小简介 　　 　　Tortoise（乌龟）乐队是一支来自芝加哥的实验摇滚乐队，时髦的称法把他们归类为“后摇”（Post－rock）。Tortoise成立以后，先在David Sims的公司里发行了首张单曲，后与专出Post Rock的Thrill Jockey公司合作愉快，一直到现在。在发行了一系列石破天惊的单曲和EP小唱片后，1994年才正式发行了Tortoise的同名处女专辑。这年，大概是Kurt Cobian自杀的年份。乐坛上一片脏、乱、差的西雅图之声。可Tortoise却来了张干干净净的专辑。那电颤琴的音色也听得叫人嗅出了檀香，听听“Ry Cooder”，你就会明白，用电子手段作出来的音乐也可以散发出木香。“Flyrod”是专辑中最漂亮的曲子，John Fahey式魑魅般的Bluse吉他旋律，轻勾曼描出音乐中极大的张力，醇浑无比。 　　 　　Tortoise revolutionized American indie rock in the mid-90s by playing down tried-and-true punk and rock & roll influences, emphasizing instead the incorporation of a variety of left-field music genres from the past 20 years, including Krautrock, dub, avant-garde jazz, classical minimalism, ambient and space music, film music, and British electronica. At odds as well with the shambling framework of alternative rocks normal song structure, the group — as large as a septet, with at times two vibes players — relied on a crisp instrumental aesthetic, tied to cool jazz, which practically stood alone in American indie rock by actually focusing on instrumental prowess and group interaction. Although the groups unique vision is to an extent the creation of drummer and master producer John McEntire, most of the other members are well-connected — producers and/or participants — in Chicagos fraternal indie rock community, which consists of numerous side projects and ongoing bands. After debuting in 1993 with several singles and an LP, Tortoises underground prestige emerged above terra firma with their second album Millions Now Living Will Never Die; the 21-minute opening track Djed was a sublime pastiche of Krautrock, dub, and cool jazz. Tortoise then linked themselves with the cream of European electronica (Luke Vibert, Oval, U.N.K.L.E., Spring Heel Jack) to remix the album on a series of 12 singles. Despite the bands growing reliance on studio engineering, Tortoise began re-emphasizing their instrumentalist bent in 1998 for third album, TNT. 　　 　　First formed in Chicago in 1990, Tortoise began when Doug McCombs (bass; formerly of Eleventh Dream Day) and John Herndon (drums, keyboards, vibes; formerly with the Poster Children) began experimenting with production techniques. The duo intended to record on their own as well as provide an instant rhythm section for needy bands — inspired by the reggae duo Sly & Robbie. Next aboard was producer/drummer/vibes-player John McEntire and guitarist Bundy K. Brown (both former members of Bastro) plus percussionist Dan Bitney (formerly with the SST hardcore band Tar Babies). 　　 　　The five-piece recorded 7 singles for both David Wm. Sims Torsion label and Thrill Jockey in 1993, then released their eponymous debut on Thrill Jockey one year later. Much of the albums sound — restrained indie rock with sublime jazz influences and a debt to prog-rock — was pleasant but not quite revolutionary. Several tracks took a more slanted course, though, sounding like a reaction to Englands ambient/techno scene filtered through the 70s experimentalism of Can and Faust. Tortoise became an underground classic and spawned the remix work Rhythms, Resolutions and Clusters — remixers Jim ORourke, Steve Albini, and Brad Wood — the album steadily segued from techno and found-sound environment recordings to feedback ambience and hip-hop — complete with samples of A Tribe Called Quest and Minnie Riperton. In 1995, the group released Gamera, a 12 single on Stereolabs Duophonic label. 　　 　　Brown later left for solo production work and his band projects Slowpoke and Directions in Music; Tortoise added bassist David Pajo (formerly of Slint and also a member of the For Carnation) for second album Millions Now Living Will Never Die, released in early 1996. Much of the album was similar to the debut, but the British weeklies and American music magazines championed the strength of album-opener Djed — which blended a rumbling bass line, scratchy, lo-fi ambience, and dub techniques into over ten minutes of music before the sounds of reel-to-reel tape disintegration introduced another passage of calm yet angular indie rock figures. During the rest of 1995, Tortoise toured with Stereolab in England and headlined a U.S. tour with 5iveStyle and the Sea and Cake. John McEntire also remained busy with production, working on Stereolabs Emperor Tomato Ketchup and eponymous debut LPs from 5iveStyle, Trans Am, and Rome. 　　 　　Instead of a remix album to accompany Millions Now Living Will Never Die, Tortoise optioned tracks out to several techno/experimental contemporaries during 1996. Mo Wax heroes U.N.K.L.E. recorded a remix of Djed on the first of what became a four-volume series, with later interpretations coming from Oval, Jim ORourke and Bedouin Ascent, Spring Heel Jack, and Luke Vibert, among others. 　　 　　By the time recording began in 1998 for Tortoises third album, TNT, Pajo had gone to spend time on his Aerial-M project; a longtime group friend, guitarist Jeff Parker, replaced him. Parkers connection to the fertile Chicago free jazz community (hes a member of the AACM (Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians)) served as a signpost to the groups new direction: growing instrumental prowess and an emphasis on straight-ahead, occasionally improvisational, indie rock. Tortoises fourth album Standards, released in early 2001, maintained that direction, only leavened by many post-recording tweakings at the bands Soma Studios. Another three-year gap separated Standards from 2004s Its All Around You.