Album

A Lazarus Taxon

Tortoise

2006 · Electronic, Rock

Rare pressing on Gatefold

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A Lazarus Taxon by Tortoise

A Lazarus Taxon is an Alt/Indie album by Tortoise, originally released in 2006. On Gatefold: 2 pressings tracked.

About

Tortoise, a five-piece "post-rock" band from Chicago, IL, were one of the most important alternative rock bands of the ‘90s, emphasizing the importance of rhythm and sonic textures while introducing indie kids to whole new worlds of sound. They were a revolutionary rock band in the way that My Bloody Valentine were circa <i>Isn't Anything</i> or even Miles Davis around the time of <i>Bitches Brew</i>, mixing technologies and sounds to free them from genre-restrictiveness. For an odds-and-sods set, <i>Lazarus</i> sounds remarkably cohesive, and is surprisingly listenable considering how experimental their music is. Elements of ambient, dub, krautrock, improv, math rock, hip-hop, and Cuban jazz are here. The out-of- print 1995 album <i>Rhythms, Resolutions & Clusters</i>, which many consider their finest moment, is here, as are various unreleased remixes (fitting, as they were among the first non-dance acts to explore the remix). Anyone can play "King of the Musical Thrift Store that Is The World," but few have ever done it with the taste-making, fascinating aplomb as these dudes.

via Apple Music

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Tracklist

Side CD

  1. CD1-1Gamera11:53
  2. CD1-2The Source Of Uncertainty3:42
  3. CD1-3Blackbird5:01
  4. CD1-4Sexual For Elizabeth (Tortoise Remix)4:49
  5. CD1-5To Day Retreival3:57
  6. CD1-6Whitewater5:06
  7. CD1-7Didjeridoo4:33
  8. CD1-8Autumn Sweater7:07
  9. CD1-9Wait4:27
  10. CD1-10A Grape Dope4:12
  11. CD1-11Restless Waters3:41
  12. CD1-12Vaus5:01
  13. CD1-13Blue Station5:34
  14. CD2-1Madison Area3:27
  15. CD2-2TNT (Nobukazu Takemura Remix)10:03
  16. CD2-3Why We Fight4:23
  17. CD2-4Elmerson, Lincoln, And Palmieri2:39
  18. CD2-5Peering5:11
  19. CD2-6Goriri6:40
  20. CD2-7As You Said4:21
  21. CD2-8CTA5:07
  22. CD2-9Deltitnu5:50
  23. CD2-10Adverse Camber6:00
  24. CD2-11Cliff Dweller Society15:23
  25. CD2-12Waihopai4:13
  26. CD3-1Alcohall4:03
  27. CD3-2Your New Rod4:18
  28. CD3-3Cobwebbed4:38
  29. CD3-4The Match Incident5:31
  30. CD3-5Tin Cans (Puerto Rican Remix)4:24
  31. CD3-6Not Quite East Of The Ryan5:08
  32. CD3-7Initial Gesture Protraction4:47
  33. CD3-8Cornpone Brunch (Watt Remix)4:18

Side DVD

  1. DVD-1Salt The Skies4:45
  2. DVD-2Dear Grandma And Grandpa2:58
  3. DVD-3Glass Museum2:05
  4. DVD-4Seneca6:23
  5. DVD-5Four Day Interval3:22
  6. DVD-6The Suspension Bridge At Iguazu Falls5:36

Sound DNA

  • Alt/Indie
  • Post-Rock
  • clean
  • detached
  • cerebral

Album notes

Discogs page for these notes (opens in a new tab)

Notes from the original pressing. Later editions may differ.

Issued in a cardboard box with CDs and DVD inside extra card sleeves plus 20-page booklet. CD 3 contains the entirety of Rhythms, Resolutions & Clusters plus a previously unreleased remix by Mike Watt. Track DVD-1 produced for Trixie.
DVD is encoded with Dolby Digital Surround [DD] but there are only two video clips that appear in 5.1 audio, these are:
Glass Museum (Film by Dave Ellsworth)
Salt The Skies (Originally filmed as part of Burn To Shine 2)
The remainder will play through the center speaker of a 5.1 multichannel sound system.
CD1-1 from Gamera / Cliff Dweller Society, a drastic, extended reinterpretation of His Second Story Island (opens in a new tab)
CD1-2 from Headz 2A, JM's alternate Mix of Why We Fight (opens in a new tab)
CD1-3 from Japanese version of Standards (China) (opens in a new tab), a rework of material that was originally used for a piece commissioned by the
CD1-4 from Sexual For Elizabeth (US 2001) (opens in a new tab), an unusual endeavor in that the original piece was entirely rewritten and rerecorded
CD1-5 from Adverse Camber / To Day Retreival (US 1998) (opens in a new tab), Autechre remix of Ten Day Interval (opens in a new tab)
CD1-6 from Why We Fight, JM performing 3 instruments live to 2 track
CD1-7 from Red Hot + Indigo (US 2001) (opens in a new tab), a compilation of diverse artists doing Duke Ellington pieces
CD1-8 from Autumn Sweater
CD1-9 from Offbeat - A Red Hot Sound Trip, remixed in 2005. A JP composition recorded with him before he was officially in the band
CD1-10 from Millions Now Living Will Never Die (Japan 2002) (opens in a new tab) Japanese reissue bonus track. Originally recorded for a / compilation that never materilaized
CD1-11 from The Lounge Ax Defense & Relocation Compact Disc, based on the same family of material that begat Dear Grandma And Grandpa (opens in a new tab)
CD1-12 from Vaus / Speedy Car, to promote our 1996 tour
CD1-13 from same release as CD1-3
CD2-1 from Tour 1998, single released to promote the TNT world tour
CD2-2 from TNT (Japan 1998) (opens in a new tab) Japanese bonus track
CD2-3 from same release as CD1-6, another version also appears as a section of Cliff Dweller Society (opens in a new tab)
CD2-4 from It's All Around You (Japan 2004) (opens in a new tab) Japanese bonus track
CD2-5 from Gently Cupping The Chin Of The Ape (Tortoise Tour 2001) (USA & Europe 2001) (opens in a new tab), tour single released in support of Standards. Originally written on guitar and transmuted into the present guitar-less version
CD2-6 from Macro Dub Infection Volume One, radical remix of Gamera (opens in a new tab)
CD2-7 from A Means To An End (The Music Of Joy Division), contribution to a tribute compilation, which was initially rejected by the label
CD2-8 from Urban Renewal Program, JH's reworking of Blackbird (opens in a new tab)
CD2-9 from same release as CD2-4
CD2-10 from same release as CD1-5, another Autechre remix of Ten Day Interval (opens in a new tab)
CD2-11 from same release as CD1-1, almost all pieces improvised, they were recorded over the course of one evening, with exception of the long centerpiece which features an expanded lineup of three basses, two drummers, four horns and pre-Tortoise JP
CD2-12 from same release as CD2-5
CD3-1, remix of On Noble (opens in a new tab)
CD3-2, remix of Flyrod (opens in a new tab)
CD3-3, remix of Spiderwebbed (opens in a new tab)
CD3-4, remix of Ry Cooder (opens in a new tab)
CD3-5, remix of Tin Cans And Twine (opens in a new tab)
CD3-6, remix of Spiderwebbed (opens in a new tab) plus elements from other tracks
CD3-7, remix of His Second Story Island (opens in a new tab)
CD3-8, previously unreleased remix of Cornpone Brunch (opens in a new tab)
DVD-7 filmed live at Primavera Sound Festival, Barcelona, 28 May 2005
DVD-8 filmed live at Lee's Palace, Toronto, 1997
DVD-9 filmed live at Deutsches Jazz-Festival, Frankfurt, 1999. From the archives of Hessischer Rundfunk
DVD-10 playback performance filmed at Chic-a-Go-Go TV-show (CAN-TV), 2005
DVD-11 originally filmed as part of Chicago, 13 September, 2004

Credits

The people behind it.

Performers

  • Tortoise
  • Douglas McCombsELECTRIC BASS
  • Jeff ParkerGUITAR
  • Kira RoesslerBASS
  • Mike WattBASS

Rare pressing on Gatefold · 2 pressings tracked on Gatefold

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