drummer) John McEntire.

Their Music is primarily a combination of softly performed 'Experimental-Rock', "Indie Rock" & "Post-Rock", that manages to reference their influences of: Krautrock, dub, avant-garde jazz, classical minimalism, ambient and space music, film music & electroncia. The sound is one of music that is a reflective and cerebral blend of meditative instrumentals that does touch upon elements of their musical influences. that although to some degree are rooted in jazz structures, have a free-from almost semi-improvised jamming feel to it. The subtle use of percussion, basses, and occasional electronics are all skillfully interwoven into their tracks and create a sort of wistfully detached musical atmosphere. And although electronic sampling and manipulation at various points through their tracks is evident, it's the intertwining guitar motifs that are their strongest assets. And this is where that Jazz reference most clearly rears its head. Not in that it Jazz music, but more that it that the sensibilities of Jazz (Texturing the music, precise performances, and to a greater degree....Mood), are all skillfully worked into shimmering rhythms and distinctive taut dynamics that only years of excelling with your instrument can bring.

Tortoise's music is one, that never really breaks out of a laid-back speed, one that is in equal parts hushed gentle rhythms, and intimate precious sounding cerebral noodling. This is music that doesn't intially hit you immediately but more a sound that slowly over the course of time, works its way into your consciousness, and although there is the occasionally odd bit of production/arrangements, they (over time), actually seem to merely be part of the charm of Tortoise's music. And anyone that is fully armed with the facts regarding Tortoise's minimally atmospheric instrumentals and doesn't appreciate the sublime-ness of tracks such as: "Ry Cooder", "Flyrod", "Onions Wrapped in Rubber" & "Magnet Pulls Through" will (as much as it pains me to say this) probably never 'get' Tortoise.

Being a huge fan of instrumental music, I found that this album, was a fantastically performed and arranged minimal guitar/percussion led album that manages to be cool, ambient, rhythmically symphonic, playful and musically textured, and one that will delight those that want something a little more cerebral in their music. Sure....they'll be those that consider Tortoise's music a little too clinical and scholarly to truly embrace, with no vocals to latch onto, and that the music veers a little bit too closely too musical noodling & ((shudders)) Muzak!!!, , to give the group the kudos they deserve. And if I'm being completely honest with you, there is a little bit of truth in those claims, and those people should pass over Tortoise and look for something else. But that doesn't mean that isn't still an exceptionally performed and elegantly composed album, and although the band would learn from this release and their next album (The seminal "Millions Now Living, Will Never Die") would find them performing more as a unit, rather than a group of highly talented musicians performing together. This is still a remarkably classy and (in some cases) funky debut, that is the perfect introduction to the band.

Arrrrr, Tortoise be good, matey!.......2005-06-02

In these days of the pop schlock that dominates the radio and CD store shelves (cliche, I know, but true), Tortoise is one of the few "new" bands I listen to, because they are one of the few that have incredible amounts of talent (particularly the rhythm section, wow!) and create good music. I have to say I think "Magnet Pulls Through" and "Spiderwebbed" are the best songs, mostly because of the overall groove and the wonderful bass (as a bass player, I KNOW!).
I have found that this album is much more like "Millions Now Living Will Never Die" than "Millions..." is like "TNT" in terms of overall sound, quality, production, and even case! Buy this and "Millions" and "TNT" and the two albums that are not in my possession "Standards" and "It's all around you" and see for yourself!
Thank you for reading my review, and once again, please purchase this album. You'll get looks of admiration from record store clerks and educated people, and your ears will thank you.

At a loss for words.......2005-03-24

My forst reaction: "Mmm-kay!" **close windows media player**

This music has absolutely no cohesion. It is totally random, and rambles on for as long as 13 or more minutes per song. I see why there are over 50 of one album that are being resold here. If you are looking for Ambient pop/rock/jazz, I'd go with something much more professional? like Schiller, or Enigma.

the beginning of greatness.......2004-08-21

i was once asked to describe tortoise's sound. tortoise's sound is...well...THE tortoise sound. there is really no words to describe. their sound is distinctively their own. melodic, dreamlike and original are three adjectives i would use to describe this album. does this album, in it's entire form, match that of "millions..." or "TNT"? no. but it does show the musicianship and experimentation from the early stages. for me the bass stands out the most especially on my favorite track (which happens to be my favorite tortoise track ever) "tin cans and twine." to me nothing takes me on a dreamlike journey such as this song.

This album is also the perfect "late night" album. you know, the one you put on right after a long day or after a show when you just want to wind down and relax. this is absolute perfection for those moments...and other times as well.

Average customer rating:

Millions Now Living Will Never Die Tortoise Manufacturer: Thrill Jockey ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Indie Rock | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Experimental Rock | Rock | Alternative Styles | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music Experimental Music | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music Similar Items: TNT Young Team f#a# (infinity symbol) A Lazarus Taxon Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven ASIN: B0001WAFXY Release Date: 2004-07-26

Tracks:

1. Djed - Tortoise, Tortoise
2. Glass Museum
3. Survey
4. Taut and Tame
5. Dear Grandma and Grandpa
6. Along the Banks of the River
7. Djed

Average customer rating: Desert driving music A Chore to Listen To a mess Great Cover Album Not exactly earth-shaking.

The Brave and the Bold Tortoise & Bonnie "Prince" Billy Manufacturer: Overcoat Recordings ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Indie Rock | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Experimental Rock | Rock | Alternative Styles | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music Experimental Music | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music Similar Items: Summer in the Southeast The Letting Go Superwolf Fox Confessor Brings the Flood Master and Everyone ASIN: B000CQQHUY Release Date: 2006-01-24

Tracks:

1. Cravo E Canela
2. Thunder Road
3. It's Expected I'm Gone
4. Daniel
5. Love Is Love
6. Pancho
7. That's Pep
8. Some Say (I Got Devil)
9. Cavalry Cross
10. On My Own

Album Description

This first time collaboration between Tortoise and Will Oldham features covers of such artists as Bruce Springsteen ("Thunder Road"), The Minutemen ("It's Expected I'm Gone") Elton John and Bernie Taupin ("Daniel"), Lungfish ("Love Is Love"), Richard Thompson ("Cavalry Cross"), and more. The songs are almost unrecognizable to their original versions, yet each was chosen with care and reverence with no sense of irony. The record is undeniably both a Tortoise and a Bonnie "Prince" Billy record, and yet altogether something completely new and exciting.

Customer Reviews:

Desert driving music.......2007-01-03

Ever hear a song in a record store(remember those relics?) and get a song stuck in your head. Well, that is what happened to me when I heard this cover of Springsteen's anthem, "Thunder Road." Hearing Will Oldham or whatever alter-ego he is going by( Bonnie "Prince" Billy) at the moment sold me immediately. "Thunder Road" is probably the best track and most accessible mainstream type song but Oldham and Tortoise are anything but mainstream, especially on this disc. Considering I like Tortoise I thought I'd give it a shot and I must say I was not disappointed. The musicianship is very hard to define but suffice to say it is a good blend of country-avant-garde-electronic music that makes you feel good; an unfamiliar sound that sounds all at once familar. Some are pretty far out there like "It's expected I'm gone" with enough wild rhythms and smoky vocals to give you a little shiver; it has a blood curdling audio effect, like music in search of a murder movie scene. It reminds me of desert scenes, like driving an old clunker through the southwest that transforms itself into a sleek racing vechicle and back again. The pacing is bizarre. There are several cool songs that fit into the unclassifiable niche ; something like being lost in the desert and seeing mirages. "Pancho" is a good old country boy song that is sweet. The first track, "Cravo E' Canela is quite unexpected which pretty much sums up the whole of this disc. Expect the unexpected; which is not a bad approach to life anyway.

A Chore to Listen To.......2006-09-09

I guess, in the interest of full disclosure, I do have to declare that I'm not enamored of the whole Will Oldham esthetic, except that I did (and still do) love "I See a Darkness", and I keep hoping he'll do something like that again. But, more and more, that album seems to be an anomaly in his set of works. That said, I had some hope that this Oldham/Tortoise collaboration on a wildly diverse set of covers would yield some pleasant surprises. Depending upon what you read, the group was either very sincere about this project or goofing on the whole idea of covers albums. At any rate I've found my hopes dashed again. The group pretty much reduces all of the songs to a similar, mid to slow tempo set that seems almost slap-dash or at least under-rehearsed. Not to mention uninspired. Even if these songs do mean something to the players, that doesn't seem to come out in the playing, certainly not in anything resembling passion. Tortoise seems to blithely ignore the actual chords and/or melodies of most of the songs, preferring a kind of noodling jazz accompaniment to Oldham's sleepy vocals. Now there's a way that can be done to reinvigorate a song, but it doesn't happen here. The notorious version of "Thunder Road" is maybe the best example of their approach. One reviewer here said it outshines the "over-wrought original". But Springsteen's romantic, poetic entreaty seems far more likely to entice Mary into his car than Oldham's lugubrious, unenthusiastic overture, which comes across more like that of some creepazoid stalker lurking outside Mary's screen door, mumbling and narrating to himself. Somehow I don't think Mary even knows this guy exists. But maybe that is the point - a narrative by the warped obsessed high school outsider ignored by Mary's shimmering self. Even that might be an approach, but this version is so anti-rock, so lugubrious and lackluster that it doesn't seem to stand for anything. And then there's Tortoise, dragging the tempo and vamping along with whatever chords come into their heads. And most of the rest of the songs follow a similar approach. The faster songs seem cramped, like it's a strain for them to play them. And the slower songs, which are most of them, seem dreary and draggy. I recently read an article online by Will Oldham that proclaimed his love for and inspiration from, of all acts, the Misfits! And it was a great, passionate, sincere article! It stunned me when I read it, since Oldham's own esthetic seems so much the opposite of Glenn Danzig's. I can't tell if Oldham deliberately decided to go down a different path, or if he just really can't rock, so he does what he can. We know from their albums that Tortoise can't rock, or at least choose not to. So the introverted, inverted performances we get on this album are completely in accord with the styles of these two. But that doesn't mean it makes for a bracing, invigorating experience - quite the opposite. This album was a chore to listen to, and I plan to re-sell it.

a mess.......2006-06-07

I love BPB and have also been intrigued and amused by Tortoise but I am sorry, this is just a mess.

Great Cover Album.......2006-03-29

I have to say that what I expected and what I got from this album are two fairly different things. It sounds neither like a Tortoise album or any of Will Oldham's alter-egos. What it does sound like is a new band from where two bands met each other half way. Another words, proving that these musicians are still open to new avenues dispite the success they have already formulated for themselves.
Tortoise and Bonnie Prince Billy (W.Oldham) took a bunch of cover songs and totally made them their own. I am familiar with the original versions of about half of the songs and they definitely molded them into something new and exciting.
For instance Bruce Springsteen's Thunder Road almost sounds like a 70's prog song (a la Genesis)- it's an excellent version. I also love Cravo é Canela, Calvery Cross and It's Expected I'm Gone. Really, there isn't a bad song on here and overall it doesn't feel like an album of cover songs.
I hope they do it again- maybe next time with some originals mixed in. Definitely check this out if you are a Tortoise fan or a Will Oldham fan.

Not exactly earth-shaking........2006-03-14

I like Tortoise (a lot) and I also like Bonnie Prince Palace Will Oldham Music Brothers (a lot). But the combination of the two here doesn't yield anything remarkable. Try, for example, to imagine in your head what those two covering Elton John's "Daniel" would sound like. Well, guess what, you're exactly right: Oldham's uncertain, shaky vocals meandering over bleepy, atmospheric Tortoise-y accompaniment. Nowhere on this disc does an unexpected result emerge, and if you're expecting something weird or unusual (like I was), you are likely to be disappointed.

That said, several of the tracks here ("Thunder Road" especially, but also "Calvary Cross" and "That's Pep,") are still quite solid, just because Will Oldham has a Johnny Cash-like ability to take almost any material and make it his own.

Average customer rating: As good as music gets Profound Progressive From Daniel Lanois' Buddies Wasn't blown away at first, but... amazing. A brilliant effort

It's All Around You Tortoise Manufacturer: Thrill Jockey ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Indie Rock | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Experimental Rock | Rock | Alternative Styles | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music Experimental Music | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music Similar Items: TNT Millions Now Living Will Never Die Tortoise A Lazarus Taxon Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven ASIN: B0001EMW06 Release Date: 2004-04-06

Tracks:

1. It'S All Around You
2. The Lithium Stiffs
3. Crest
4. Stretch(You Are All Right)
5. Dot/Eyes
6. On The Chin
7. By Dawn
8. Five Too Many
9. Salt The Skies

Amazon.com

In calling its new album It's All Around You, Tortoise might be referring to the cultural universe from which it draws its expansive, one-of-a-kind sound. Try as you might to be succinct in describing the Chicago band's dreamy instrumentals, the only way to categorize them properly is to string together stylistic tags like so many Mardis Gras beads. As with a Quentin Tarantino movie, part of the pleasure is identifying and annotating the sources of the music as it unfolds, and folds back on itself. Studio-refined without being studio-slick, It's All Around You is awash in ambient pop and cool chamber jazz, hip-hop beats and more strident rhythmic feats, Spaghetti western touches, and the sound of ... opera? Just when it has you falling into its seductive spell, it will jolt you with a dose of rancorous drama. It's Tortoise's most accomplished and winning album--great fun and some kind of great art and who cares where that twain does or doesn't meet? --Lloyd Sachs

Album Description

From the deep and understated rhythms and tones on their 1996 landmark "Millions Now Living Will Never Die", to the bombastic rock of 2001's "Standards", Tortoise have always been ahead of their time. This release finds the band doing what they do best; building and rebuilding upon melodies and rhythms with their own remarkable touch. Lush, orchestrated tones, intricate melodies, and densely elaborate rhythms make this their most thoughtful record to date.

Customer Reviews:

As good as music gets.......2005-12-29

I have been a Tortoise fan since the late 90s, but never as committed as I have been since Standards was released. I approached It's All Around You with caution because I anticipated disappointment. At first, I agreed with all of the reviews that I had read. The album seemed to merely exist as another Tortoise album with no movement forward.

While I must admit that this is not a giant leap from Standards in terms of a cohesive album, it is the better of the two albums, in my opinion. Namely because of the climax that this album reaches. Standards almost appears to front load the best ideas while It's All Around You saves the best for last.

The first track threw me off because it is easy to dismiss it as close to random instrumentation with a solid (slightly simple) bass track. But it is so much more. Upon a couple of repeated listens, that song, like the rest of the album, revealed much more structural ingenuity. The multiple instruments that take part in the melody bounce off of one another and it becomes difficult to tell when a guitar ends and a vibraphone picks up. But the instruments are not to be observed seperately. Listening to how they compliment each other and form a beautiful melodic series is devestatingly brilliant. I posit that the first song sounds unlike anything that Tortoise has done before.

The entire album is phenomenal, but I would like to highlight the last song. This is where I really believe this album shines the most. Never before have I heard a band capture increasing intensity in a drum performance so well on tape. The song builds and builds and the instrumentation perfectly compliments the drums throughout this climactic process.

I hear far too often that this album is more of the same. If the same means being a mind-blowingly awesome band time after time, I hope that they don't change a thing.

Profound Progressive From Daniel Lanois' Buddies.......2005-03-09

Some pretty profound post-rock from Thrill Jockey's own Tortoise which features some of the most beautiful and poignant art in recent memory. The front cover is an awe inspiring sunset dying over a cascading waterfall and rapids yet overlooking this scene is a yellow helicopter perched next to a luminescent city while the back features a blurred rainforest beneath an overcast sky but blocking most of the sky is a huge projection screen with a better looking skyline beaming out of it. While the liner notes tell a story of life dissatisfaction and miscertainty in the 21st century and the songs are rawly titled, the Tortoise movement isn't exactly taking the route their name would suggest. Instead of going slow and steady, they're heading straight for the main vein. Musically, they try to match the grandiose beauty of their imagery and succeed quite handsomely at it. Bits of the Flaming Lips appear in "Crest," occasional world music and Dark Side Of The Moon sounds appear leaving the mood fairly chilled yet urgent while the inventive guitar effects and production brings me flashes of the unrealized possibilities of Radiohead. Although It's All Around You never reaches the sonic peaks of anything Mogwai have done, the contemplative vibe helps let the obvious anti-advancement juxtapositions set in. This is one to think about, think during, and, well, get!

Wasn't blown away at first, but..........2005-01-17

I definitely wasn't disappointed when I heard this latest Tortoise disc - I wasn't blown away, either, though. Just saw Tortoise in Tokyo last week, and I can't stop listening to this album, now. 'Tortoise - Tortoise' was my favorite for a while, next to TNT. Both have been completely supplanted by this and 'Standards', both of which made up the majority of their short set.

These guys are amazing - live, and on their studio releases. If you don't listen closely enough, you may mistake Tortoise for new-age music, and I think the superficial similarity probably keeps a lot of people from taking the time to discover the most amazing, creative, and inspired 'rock' groups since Pink Floyd.

Their sound (even before they used computers to produce/make their music) sounds so influenced by technology, but manages to maintain the warmth and natural feel of jazz or even folk music.

Their use of the xylophone is central to their sound, but is done with the perfect balance of restrained melody, and percussive exuberance.

I think its impossible to compare Tortoise to any other group around. Their sound is truly 'ahead of its time' and timeless. Although their sound is totally different, for these two reasons, I can only think of Pink Floyd. I hate to compare or group Tortoise with other 'contemporary' 'electronica' or alternative groups such as Modest Mouse, Air, or Boards of Canada. Stereolab has some similarities, but I believe they had a common genesis...

OK, I'll stop babbling. Just buy this disc. Its beautiful and inspirational, and jams sometimes, too

amazing........2004-12-19

This CD is just awesome. I love it. The first time I heard this, i was in awe, from the first track. I've probably listened to it over 30 times and it's still awesome. If you like this album, you'll like TNT and Millions Now Living Will Never Die. Tortoise is amazing.

A brilliant effort.......2004-11-26

As a previous reviewer said, this album is distinctly tortoise in sound. However, I don't think that this detracts from the album. I feel that this is tortoise at their best. This album showcases some of their most subtle, melodic and consistent work to date.
All the usual elements are here: the mesmerizing blend of instraments to the point where you don't know where one ends and the other begins, the screwball rhythms, the jazz inspired melodies and some great rock-out moments.
This album won't take any tortoise fan by surprise, theye are simply doing what they do best.

Average customer rating: Slow And Steady Does Not Always Win The Race Cold but addicting Post-Modern White Kid Loves Fake Genius Listen with an open mind Enjoyable, but a little deceiving compared to TNT

Standards Tortoise Manufacturer: Thrill Jockey ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Indie Rock | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Experimental Rock | Rock | Alternative Styles | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Electronica | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music Experimental Music | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music General | Alternative Rock | Indie Music | Stores | Music Similar Items: TNT Tortoise Millions Now Living Will Never Die A Lazarus Taxon Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven ASIN: B000056O2R Release Date: 2001-02-20

Tracks:

1. Seneca
2. Eros
3. Benway
4. Firefly
5. Sixpack
6. Eden 2
7. Monica
8. Blackjack
9. Eden 1
10. Speakeasy

Amazon.com

Tortoise formed in Chicago in the early 1990s from a pool of musicians most of whom had spent time in bands concerned with aggressive, guitar-centric rock. From the outset their aesthetic was crafted partly in opposition to that. Relying mostly on drums, vibraphone, two basses, keyboards, sparing use of guitar, and being attuned to the many strains of electronic dance music that developed throughout the decade, the ensemble quickly established a distinctive sound that caught a lot of people's attention. But it was a couple of years before their compositional skills caught up with their sonic inventiveness. John McEntire's crucial role in shaping the sound of the last couple of Stereolab records has been mirrored on his own group's records, and by the time TNT was released, they'd put all the pieces together to create a record that lived up to their reputation. And Standards is at least as good if not better. Having made their declaration of independence from rock, the roiling drums and guitar distortion at the start of "Seneca" are as near a return to it as they've made. However, after a couple of minutes they settle into a funky groove with half a dozen short interlocking melodies, and it eventually dissolves into a percussive wash and segues into "Eros," which starts with one of Dan Bitney and John Herndon's signature Steve Reich-ian mallet instrument patterns. There's an effective compositional tension throughout in which particularly abstract electronic passages will suddenly yield to surprisingly pretty melodies before heading back out to space. Those who've followed the band this far are going to be very happy, and anyone who has been hesitant would do well to take the plunge. --Bob Bannister

Album Description

The fourth full length from Tortoise, boldy announces their return following 1998's TNT. The leader's of innovation in a lot of ways, John McEntire and his clan continue with an excellent album. Standard jewel case. 2001 release.

Album Details

Dance: This is a sampler featuring some of the tracks from the forthcoming album.

Customer Reviews:

Slow And Steady Does Not Always Win The Race.......2007-04-11

Tortoise, that post-rock (prog rock) minimalist, electro-jazz fusion crew who defy all labelling (I'm certain many fans would object to some of the labels I just used, some of them with each other, against each other, and for each other), do not make what you would call "listenable" music. That is, their songs are meant to be "experienced" and "absorbed" and "explored."

If that sounds pretentious, it's because it is, and this 2001 album from the group is Pretention On Parade (but pretending like it isn't). I'm not going to say no one should like this album -- there are swatches of sound that are evocative, and listeners with an abundance of patience and an ear for every subsonic twitch and chigger will find much here to pore over -- but I will say that this album is very, very hard to like.

It's an experiment in aborted sound, in neutered musical arrangements. You can put your finger on jazz, electronica, sarcastic rock (sarc-rock, I call it), and the smug jiggles of a group of musicians who aren't doing anything other than warming up their instruments and expecting you to like it. This is an album that is all about style over substance, technique over tune. It hardly seems to take itself seriously, let alone its listener. Although there are moments where the music approximates something inventive and engaging (the first few minutes of "Monica," the last half of "Speakeasy," most of "Six Pack" off and on), most of it is toneless and pointless, at best. "Standards" is one long experiment in the meld of music with mind, xylophones, bossa nova jazz phonics, electro-static washes over divided drum mechanics. Maybe for some it works, but as far as I'm concerned this experiment needs to go back to the drawing board.

Cold but addicting.......2004-04-02

I don't really write a lot of reviews on here. I just don't feel the need to give people my takes on what makes something good and what doesn't. But this is a band that I am made to review just because it's that good!

I have listened to "Standards" only twice straight through now and I must admit I am addicted already. It sounds like the band members gave free access to some local school kids and let them mess around with the studio equipment, recorded it, and laid groove on top of all the mess. But somehow, it works so perfectly and with such a great vibe.
Some of it sounds like walking down a busy city street. Other times it's like being holed up in a space ship or observing a rave under the influence of...whatever. However you may see it, it is more than just a noodling of sounds with no direction. There is a heart to this techno/funk/jazz/rock album but it beats cold and loud.
This band strikes the same fire in me that Pink Floyd did when I discovered them years ago. Tortoise fans will eat this up, they've come this far haven't they? Newcomers beware. This is not going to sound like anything you've ever heard. None of these reviews will help you to understand it either. Find out for yourself, it is a ride worth taking.
The only reason this is 4 stars is that it's a little too short. Maybe because I was spoiled with TNT first.

P.S I'm a very dedicated metalhead, it's really all I listen to. But these guys are an exception and believe me they are far from my norm and I find them as one of my favorites.

Post-Modern White Kid Loves Fake Genius.......2004-02-26

Yo, a couple of people obviously don't really have a problem so much with this record itself, but the "demographic" who listen to it. Well, my friends, the question is not about who listens to this, but about what kind of music the musicians themselves are making.

Actually, I was very disappointed with this album when it first came out. Being an enthusiastic fan of "Millions Now Living..." and "TNT", I believed that Tortoise had lost their epic and experimental flair. Well, give it a little while to find its way into your happy place - I'm a believer now. The virtue of Tortoise's past records was all of the divergent paths that the band tried on for size. Whether it was the pastoral sonic poetry of "I Set My Face to the Hillside" or the floating "Glass Museum", Tortoise seemed to have a real flair for a sort of meditative instrumental rock.

Well, "Standards" is a vastly different affair. On the whole, the sound is extremely focused, as close to a truly conventional album as Tortoise has ever come. Also, I'd say there's a bit more emphasis on American music styles, a la free-form Jazz, Funk, R&B, etc. However, the songs also tell a clearer story this time around. I know that sounds pretentious, but it wasn't until I realized that that I was able to relish this album.

On the whole, it's hilarious that some people hate this music (the people who listen to this music) so much that they have to completely trash it because of the people who listen to it. I personally bought this because of my love for Tortoise's back catalogue. I suspect Tortoise is just a group of guys who enjoy making music, just like any other hard-working band. So judge them based on their records...that being said, given time, this stands strong with the rest of their work.

Listen with an open mind.......2003-03-09

This was the first Tortoise album I was introduced to. Right away, it was catchy and different. It took about 3 full listens, but the album truly grows on you and I highly recommend. Some parts may appear slow, but once you familiarize yourself with it, it becomes much more listenable.

I actually worked my way backwards in discography to TNT - one of their earlier albums - and while different (less electronica), an excellent album. I enjoy TNT just as much as Standards, despite the differences.

Even though some reviewers will share they are not as pleased with the new sound, you gotta respect Tortoise's efforts to push the envelope on new sounds. Fantastic CD. Recommend you give it a chance - will be a keeper in your CD collection.

Enjoyable, but a little deceiving compared to TNT.......2003-01-22

I'm a huge Tortoise fan and I've listened to this album for about 2 years. My favorite Tortoise album is definitely TNT, and MNLWND would come second.

Let's keep things simple. Standards succeeds and fails at the same time. The melodies are mostly good and the sound reminds me of TNT. The percussions are awesome too, as ever. The blend of styles is rich : jazz, funk, krautrock, rock, and still that "elevator music" touch. This is a great start...

HOWEVER, there's too many cheesy synth sounds (that aren't that bad) that remove, in part, the acoustic feel found on TNT. In addition, for some obscure reason, it's hard to listen and pay attention to any whole song on this album : for example, "Monica" and "Blackjack" have a great start but seem to fall short after the first minute and a half or so (it becomes more abstract and cheesy). Also, "Eden 1", "Eden 2" and "Firefly" are a bit weak in my opinion, so we're only left with 7 good ones (compared with 11 or 12 awesome tracks on TNT). Finally, and now I'm being severe, Standards simply has a cheaper sound than all their other records, as if the mixing of musical styles had been made a bit carelessly (but not without a certain talent, of course).

Buy this one if you like Tortoise, but if you're looking for their best work, go with TNT or MNLWND.

Meditation Music:

1. Undefeated
2. Underneath [Import]
3. Venomocean
4. Voice Within [CD-single] [Import]
5. Whatchulookinat [CD-single] [Import]
6. World of Our Own [Limited Edition] [Import]
7. You Drive Me Crazy [CD-single] [Import]
8. Aftertaste
9. Album [Original recording remastered] [Import]
10. All I Have [CD-single] [Import]

Meditation Music

meditation music

Meditation Music

Oldies but Goodies, Vol. 2 [Box set]

Jane Eaglen sings Medea in Corinto [Highlight]

London Symphony Orchestra: Mozart; Schubert; Schumann...

Music: Wild Obsession/Nasty Reputation

Lady Stardust [CD-single] [Import]

Luftkastellet, Vol. 2

La Bandera: The Flag, Vol. 2

Hips and Makers

Kharisma [Enhanced]

Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsodies S244; Consolations

Latin Airs

La Ley Y La Trampa [Import]

El Mar De La Fertilidad [Import]

Faure: Requiem Op48; Bach: Magnificat in D

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