C/D ::: Tortoise's TNT

I don't listen to Standards much, but All Around You is great!

they are still killing it at their live shows too. always amazing.

http://www.cleftandcloven.com/tortoise.mp3

RS, my good friend.

OTM

Thanks, Hurting! Ha, I don't think I could bring myself do that, but McEntire did just mix a record that the guitarist is on (Cougar), so there's some connection.

I thought "Standards" had a few really good tracks and some that were kind of meh. I still haven't picked up the last one and missed Tortoise on tour for the first time in a long time.

I was listening to Isis' "Oceanic" while driving at night this past Saturday and I couldn't help but notice how one selection reminded me a bit of Tortoise.

oh my god it took me way too long to figure out this album is amazing

oh yeah, killer album. I only own this and Standards but I pull this one out way more often

you ought to check out millions now living

this is a beautiful album and there are also autechre and derrick carter remixes

i bought a copy of millions now living when i was 14, i think trying to understand that record before i had any real context for it was... p influential on the kinds of music i was drawn to for years

my faves were always millions and standards, for some reason i found tnt too sleepy? but that’s why it’s so good

I've def heard Millions before, just never been lucky enough to find a thrift-store copy (which is the source of 99% of my CDs)

Millions and TNT both stone cold classics but nigh on incomparable imo. The latter is so warm and, indeed, sleepy and dreamlike. Millions more of a 'statement' record, albeit a truly remarkable one. It's funny how for quite an abstract track the the title song is etched into my memory, every twist and turn.

Also, I'm not a real vinyl stan but the lp version of TNT just fucking grooves like the cd doesn't?

Never managed to really get into Millions (too cold) and never cared much for Standards (too atonal), but TNT is probably amongst the ten most beautiful albums I know. Sometimes I'll pull it out to hear a specific riff or segue, just to end up listening to the whole damn thing.

This is still the one for me, it still has a lot of magic. And I always forget about some of the more heavily electronic sections near the end.

I think the self-titled is the cold one - cold to the bone (and it has Bundy Brown: truly, we are not worthy). Millions is more expansive and open. TNT even more so.

I call him "PJ" we have a great vibe

What is the correct pronunciation of Pajo's name? Asking for a friend.

PJ's cool about it Pah-jo, Pa-ho it's just letters and sounds

'Dave'

I mean, I know we all have bad days.... but listening to Parker here is like a jr. high school cover band sitting in, just can't hear him as author of that riff (esp as I've yet to hear him play it "right"!):

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

xp: pa-ho.

Huh, I think he's just picking the wrong time to be a jazz dude about it. I mean, he starts playing it straight once the whole band comes in (2 min).

This seems relevant to recent discussion:

'imagine a graphic showing all the bands the five members of Tortoise were in' reminded me of this 'a beautiful mind'-esque diagram @WNUR893 gave out to all the freshmen DJs when i was at NU :-) pic.twitter.com/ACAH4KIfFr

— arielle (@reallygordon) February 17, 2019

omg memories
whoa

i feel like there is an extra wing of/appendix to that diagram for all of the jazz/improv stuff happening at the time. very fruitful chicago period!

probably also missing a lot of stuff
also (eleventh dream day) too small

chicago is always fruitful, what am i saying

i feel like something like that chart actually existed online in the late '90s, can't imagine where i saw it, tho

Ah, here it is -- a "Squirrel Bait Genealogy"

http://www.chimpomatic.com/file-uploads/large/squirrelbait_family_tree.jpg

And then apparently David Grubbs made his own version more recently:

https://www.paynomindtous.it/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/squirrel_bait_band_family_tree.jpg

Always been a big Tortoise fan but I was a kid/teen during this period and hadn't delved into all these offshoots and related acts. This thread has been super rewarding the past few weeks.

Tortoise genealogy on BandtoBand

Pitchfork shared the entire Midwinter set of TNT I mentioned above.

https://pitchfork.com/news/watch-tortoise-perform-tnt-in-full-at-pitchfork-and-the-art-institute-of-chicagos-midwinter/

https://youtu.be/EwJf5fw57Yo

Wow, thanks for that!

nice, i grabbed an aud of the set off dime and it was a fun listen

I saw John McEntire perform solo a few days ago and it was excellent. First time I'd seen him in any capicity since the mid-90s. Kind of an interesting rig (it's posted on his IG if you follow him).

i listened to the first savath and savalas album today for the first time. parts of it really reminded me of TNT.

Loving this pfork set, it warms my heart to see all those old dudes playing this music

me too!!
that was one of the things i enjoyed about seeing the video :)

i find myself very distracted by mcentire’s chest tattoos.

lol @ playing their own vinyl for 'Almost Always is Nearly Enough', I wondered how they were going to do that (was hoping for sample pad jams).

that pfork set is goddamn astonishing

I bought this on CD for 4 bucks the other day cuz of this thread *thumbs up* a few friends of mine in HS owned it and played it a lot. The mournful melodica track towards the beginning always made me feel cold and lonely but I'm digging it more now.

The Reichian stuff too.. that annoyed me back then for some reason but I'm liking it now

that pfork set is goddamn astonishing

― jolene club remix (BradNelson), Wednesday, March 20, 2019 5:07 PM (four hours ago)

...except for McCombs on "The Suspension Bridge at Iguazu Falls"... oof. Brutal. Went into a deep flubberage mode and never really got out of it.

Just found that Savath and Salas album for £4 on eBay. Good love the internet; god love Chicagoan post-rock.

Who is the sixth player in that pitchfork set (not counting horns and strings)? One youtube commenter said it's Bundy K Brown.

James Elkington, he was in Brokeback & 11th Dream Day.

https://www.discogs.com/artist/458195-James-Elkington?filter_anv=0&subtype=Instruments-Performance&type=Credits

The guy on bass here:

https://i.imgur.com/I3XqiE5.jpg

...except for McCombs on "The Suspension Bridge at Iguazu Falls"... oof. Brutal. Went into a deep flubberage mode and never really got out of it.

― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Wednesday, March 20, 2019 9:21 PM (one week ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i didn't really notice

xp - thanks!

36:28 is when it starts (about 3 seconds of flubs... he immediately loses all looseness and starts playing stiffer)
then the arpeggiations at 37:35 are flubbed
when he comes back in at 38:07 he starts a series of flubs which sets off a total technical breakdown through the following 30 seconds (!), and while he's struggling to recover, thankfully the end of the song comes before soon.

i spotted doug mccombs at a voivod/yob show on wed night
that guy can't hide anywhere

also ilx tortoiseheads should know that he is also in a new trio called Black Duck with two other chicago people you should check out (MacKay/McCombs/Rumback)

Black Duck is an enigmatic & electric new outfit out of Chicago that features Douglas McCombs and Bill MacKay on guitars, and Charles Rumback on drums. The trio’s propulsive psych-inflected grooves and ethereal improvisations have found enthusiastic favor with fans of varied temperaments and motivations.

man, I've seen Doug McCombs at Whole Foods

I interviewed Doug McCombs back in the day - in a pub on the Grays Inn Road, one of only three interviews I ever did in a shit career move that never quite happened. He was easy company. We spent most of the time talking about ATP wankers and Arnold Odermatt.

That is my Doug McCombs story.

Got sent a link for this by a friend and during track one felt compelled to email them and say I was only watching more if he could assure me that McEntire survived until the end.

lol

"Suspension Bridge ..." is mesmerizing (to watch as well as listen to).

Got sent a link for this by a friend and during track one felt compelled to email them and say I was only watching more if he could assure me that McEntire survived until the end.

― djh, Wednesday, April 3, 2019 3:51 PM (fifty-three minutes ago)

hahaha, he's relaxed like Perry Como in that set compared to the times I've seen them live. Had his stare set to Maim, etc.

I visited that bridge this year, true story

(although I think it's been replaced since TNT came out)