Tortoise (album)
| Tortoise | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1994 | |||
| Recorded | November 29–December 5, 1993 | |||
| Genre | Post-rock | |||
| Length | 50:03 | |||
| Label | Thrill Jockey | |||
| Producer | Tortoise | |||
| Tortoise chronology | ||||
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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
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [3] |
| Chicago Tribune | [4] |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |  [5] |
| Melody Maker | [6] |
| (The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide | [7] |
| Uncut | [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. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 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
- Dan Bitney
- Bundy K. Brown
- John Herndon
- Douglas McCombs
- John McEntire
Production
- Bundy K. Brown – recording (assistant), mixing (assistant)
- John McEntire – recording, mixing
- Tortoise – arrangement, production
Artwork and design
- Sam Prekop – cover design
References
- ^ "Club Hopping". Weekend Plus. Chicago Sun-Times. December 30, 1994. p. 5.
- ^ Morris, Chris (March 7, 1998). "Thrill Jockey's Tortoise Finds Experimentation Instrumental". Billboard. Vol. 110, no. 10. p. 14. Retrieved January 3, 2017.
- ^ a b Swann, Glenn. "Tortoise – Tortoise". AllMusic. Retrieved January 17, 2014.
- ^ Kot, Greg (June 30, 1994). "Tortoise: Tortoise (Thrill Jockey)". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved December 10, 2017.
- ^ Larkin, Colin (2011). "Tortoise". The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 9780857125958.
- ^ "Tortoise: Tortoise". Melody Maker. May 16, 2000. p. 46.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Tortoise: Tortoise". Uncut. No. 64. September 2002.
- ^ "Tortoise". Trouser Press. Retrieved June 21, 2024.
- ^ Tortoise (liner notes). Tortoise. Thrill Jockey. 1994. Thrill 013.
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