Tortoise: Classic or Dud

yeah it was definitely a collaboration to the fullest...could have easily been billed as Mpls Jazz All Stars feat Tortoise

two drummers - dan bitney & jt bates

stage right was the jazz all star stage left was tortoise - mccoombs/parker on bass/guitar, herdon & mcentire on various keyboards/electronics/laptops

i didn't really recognize proper tortoise songs per se, they seemed to work off a main riff or theme and kind of all go off from there....i think i recognized some riffs from tortoise songs here and there (LOL i also realize how much i don't know ANY tortoise song titles except for djed)....then they did a encore of "galapagos" which mccoombs said that the jazz guys didn't know and they hadn't practiced but it went off well..

mike & greg lewis were both great....never seen ewart and goddam he was the fucking BOMB, also dressed so fucking "jazz guy" - flowing african v-neck style kinda tie-dyed looking shirt, beret, and neat beard, so cool....but yeah he's a great player

surprise was michele kinney who i wasn't familiar with but she was great...

jordan - does your ILM mail work? I have a link that, shall we say, might be of interest :)

it does!

cool, sent! let me know what you think, but it's sounding just a good in the harsh light of monday morning

thanks man! can't download at work but i'll check it out tonight, looking forward to it.

wow could I also have that link?

One of my issues with Tortoise has been that for all their individual talents, they don't really improvise live. So it's exciting to hear they're at least trying to push themselves a little, belatedly.

yeah i really enjoyed seeing them last week but it seemed, i don't know, a little rote. they covered all the parts but i was hoping that they'd let jeff parker off the leash a little or get into more double-drummer fire.

just about ten minutes in, but yeah sounding great! thanks m@tt

hurting - check you ILX mail :)

josh you want the link?

i'd be happy to take a link!

some photos here

http://www.reviler.org/2012/05/07/photos-tortoise-minneapolis-jazz-all-stars-at-walker-art-center/

nice. looks like herndon on drums btw.

Tortoise + guests Festival Sons d'Hiver Creteil 2013.23.02 Maisons des Arts
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwL74stwgQY

The last twenty minutes are really nice, Tortoise minimal music style...I wonder if this is new work?

New album, The Catastrophist, out in January. From the press release:

It’s an album where moody, synth-swept jams like the opening title track cozy up next to hypnotic, bass-and-beat missives like “Shake Hands With Danger,” a downright strange cover of David Essex’s 1973 radio smash, “Rock On,” sung by U.S. Maple/Dead Rider’s Todd Rittmann, and the bittersweet, honest-to-goodness soul ballad “Yonder Blue,” sung by Yo La Tengo’s Georgia Hubley.

I'm enthusiastic. "Gesceap" doesn't sound like a significant change in sound but that's okay with me. Tortoise have matured into a very dependable, still unique band.

I'm a little sceptical of vocals over tortoise tracks, but I like gesceap

lol what -- the new album includes a downright strange cover of David Essex’s 1973 radio smash, “Rock On,” sung by U.S. Maple/Dead Rider’s Todd Rittmann

actually come to think of it the record they did with BPB was not bad, maybe I'll revisit

I was just thinking abt how much I wish I could see them live again like a week ago and my desire has manifested a new song and a tour! Thank you power of positive thinking!!!!

was "rock on" really a radio smash, or is that just one of those things publicists say? am i supposed to know this song? i know "shake hands with danger". was that a radio hit?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSucj0XKmHk

Looks like they're going to be on the road enticingly close to the Big Ears dates next year. Wouldn't be surprised to see them booked for that.

'rock on' got to number 5 in the US apparently. it's a song worth knowing imo:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pYwtq8gZ3Y

the new song is good!

Straight out of 1996, which works for me.

"Rock On" is one of the stupidest songs ever recorded

Rock On is great, can't see Tortoise topping the Toni Basil version, though

Rock On is stupid it's true, but it's a *great* stupid song, also a really weird sounding song too

oh, i've heard that song. it's just one of those songs that's too generic for me to bother remembering. thanks!

and yeah, if we start disqualifying songs for being stupid marc bolan's entire career goes out the window. not that david essex is exactly marc bolan...

kind of seems like he was trying to convince himself he was

if 'rock on' is that generic then i would love some suggestions of similarly weird stripped-down funk that sounds like it's swimming in a bucket of glue. closest thing i can think of is john martyn's 'big muff'?

...which i guess is what tortoise were picking up on - think they're JM fans?

If Tortoise + a guy from US Maple do a straightforward cover of "Rock On," I will be shocked. I think it's pretty safe to withhold judgement of their song choice.

http://secondhandsongs.com/performance/48628/all

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/jan/15/tortoise-the-catastrophist-exclusive-album-stream

I have a copy of this, but I'm having trouble mustering the energy to listen to it. I can't even tell you the name of the last two or three albums, at least nothing since Standards.

i think it's good! georgia hubley track is wonderful ... not totally sold on the "rock on" cover.

leaning heavily on McEntire's modular synths on this one, huh?

really hate the cover art

don't love the title either, usually they have great album titles

can't say I love this on first listen, it's fine but it doesn't feel like they've gone anywhere for the last couple of albums.

yeah the cover's a little unfortunate.
kinda dig some of the mid-to-late-70s herbie hancockisms on a few tracks.

this went in both ears and then out one or the other, but it makes me want to go listen to the last two. there are definitely some great ideas on It's All Around You.

the cover is gross

i have been enjoying listening to the recording well enough but would rather see them live

yeah! just saw that they are coming through denver in may -- i think i will go. i haven't seen tortoise since 1998!
look at all these tour dates

Sat. Jan. 23 - Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall [In The Round performance] (early & late show) — SOLD OUT
Sun. Jan. 24 – Milwaukee, WI @ Mad Planet [Tix]
Sun. Feb. 7 - Copenhagen, DK @ Vega Jr. [Tix] *^
Mon. Feb. 8 - Hamburg, DE @ Fabrik [Tix] *^
Tue. Feb. 9 - Berlin, DE @ Berghain *^ - SOLD OUT
Wed. Feb. 10 - Antwerpen, BE @ Trix *^
Thu. Feb. 11 - Utrecht, NL @ Tivoli [Tix] *^
Fri. Feb. 12 - St. Gallen, CH @ Palace *^^ [Tix]
Sat. Feb. 13 - Geneva, CH @ Antigel Festival *
Sun. Feb. 14 - Zürich, CH @ Stall 6 ^^ [Tix]
Mon. Feb. 15 - Reutlingen, DE @ Franz.K [Tix] *
Tue. Feb. 16 - Vienna, AT @ Arena *^ [Tix]
Wed. Feb. 17 - Budapest, HU @ A 38 [Tix]*
Thu. Feb. 18 - Zagreb, HR @ Mochvara*
Fri. Feb. 19 - Bologna, IT @ Locomotiv Club* [Tix]
Sat. Feb. 20 - Rome, IT @ Monk Club* [Tix]
Sun. Feb. 21 - Milan, IT @ Magnolia Club* [Tix]
Mon. Feb. 22 - Istanbul, TR @ CRR Concert Hall
Tue. Feb. 23 - London, UK @ Village Underground * - SOLD OUT
Wed. March 9 - Minneapolis, MN @ The Cedar Cultural Center # [Tix]
Fri. March 11 - Ann Arbor, MI @ The Blind Pig # [Tix]
Sat. March 12 - Toronto, ON @ Lee’s Palace # [Tix]
Sun. March 13 - Montreal, QC @ Fairmount # [Tix]
Mon. March 14 - Northampton, MA @ Iron Horse # [Tix]
Tue. March 15 - Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair # [Tix]
Wed. March 16 - New York, NY @ (Le) Poisson Rouge # [Tix]
Thu. March 17 - Brooklyn, NY @ Littlefield # [Tix]
Fri. March 18 - Philadelphia, PA @ Underground Arts # [Tix]
Sat. March 19 - Washington, DC @ Black Cat # [Tix]
Sun. March 20 – Charlottesville, VA @ The Southern # [Tix]
Mon. March 21 – Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel # [Tix]
Tue. March 22 - Louisville, KY @ Headliners Music Hall # [Tix]
Wed. March 23 - Newport, KY @ Southgate House Revival # [Tix]
Thu. March 24 - Indianapolis, IN @ Radio Radio # [Tix]
Tue. April 26 - Boise, ID @ Radio Boise Tuesday [Tix]
Wed. April 27 - Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile [Tix]
Thu. April 28 - Vancouver, BC @ Imperial [Tix]
Fri. April 29 - Portland, OR @ Revolution Hall [Tix]
Sat. April 30 - Sonoma, CA @ Sonoma Winery / Redwood Barn [Tix]
Sun. May 1 - San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall [Tix]
Mon. May 2 - Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom [Tix]
Tue. May 3 - Solana Beach @ Belly Up [Tix]
Wed. May 4 – Phoenix AZ @ Desert Daze Phoenix at Crescent Ballroom
Fri. May 6 - Austin, TX @ Mohawk [Tix]
Sun. May 8 - Dallas, TX @ Dada [Tix]
Mon. May 9 - St. Louis, MO @ The Ready Room [Tix]
Tue. May 10 - Chicago, IL @ Metro [Tix]
Wed. May 11 - Lawrence, KS @ Granada Theater [Tix]
Thu. May 12 - Denver, CO @ Bluebird [Tix]
Fri. May 13 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge [Tix]
Sat. May 14 - Albuquerque, NM @ Launchpad
Fri. May 27 - Torino, IT @ Cap10100
Sat. May 28 - Brescia, IT @ Latteria Molloy
Sun. May 29 - Munich, DE @ Feierwerk [Tix]
Mon. May 30 - Frankfurt, DE @ Das Bett [Tix]
Tue. May 31 - Paris, FR @ TBA
Wed. June 1 - Koln, DE @ Kulturkirche
Thu. June 2 - Besancon, FR @ La Rodia
Sun. June 5 - Nimes, FR @ This Is Not A Love Song Festival
Mon. June 6 - Toulouse, FR - Metronum
Wed. June 8 - Metz, FR @ Les Trinitaires
Thu. June 9 Tourcoing, FR @ Le Grand Mix
Fri. July 3 - Keflavik, IS @ Asbru (ATP Iceland) [Tix]
Tue. July 5 - Berlin, DE @ Columbia Theater

* w/ Sam Prekop
^ w/ Blondie Brownie
^^ w/ Little Tornados
# w/ Mind Over Mirrors

SOLD OUT ;_;

another chicago show on may 10 though!

they're playing in Madison on March 10 too.

I agree there was stuff that interested me on It's All Around You. It was really mostly the last one that lost me, and even that had Gigantes, which I thought was a great track.