Tortoise, 'Beacons of Ancestorship'

Release date: June 23, 2009
Record label: Thrill Jockey
Official Web site: http://www.trts.com/

The buzz: The revered Chicago post-rock five-piece returns with their first album of original material in five years, the last being 2004’s “It’s All Around You.” In the interim, they collaborated with Will Oldham’s Bonnie “Prince” Billy on an album of covers (“The Brave and the Bold”) and released “A Lazarus Taxon,” a three-CD/one-DVD compilation of rarities, remixes and live performances that was a well-timed reminder of how much the band’s ‘90s output presaged experimental groups like Animal Collective and TV on the Radio.

The verdict: Every Tortoise album is an adventure in unexpected song structures and leftfield sonics, but “Beacons of Ancestorship” may actually be the group’s most diverse—and surprisingly accessible—collection to date. The sprawling, dubby opener “High Class Slim Came Floatin’ In” finds the band playing with the ‘70s funk and jazz-rock textures of Medeski Martin and Wood before exploding into an ecstatic electro jam; “Prepare Your Coffin” updates the fluid guitars and analog synths of Gabriel-era Genesis with math-rock precision; “Gigantes,” maybe the album’s most dazzlingly original track, mixes world music instrumentation with soaring guitars, ambient electronics and jittery dance-rock beats. When the quintet lets rip with the noisiest, most distorted track of their career, the almost garage-rocky “Yinxianghechengqi,” it’s the sonic equivalent of a group high-five. Tortoise are wily veterans who have long since transcended the post-rock tag, and their musical partnership may yet prove to be as long-lived as their namesake.

Did you know? Tortoise’s 1996 album, “Millions Now Living Will Never Die,” is widely considered to be one of the most influential albums of the so-called post-rock movement, serving as a touchstone for later bands like Mogwai, Tristeza and Explosions in the Sky.

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