Whaddya get when you mix indie experimentalism and bizarre, electronica noise with what could be the soundtrack to a Luis Bunuel or Fellini flick? While a great many of their songs admittedly do crawl along at a sluggish pace, Tortoise’s name may still be somewhat of a misnomer. But with the diverse musical terrain these boys cover, I found it difficult to distract myself. For those of you with 2-second attention spans like me, just pushing ahead to the next track guarantees a new universe of influences, soundscapes and harmonies. You’ll even get some crazy-fast dance beats in there if you’re patient.
And despite their seemingly endless network of connections throughout the Chicago indie scene, this genre-defying/defining quintet is still miles ahead of the pack. It’s almost like watching one of those above-mentioned film auteurs: what seems most frightening can sometimes be the most fun, in that it’s challenging, perhaps even enlightening. Tortoise explores and embraces manifold musical directions, all in a sort of seamless transmogrification, and what began as irritation and annoyance becomes a sort of charming idiosyncrasy: The staccato pluck of guitar strings until it becomes a singular meandering drone — it will grow on you. The static humming of a television on after-hours, basic cable — you’ll see how it compliments the insane 6/5 time signature and jazz drumming. The missing vocals — c’mon. Live a little, will ya?
Crawl if you must, but get yourself over to Red Bull Music Academy now for a little character-building — and an exploratory, sprawling live set.
