Tortoise (album)

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Tortoise
File:Tortoise-Tortoise (album cover).jpg
Studio album by
Released1994
RecordedNovember 29–December 5, 1993
GenrePost-rock
Length50:03
LabelThrill Jockey
ProducerTortoise
Tortoise chronology
Tortoise
(1994)
Rhythms, Resolutions & Clusters
(1995)

Tortoise is the debut studio album by American post-rock band Tortoise.[1] It was released in 1994 via Thrill Jockey. It received positive reviews from critics. By March 1998, Tortoise had sold 35,000 copies (8,000 LPs and 27,000 CDs).[2]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusicFile:Star full.svgFile:Star full.svgFile:Star full.svgFile:Star full.svgFile:Star half.svg[3]
Chicago TribuneFile:Star full.svgFile:Star full.svgFile:Star full.svgFile:Star half.svg[4]
The Encyclopedia of Popular MusicFile:Star full.svgFile:Star full.svgFile:Star full.svgFile:Star empty.svgFile:Star empty.svg[5]
Melody MakerFile:Star full.svgFile:Star full.svgFile:Star full.svgFile:Star full.svgFile:Star half.svg[6]
(The New) Rolling Stone Album GuideFile:Star full.svgFile:Star full.svgFile:Star full.svgFile:Star empty.svgFile:Star empty.svg[7]
UncutFile:Star full.svgFile:Star full.svgFile:Star full.svgFile:Star full.svgFile:Star empty.svg[8]

Trouser Press noted that "the beckoning warmth of the gently shifting rhythms ... make it easy to forget that there's nary a whit of guitar and only the briefest whiff of standard-issue keyboards in play."[9] In his review for AllMusic, Glenn Swan writes that Tortoise "share equal responsibility and trust in each other, pouring out a thick stew of meditative grooves, light production experiments, and rusty guitar-string ambience -- the likes of which have rarely sounded so approachable, but this is not to say the album is a sellout leap into commercialism. There are a couple head scratchers and murky moments that fail to make much of an impact, but the quintet have spun such a rich web of mood and personality that any fall from grace barely changes altitude".[3]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Tortoise (Dan Bitney, Bundy K. Brown, John Herndon, Douglas McCombs and John McEntire)

No.TitleLength
1."Magnet Pulls Through"4:37
2."Night Air"3:50
3."Ry Cooder"7:04
4."Onions Wrapped in Rubber"6:40
5."Tin Cans & Twine"4:20
6."Spiderwebbed"8:33
7."His Second Story Island"2:41
8."On Noble"4:05
9."Flyrod"3:29
10."Cornpone Brunch"4:44
Total length:50:03

Personnel

Credits for Tortoise adapted from album liner notes.[10] Tortoise

Production

  • Bundy K. Brown – recording (assistant), mixing (assistant)
  • John McEntire – recording, mixing
  • Tortoise – arrangement, production

Artwork and design

References

  1. "Club Hopping". Weekend Plus. Chicago Sun-Times. Dec 30, 1994. p. 5.
  2. Morris, Chris (March 7, 1998). "Thrill Jockey's Tortoise Finds Experimentation Instrumental". Billboard. Vol. 110, no. 10. p. 14. Retrieved January 3, 2017.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Swann, Glenn. "Tortoise – Tortoise". AllMusic. Retrieved January 17, 2014.
  4. Kot, Greg (June 30, 1994). "Tortoise: Tortoise (Thrill Jockey)". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved December 10, 2017.
  5. Larkin, Colin (2011). "Tortoise". The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 9780857125958.
  6. "Tortoise: Tortoise". Melody Maker. May 16, 2000. p. 46.
  7. Wolk, Douglas (2004). "Tortoise". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). (The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 819–20. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  8. "Tortoise: Tortoise". Uncut. No. 64. September 2002.
  9. "Tortoise". Trouser Press. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
  10. Tortoise (liner notes). Tortoise. Thrill Jockey. 1994. Thrill 013.{{cite AV media}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)