Tortoise are the undisputed heavyweights of that hopelesslyoverpopulated field of instrumental music dubbed post-rock. Aftervirtually christening the genre with their 1994 debut, then pushing outthe boundaries with the superlative Millions Now Living Will Never Die, Tortoise seem somewhat content to rest on their laurels. Their new effort, It's All Around You, the band's first full-length album since 2001's Standards, shows the band attempting new strategies, and falling back on old reliable techniques. Following a similar blueprint to Standards, this new album is yet another step back from the techno and dub influences that saturated Millions and TNT;most digital processing has been concealed in favor of stressing thetypically harmonious group dynamic. The deliciously over-mic'd drums,distorted keyboards and fuzzy guitars of Standards have beencarried over into this album. As ever, producer John McEntire isextraordinarily proficient in his ability to turn what amounts tohigh-concept elevator music into alchemical gold. If Krautrock, dub andIDM influences flavored their past efforts, the primary inspiration on It's All Around Youappears to be film music. Many of these tracks have an epic, cinematicsweep redolent of film composers like Ennio Morricone and Nino Rota."Crest" swells and subsides along with emotive string arrangements,with squalls of anthemic guitar punctuating each passage, like Hendrixjamming along to a soap opera soundtrack. The album maintains aconsistent MOR sunshine-pop vibe, with a sparkling atmosphere ofheroism and patriotic grandeur. The sampled chorus of breathy "aahs" on"The Lithium Stiffs" recalls the atmospheric light-rock of 10CC's "I'mNot in Love," not exactly a popular reference point for cutting-edgeindie rock. Much care has been taken in sequencing these songs, withthe first half of the album threaded together into a continuousnarrative. "Stretch (You Are All Right)" is pure Tortoise-by-numbers,with its point-counterpoint conversation between vibraphones andguitar. The songs on this album seem more composed than ever before,excising the elements of chance and improvisation almost entirely. Thisresults in an album that at times feels a bit calculated andover-composed, the same problems that have plagued recent efforts byStereolab. However, with musicians as talented as Tortoise, even aneffortlessly tossed-off record like this one can prove to be quiteengaging. Although the album loses much of its momentum in its lasthalf, "Salt the Skies" reconnects with the themes from the opening songsuite and serves as a fittingly bombastic conclusion. There is no doubtwhatever that Tortoise are an immensely gifted group of musicians, andit seems a shame to complain that an album as lovely and accomplishedas It's All Around You seems phoned in, so I'm not going to. I'm just going to shut up and listen to it. Read More
