Earlier this year i heard there was going to be a new tortoise album that was going to be released sometime mid-summer. So naturally, i got out their old albums and for like two months straight, all i was listening to was tortoise. i thought to myself, where does a band like tortoise, who easily defies most music categories, go from here? In my mind they have already done it all. Well, after much listening, i will say that tortoise is still full of surprises, and Beacons of Ancestorship is easily their best album. However, it took a while for this one to grow on me (as most of their music does.) It had instant classics like Prepare Your Coffin and Yinxianghechengqi, but the album as a whole was slightly disappointing. Five years before any new material? I did have some high expectations. I mean, i don't know what i was expecting, but it just didn't hit me the same way as their other stuff did. And then one night i was driving home from work (back when it actually took a while) and i threw it in. I don't know what happened, it was the same songs i had heard before, but driving downtown at night, with all the lights and the cars and that epic crescendo on A High Class Slim Came Floatin' In, whatever hang ups i had were done. I sat in my car and finished the record before i went inside. Beacons of Ancestorship is not without flaws, but it is their best work. It's twenty years of experience wrapped into fifty some minutes of music. Also, it is especially exciting to hear them "rock out" as some review put it. Tortoises are known to live longer than any animals on the planet. How appropriate a name for a band who have lasted longer than most artists dream and will probably still be making groundbreaking music for many more years. --
The lala player doesn't have BOA on their site (i knowww, fucking get on it guys) but here is the link to their thrill jockey page where you can listen to for free and buy. http://www.thrilljockey.com/catalog/?id=103952 Support your music scene. Also, here is the music video of Prepare Your Coffin http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rMt44c9uTo
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