TORTOISE | A Lazarus Taxon Tortoise’s new four-disc box set–which collects remixes by and of the band, bonus tracks, compilation appearances, and other rarities–might not seem like the best lens through which to view their accomplishments. But in some ways it’s the ideal one.
Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
Bands that have been around as long as Tortoise, especially when they’re local, are easy to take for granted. And when their early innovations have been as completely absorbed by other musicians as Tortoise’s have, with time they can come to seem less impressive. A few of the remixes and more than a few of the bonus tracks on A Lazarus Taxon now seem disposable (that’s the nature of bonus tracks, I guess), but one of the things that distinguished Tortoise back in the day was their willingness to revisit and rerevisit their own music. I love how some of the singles and comp tracks make whole new tunes out of little bits of other ones. For instance, not one but two here derive from the Duophonic 12-inch cut “Cliff Dweller Society,” an epic 15-minute collage of discrete, mostly improvised sections: “Why We Fight,” a 1995 single on Soul Static Sound, transforms a spare section of taut, stuttering drum beats and rising and falling bell tones with a lyrical bass line and electronically processed echoes; “Source of Uncertainty,” a track from the Mo’ Wax compilation Headz 2, is an alternate mix of “Why We Fight” with synthetic bass smudges and a dubbed-out feel.
WHEN Fri 9/29, 7 and 10 PM
Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): photos/Ed Goralnick, James Warden.
