By: Ilya Ratner
 |
| Jeff Parker of Tortoise - Photo by Ilya Ratner |
Amalgam. It’s a word I rarely use because of a kid in a writing class from my past. He’d utter it at least twice a session. An amalgam this, and an amalgam that. One over here and one over there. The word always sounded like chemist jargon -H superscript 2, O- and what the hell does chemistry have to do with music? But here arrives Tortoise, combining disparate sounds into a concoction. A sonic compound, if you will. Suddenly the word “amalgam” creeps into my gray stuff.
The Chi-town quintet has been around for over a decade. Their name had passed by my ears many times, though I’d never taken a peak into their catalog. But I’d always wondered who they were and what they sounded like. Perhaps it was just the aquatic-inspired name. Tortoises—the lumbering and awkward beasts—have always struck me with awe.
Tortoise was preceded by Make Believe, a band which was without majesty. There was no awe, at least not the kind I enjoy. There were discordant squirms, complex (nonsensical) counterpoints and abrasive noises. There was a lot of awe-ful. They meandered through their set, staggering and off-balance. They paused between songs and looked at each other quizzically while singer Tim Kinsella attempted to explain what was happening, without ever explaining it. The pauses were the most entertaining thing about them. If noise really greases your sprocket, check them out.
Afterwards there was a long break, a soothing respite from the thrashing. Gen-Xers, young hipsters and hippies waited patiently. The band rode in on a magnificent 30-foot tortoise... Alright, so they just walked form a door in the back. But who doesn’t want to see a giant tortoise?
Their set felt like a movie score—a movie about a gun-slinging cowboy trapped at a rave on a distant planet, surely a classic on the techno-western-sci-fi channel. The jams were purely instrumental. They were imbued with groove and rhythm (before the band Tortoise ever came into existence, seminal members John Herndon and Doug McCombs attempted to become a rhythm section for hire in the Chicago indie scene.) Two drum kits facing off center stage became the centerpieces of the music, solidifying the tricky arrangements and holding everything together.
Three of the musicians shared duty on the drums, and all of them played them pretty well. In fact, the entire show turned into a game of musical chairs as soon as the first song ended. The instruments were apparently floozies, ready to give it up to anyone. And the bandmates were eager to share them. It was very cool.
If drums were the patriarchs of the concert, then the three xylophones were their clandestine bodyguards. They stood in the shadows like proud emissaries of the mysterious instrument clan. With all the rearranging, the band managed to stay away from them for several songs, but as the set went on the keen pitch of their medal keys became more prominent. And then a xylophonic crescendo enveloped the crowd as all three rang through the Cedar. It was one of the best songs of the night, a minimalist odyssey that rose like a raging tidal wave and fell into the shallows only to engulf the room at its coda.
It is impossible for me to define Tortoise. Amalgam! Yes. But the components of the mixture are elusive. You could take Jeff Parker, who mostly played guitar, and call him a jazz musician, subtle and introspective; you could take John McEntire and describe him as an electronics man; you could take McCombs and accuse him of liking the blues. You could take any of them and stamp a title on their forehead, but you still wouldn’t get to the bottom of it. They all did unconventional things and they all conceded to convention. So let’s just call them musicians who can make a spaghetti western feel like a sci-fi or make jazz sound like electronica. But most of all, they are a band that can lay down a minimalist, organic groove and warp it gently to create a kaleidoscopic sound-scape, and they’ve been doing it for years. So who cares where their place in the file cabinet is?
Location Info:
Cedar Cultural Center
Artist Info: Make Believe, Tortoise
Share this story:
Article comments powered by Disqus