Tortoise (album)

Tortoise
Studio album by Tortoise
Released	June 22, 1994
Recorded	November 29–December 5, 1993
Genre	Post-rock, experimental rock, jazz fusion
Length	50:03
Label	Thrill Jockey THRILL013
Tortoise chronology
Tortoise (1994) Rhythms, Resolutions & Clusters (1995)

Tortoise is the eponymous debut studio album by Chicago-based instrumental rock band Tortoise. It was released in 1994 on the Thrill Jockey record label.

The album is dedicated to the memory Michael F. Cergizan, who was a member of bassist Doug McCombs', and John Herndon's (both current members of Tortoise) band "Simple." in 1988.

The song "Cornpone Brunch" begins with a sample of the "Wonderful Radio Jingle" at the beginning of The Who Sell Out.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]

In his review for Allmusic, Glenn Swan states "Here, multi-instrumentalists John McEntire, Dan Bitney, John Herdon, Douglas McCombs, and Bundy K. Brown 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".^[1]

Track listing

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

References

1. Swand, Glenn. Tortoise – Tortoise> Review at AllMusic. Retrieved January 17, 2014.