Twenty years after releasing their self-titled debut album, instrumental rock group Tortoise will be making their Mainland debut.
“It’s hard to believe it’s been that long,” exclaims drummer and producer John McEntire. “It’s exciting that that the musical landscape contains a whole lot more diversity than it did twenty years ago but I’m glad we started when we did. Everything is so saturated right now that it’s difficult to get yourself heard.”
The thought of Tortoise being ignored is difficult to comprehend. At the height of the guitar-driven grunge era, the group formed in Chicago with an ear-bleeding lineup of three percussionists and two bassists.
Over the course of six albums, they’ve widened the parameters of indie rock and are often credited as the godfathers of post-rock, a term they utterly despise.
“Our sound didn’t really develop, it kind of just happened,” McEntire explains. “A lot of it had to do with the instrumentation, but also the chemistry and influences that each of us brought to the group.”
As an instrumental group, they’ve had the opportunity to back a number of greats. Reggae great Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry toasted over their tracks during the 2003 Meltdown Festival in London and they recently re-recorded Yani’s Live at the Acropolis alongside Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore and Beck for the singer’s Record Club series of recreating classic albums with friends in a day.
McEntire cites their tour alongside Tropicalia pioneer Tom Ze as the most impactful. “It was super fun and enlightening, to learn his music and perform with him all over the US. Plus he’s one of the most amazing dudes ever,” McEntire says, while also shouting the band’s collaboration covers record The Brave and the Bold recorded with acclaimed indie singer-songwriter Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy.
However, their discography is sterling with critically acclaimed records that touch on jazz (TNT) and electronica (Standards). Their sophomore record Millions Now Living Will Never Die remains its most feted. It’s been named by Pitchfork, Spin and Rough Guide as one of the best 100 albums of the 1990s with opening track ‘Djed’ a fan favorite, amazing as it’s nearly 21-minutes long.
McEntire laughs at the suggestion that fans react to the 7-part song like its the group’s ‘Freebird’ but remains surprised by the disc’s longevity. The group performed it in its entirety at the All Tomorrow’s Party festival in 2008 and 2010. He admits, “it’s one of our best but my favorite is probably Beacons of Ancestorship.”
The 2009 disc is the group’s latest and just their second album in the last ten years. With each member having multiple side projects like the Sea and the Cake and Brokeback, McEntire admits “it’s pretty random how much we get together especially since two of the guys live in LA now. We have to plan things carefully.”
Fans will be relieved that the group are currently half-way through recording their latest opus. Meanwhile the group’s Mainland fans can expect a show that dips into their entire discography.
“It’s quite a mixed bag but hopefully it all flows well enough,” he says. “People always comment on the switching instruments thing but we’ve been doing it so long we don’t even think about it.”
// May 17, 9pm, RMB160-200. YugongYishan, 3-2 Zhangzizhong Lu (100m west of Zhangzizhong Lu subway station), Dongcheng District 东城区张自忠路3-2号 (6404 2711, www.smartticket.com)
Image by Jim Newberry
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