Tortoise - Beacons Of Ancestorship (Thrill Jockey)

Though synonymous with the post-rock tag right from their beginnings in the early nineties, Tortoise have always played with a much broader palette than most of the quiet-loud rock instrumentalists that predominantly inhabit the genre now. Tortoise may be an indie rock band in the broadest sense, but the diverse worlds of jazz, electronica, dub and the avant-garde are still out in force on this, the band's sixth studio album. Escaping the clutches of overly cerebral po-faced-ness, what makes 'Beacons Of Ancestorship' so immediately appealing is the sense of fun and playfulness that infuses much of the record, with synthy krautrock barn-stormers, prog rock bassline grooves and all manner of swirling rhythmic instrumental jams firing the album along. The album's real strength (and Tortoise's by extension) is that this immediacy is backed by a vast depth of influences and by their assured musical expression, to make 'Beacons...' a genuine thinking man's head-nodder of an album.

'Beacons Of Ancestorship' is available now on Thrill Jockey.

Tortoise