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Tortoise TNT Release Date: 1998 03 10 Running Time: 65:00 Label: Thrill Jockey Expected by many to continue leading the post-rock brigade into a new fusion with dub and electronics, Tortoise instead turned yet another corner with their third album, TNT. Adding guitarist Jeff Parker to cement their musicianship as well as their connections to Chicago's fertile jazz/avant-garde scene, the band returned with a record of post-modern cool jazz, only slightly informed by the dub, Krautrock, and electronics of Millions Now Living Will Never Die. It shows from the first few seconds -- a lazy, slightly free drum solo frames a few tentative guitar chords and some teased effects, before the band kicks in with a holds-barred jam that encompasses a tremulous solo from trumpeter Rob Mazurek. With engineer/mixer/drummer John McEntire and company adding only a few post-production frills to the mix -- and those so complementary and subdued that they rarely even sound like effects -- TNT comes off as a surprisingly organic record. The evocative Spanish-style guitar on "I Set My Face to the Hillside" plays over an assortment of playground sounds, while "The Suspension Bridge at Iguazú Falls" deconstructs a classically angular Tortoise groove and re-emerges with an evocative, deeply affecting groove over shimmering vibes and precision guitar lines. There are plenty of nods to post-rock touchstones like Krautrock ("Swing From the Gutters"), dub, and minimalism ("Ten-Day Interval"), but Tortoise hardly sounds like a difficult band here. Instead of forcing studio experimentation to become an end to itself, the band mastered -- with a single, deft statement -- the far more difficult lesson of making technology work for the music. John Bush, All Music Guide Tracks: Title Composer Time 1 TNT Parker, McEntire, Tortoise, Pajo, Herndon, Bitney, McCombs 7:33 2 Swung from the Gutters Parker, McEntire, McCombs, Bitney, Pajo, Herndon, Tortoise 5:52 3 Ten-Day Interval Herndon, Bitney, McEntire, Parker, Pajo, Tortoise, McCombs 4:44 4 I Set My Face to the Hillside Bitney, Parker, McEntire, Tortoise, Pajo, McCombs, Herndon 6:08 5 Equator Parker, McCombs, Herndon, Tortoise, Bitney, McEntire, Pajo 3:42 6 Simple Way to Go Faster Than Light That Does Not Work McCombs, Herndon, Parker, Bitney, McEntire, Pajo, Tortoise 3:33 7 Suspension Bridge at Iguazú Falls Pajo, Bitney, McEntire, Tortoise, Parker, Herndon, McCombs 5:38 8 Four-Day Interval McEntire, Pajo, Bitney, Tortoise, McCombs, Herndon, Parker 4:45 9 In Sarah, Mencken, Christ, and Beethoven There Were Women and Men Herndon, Bitney, Parker, McEntire, Tortoise, Pajo 7:29 10 Almost Always Is Nearly Enough McCombs, McEntire, Parker, Tortoise, Bitney, Pajo, Herndon 2:42 11 Jetty Tortoise, McEntire, Pajo, McCombs, Herndon, Bitney, Parker 8:21 12 Everglade Parker, Pajo, Herndon, McEntire, Bitney, McCombs, Tortoise 4:21 Releases: Year Type Label 1998 CD Thrill Jockey 1999 CD City Slang Recordings 2004 LP Thrill Jockey 1998 CD Thrill Jockey

Group Members: David Pajo Bundy K. Brown Dan Bitney John Herndon Douglas McCombs More >> Similar Artists: Slint Cul de Sac Trans Am Gastr del Sol Pluramon More >>

Influenced By: Can Liquid Liquid Sonic Youth Neu! Steve Reich More >> Followers: Analogue II The Olivia Tremor Control The Album Leaf Radian The Dylan Group More >>

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