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Tortoise

by Tortoise

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DMV Waves
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DMV Waves Strange and beautiful. Ry Cooder and Tin Cans & Twine lift my spirits every time. 🤘
Favorite track: Tin Cans & Twine.
hoopboyhandro
hoopboyhandro thumbnail
hoopboyhandro Amazing atmosphere and a unique sound palette with the rhythm section being the center piece. Tortoise's self titled feels to me like it lives in it's own ethereal plane Favorite track: On Noble.
Smiley McGrouchpants Jr. Esq. III
Smiley McGrouchpants Jr. Esq. III thumbnail
Smiley McGrouchpants Jr. Esq. III Listening to Nine Inch Nails' "Year Zero" and "The Slip" really helps with this. Ditto "Flying Saucer Attack," s/t.

You *don't* just have to go back to Can and Faust. You *don't* just have to go back to the VU.

It helps. Favorite track: Ry Cooder.
John Cratchley
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John Cratchley This is where it started...and it still feels like a breath of fresh air!
After all these years it is difficult music to pin down stylistically (the whole point,really) because of the vast range of musical references it accesses.
Yet it is wholly original and of itself...a perfect launch and trajectory for all that was to come.
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  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Includes unlimited streaming of Tortoise via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 3 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      $23 USD or more 

     

  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    LP version pressed on virgin vinyl and packaged in a chipboard jacket with insert.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Tortoise via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 3 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      $22 USD or more 

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    The CD is packaged in a 6 panel gatefold package printed on chipboard and now includes an extra panel of credits that mirror the first pressing.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Tortoise via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 3 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      $12 USD or more 

     

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $9 USD  or more

     

1.
2.
Night Air 03:50
3.
Ry Cooder 07:06
4.
5.
6.
Spiderwebbed 08:34
7.
8.
On Noble 04:09
9.
Flyrod 03:28
10.

about

Tortoise's self-titled debut incorporates many musical styles and influences and combines them into one very distince sound. So distinct that sometime after the release of this record they became recognized as the leaders of a new musical movement. Tortoise exploits the recording studio, in that they utilize the recording process as a compostional tool or "sixth member", thus creating a boundless parameter in which to create music. Recorded at Idful Studios by John McEntire.

For this record Tortoise is
Douglas McCombs
John Herndon
Dan Bitney
John McEntire
Bundy K. Brown

credits

released September 1, 1994

license

all rights reserved

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about

Tortoise Chicago, Illinois

Simply put, Tortoise has spent nearly 25 years making music that defies description. While the Chicago-based instrumental quintet has nodded to dub, rock, jazz, electronica and minimalism throughout its revered and influential six-album discography, the resulting sounds have always been distinctly, even stubbornly, their own. ... more

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