Tortoise – Beacons of Ancestorship – Album Review

Mrs. Citizen and I went out for brunch on Sunday morning, snagging an omellete and eggs benedict at Cleveland Heights’ venerable Nighttown.  The wealthy dowager sitting next to us was coolly sipping a glass of white wine when we rolled in, rapping with her companion about the intricacies of her younger sister’s marriage.  When the waiter returned, she said, “I’d like to trade up for something a little oakier,” pointing at her now empty glass of chardonnay.  This was clearly the highlight of my weekend.  I stepped on Mrs. Citizen’s foot, made the “good lord did you hear what that lady just said” face and sat on all of my bubbling sarcasm until she (the lady) finished her bowl of mussels and left the restaurant.  When she did, we talked for twenty minutes about the nature of her statement.  It broke down like this:

1. “”I’d like to trade up for something a little oakier” might be the snootiest thing that I’ve ever heard come out of a human being’s mouth.  (Barring everything that Thurston Howell the Third and Lovey ever said on that TV show.  But they were fictional.  I think.)  It was a shame that she wasn’t wearing a mink stole and a monocle.  (Do ladies wear monocles?  If they do, do they imply the level of snobbery that they do on a fella?  What would be the effect if a lady gaped at something low class and her monocle fell into her highball glass?)  The tone of the statement as it left her mouth was perfectly arched to highlight her wealth and class.  She went to Bryn Mawr.  She had a whole class on shit like this.

2.  “I’d like to trade up for something a little oakier,” is something that I could never ever pull off.  I ask for another drink by pointing mutely at my empty PBR can.

3.  We knew a ton about this lady based on those ten words.  As mentioned above, she went to a private college to get her Mrs. degree.  She lives in Shaker, has a pool and a golden retriever.  She knows enough about wine to imply something about its flavor and the relationship that flavor has to a tree.  She’s going at least two glasses of wine deep on a Sunday at 10:30 in the morning.  And so on and so on.

We’re four hundred words into this review and all I’ve done is over-analyze somebody’s drink order.  I spent so much time on ILTTUFSALO lady because, strangely, she kind of encapsulates the sound of the sixth album from instrumental stalwarts Tortoise.  Tortoise doesn’t really have to play a lot of music to reveal their true nature; about forty seconds into the album’s first track, it’s clear that Tortoise is composed of dudes who know how to craft hypnotic and addictive tunes.  Much like I didn’t have to have a fifteen minute conversation with my fellow diner to discern that she has a whole drawer full of pearl necklaces in the spare bedroom of her palatial estate, you don’t have to get too far into Beacons of Ancestorship to understand that Tortoise rock and that they do so in a very particular fashion.  Maybe that’s a strained comparison, but I think it works and I really wanted to tell you about my brunch.

That first song, “High Class Slim Came Floatin’ In,” that speaks to so much of what Tortoise are doing on this record, is eight minutes of near perfect jazz-infused half rock/half dance music.  The track opens with an ethereal buzzing sound, that’s quickly joined by a funky drum line and a filthy bass riff.  A trebly keyboard line wafts over the whole thing before a gritty, dirty distortion laden keyboard comes in and takes over the tune.  As the sythesizer pumps out the hook (dah-dah-dah-dah-dah-DAH-DAH-dah-dah), everything else starts to follow its lead and the track takes off to funky jazz heaven.  There’s a tempo shift around three minutes in and the end of the track has a frenetic, near metallic breakdown, but the whole thing rides a consistent vibe to the conclusion.  I was hooked as soon as I heard it.  I’ve got weird niches for music I listen to; strangely, I can’t listen to anything with words when I’m interacting with text at all.  As such, I’m constantly on the lookout for music that I can write  or read to.  Tortoise is absolutely perfect for the job, and you can tell forty seconds into the first song.

Full disclosure:  Tortoise have been pumping out records since 1992, but this is my first exposure to their work.  (I’m ashamed, but we’re about honesty and forthrightness here at Citizen Dick.  Another blogger would have glossed over their back catalog and lied, telling you that he went to high school with the drummer or some shit.  Not us.  When we’re out of the loop, we’ll tell you.)  Given the quality and unique, but comfortable, feel of Beacons of Ancestorship, I can recommend their work to fans of acts as diverse as Medeski, Martin & Wood (with whom they share jazz chops) and The Replacements.  (That’s a weird one, but I’ll be damned if “Yinxianghechengqi” doesn’t sound like Westerberg is about to snarl something unintelligible any second.)  They’re a band that don’t fit neatly into a pre-defined box, and, as such, ought to have fairly broad appeal.  If you like things that are good, you’ll like Tortoise.

The album is packed with highlights, including the aforementioned “Yinxianghechengqi,” which has both that gritty mid-period ‘Mats feel and a strange, near video-game sound.  Despite the unpronounceable title, it’s the one you’re going to be hitting repeat on.  “Gigantes” has a Latin flavor that’s infectious.  The poly-rhythms in “Monument Six One Thousand” make me feel smarter than I actually am.  While these tracks jump out, this record is about a unified vibe more than it’s about individual moments.  Drop the needle on this one and let it go.

I’ll be exploring Tortoise’s voluminous earlier work over the rest of the summer.  As things catch my ear, I’ll keep you in the loop.  In the meantime, enjoy “Prepare You Coffin” below (just so you know, Kevin’s had this in a Radio Dick, so loyal readers probably already have it on the hard drive) and grab the album if you’re intrigued.

“Prepare Your Coffin” – Tortoise

Snag Tortoise at insound.

In unrelated news, check back at noon today for a super-special contest announcement.  I can’t tell you more about it now, but you are going to want to win.  Guaranteed.