Ever since being baffled by a library copy of TNT in my youth, I've never fully grasped what Tortoise are all about. Long-awaited new album Touch hasn't totally won me over, but they do come across as more approachable and less intimidating. Buzz review here.
With the record's release date nearing, the Guardian's Louis Pattison spoke to the band about their early days (once again underlining the inestimable value of cheap rent and the availability of large inner-city spaces for the creation of art), as well as hometown friends (Steve Albini) and British admirers (Squid, Geordie Greep). What comes across particularly is their melange of wildly divergent musical influences - rock, jazz, dancehall, dub, classical - and consequent openness to stylistic experimentation.
On a related note, the Guardian should be commended for their apparent crusade to raise the profile of mid-90s post-rock. The 30th anniversary reissue of Handwriting seems to have been all the excuse they needed to publish a profile of Rachel's, whose music - like that of Tortoise - bridged the gulf between the mainstream and the classical/avant garde.
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