Tortoise

Biography

Formed in Chicago, Illinois, USA, in 1990, this predominantly instrumental band was founded by Douglas McCombs (bass/guitar, also Eleventh Dream Day and Brokeback) and John Herndon (drums/vibraphone) as an experiment. By 1994 they had recruited Bundy K. Brown (bass, also Gastr Del Sol) and multi-instrumentalists John McEntire (9 April 1970, Portland, Oregon, USA, also Gastr Del Sol, Red Crayola) and Dan Bitney, and set about work on their self-titled 1994 debut album. A richly formulated collection of atmospheric collages, combining dub reggae bass, electronic, jazz, ambient and classical movements, it saw them become the toast of a number of US and UK magazines. Rhythms, Resolutions & Clusters, a remix project drawing principally on the debut, was released the following year. Leading alternative engineers such as Steve Albini, Jim O’Rourke and Brad Wood essentially used each track as carte blanche for their sonic experiments.

David...

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