I realized, all my life i've been letting people drive their car on my garden. And it's gone on so long that it's not a garden anymore, is it? it's just a mess...

Tortoise, Oganesson, International Anthem and Nonesuch Records, 2025

Tortoise – TNT (1998)

at the Black Cat, Washington, DC

Dan Bitney Doug McCombs Jeff Parker John Herndon john mcentire Tortoise 2023

Tortoise is an American post-rock band formed in Chicago, Illinois in 1990. The band incorporates krautrock, dub, minimal music, electronica and jazz into their music, a combination sometimes termed "post-rock". Tortoise have been consistently credited for the rise of the post-rock movement in the 1990s

The group's origins lie in the late 1980s pairing of Doug McCombs (bassist with Eleventh Dream Day) and drummer John Herndon, who initially wanted to establish themselves as a freelance rhythm section (like reggae legends Sly and Robbie). The idea did not come to fruition, but their interest in grooving rhythms, as well as their recording studio knowledge led to partnerships with drummer John McEntire and bassist Bundy K. Brown (both formerly of Bastro and Gastr Del Sol) joining, followed by percussionist Dan Bitney. Though songs are credited to all the musicians, McEntire became perceived as the group's guiding force, as his contributions mainly took the form of being the recording engineer and mixer.

Brown left and was replaced by David Pajo (formerly of Slint) for 1996's Millions Now Living Will Never Die, which showed up on many year-end best of lists, and the 20-minute Djed was described by critic John Bush as proof that "Tortoise made experimental rock do double duty as evocative, beautiful music.

Chicago Odense Ensemble : Self-Titled

Okay, so dig this scene:

Two scrappy Danish musicians hop a plane destined for Chi-town in 2008. You know Chi-town; The Windy City, The City of the Big Shoulders,….Chicago, IL. These two musicians, guitarist Jonas Munk and drummer Jakob Skott of the Danish psych rock titans Causa Sui, were headed over for a gig supporting Isotope 217 at Chicago’s Millennium Park. That gig turned into a studio…

The Catastrophist will satisfy fans’ long wait for new music by Tortoise — an album review

Tortoise has never been a group to rest on any laurels. Though certainly its members have recognizable styles of playing — from the varied beats produced by dual drummers John McEntire and John Herndon, not to mention the added percussive activity by Dan Bitney, to the clean, crisp guitar lines of Jeff Parker to the deep, affected bass lines of Doug McCombs — Tortoise has changed from album to…