2B - Thursday, October 16, 2008
The Daily Arts guide to
upcoming events in Ann Arbor
and the surrounding area.
Today 10.16.08
Novelist Signing: Leslie Wil-
liams, author of "The Pru-
dent Meriner"
7 pm.
At Nicola's Books
Free
"Weister Concise Guide to
Pracitical Astrology" Book
Signing by Priscilla Costello
7 p.m.
At Crazy Wisdom
Free
Tomorrow 10.17.08
Steve Pyke, New Yorker
Staff Photographer Talk
4 p.m.
In 18 Tappan Hall
Free
RENT presented by the UM
Musical Theatre Depart-
ment
8 p.m.
At the Mendelssohn Theatre
Tickets $18 and $24; $9 with Student ID
Saturday 10.18.08
Used Book Sale and Silent
Auction
9 a.m. -1p.m.
At Burns Park School, 1414 Wells
Free
Annual Fall Display & Sale:
Michgan African Violet
Sociey
10 am
At the UM Matthaei Botanical Gardens
Free
Sunday 10.19.08
Sunday Morning Cider Mill
Ride with Stop at Dexter
Cider Mill for Snacks
0o a.m.
Meet at Barton Park, Huron River Drive
Free
Please send all press releases
and event information to
arts@michigandaily.com.
TORTOISE 'Tt
"TNT'-e
with atn
By JOSHUA BAYER
For the Daily .
Slow and steady wins the race. So it
goes in the wide world of indie post-
rock. In a music scene action-packed
with balls-to-the-wall bands such as
The Mars Volta and Battles, Tortoise
sets itself apart from the flock by con-
juring heady, atmospheric music that
refuses to lay all its cards on the table.
Among a discography rife with mys-
tique, TNT is easily the jewel in this-
enigmaticband's crown. The albumboth
vies for intimacy and defies full compre-
hension. It's one of those records that's
marinated head-to-toe in an intangible,
inarticulable bouillon that can only be
described as the band's personality.
Tortoise is a master of its craft, spin-
ning melt-in-your-mouth tufts of sonic
cotton candy. Noises are made on this
record that, frankly, don't even sound
like they were created by humans (or
instruments, for that matter).
Case in point: "Swung From the Gut-
ters." After two minutes of paranoid,
brooding kraut-rock, Tortoise uncorks a
bottle containing all the unrefined joys
of top-notch, ear-boggling post-produc-
tion. Backwards drum loops trip over
themselves, mutant synthesizers rum-
ble and chopped-up bursts of treated
guitars swarm. Listening to this song on
headphones is a real treat. This is a rare
album in which it's easier to describe
what sort of wild images the music is
evoking than to actually pinpoint the
various instruments being played. With-
out having seen the band live, it's nearly
impossible to penetrate TNT's viscous
outer layer of mystery.
Not only does Tortoise cook up
exceptionally visceral noises, they also
layer these noises in dense, melodically
unified arrangements, building surreal
soundscapes out of seemingly disparate
sounds. "Ten-Day Interval" begins with
a twittering synth loop that sounds like
it's underwater. Fairy tale bells soon
chime in, then a cascading xylophone
joins the jamboree, filling the empty
space. All the while, a barely audible
shimmering drone of white noise hov-
ers low in the mix, adding texture (Tor-
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
NT' (1998)
x e s
1osphere
toise's "white" noise is never white, it's
always swirled with color). And this
is only the first minute. Pensive piano
chords, jazzy guitars, a time-signature-
confoundingshaker (and more) progres-
sively stack on top of each other right on
cue, demonstrating Tortoise's uncanny
knack for timing and controlled chaos.
Tortoisemakesprogressiverockthat's
genuinely progressive, both in its sheer
absurdity and the fact that the songs all
progress in a similar (yet markedly dis-
- tinct) fashion comparable to "Interval."
This is music that is mobile and dynam-
ic, evolving with each listen.
The band's robust rhythm section
prevents all this acoustic audacious-
ness from collapsing in a black hole of
abstraction. Rhythm spouts forth from
unlikely sources throughout the album,
from the ticking clocks and syncopated
spectral gasps of "Almost Always Is
Nearly Enough" to the glitch-damaged
maniacal laugh loop in the middle of
"The Equator." Tortoise finds inge-
niously colorful ways to keep the beat.
The band's expansive sonic vocabu-
lary allows for an astonishing amount
The jewel in the
crown of an
enigmatic band.
of song-to-song diversity. This is music
that will take you places. Each track is
so richly constructed that it requires
almost an active effort on the listener's
part not to let it stimulate the imagina-
tion. At the start of "I Set My Face to the
Hillside," the band juxtaposes the eclec-
tic noises of children at play, spaghetti
Western guitar and what sounds like the
low buzz of a sawmill. During moments
like this, Tortoise achieves a sound that
is virtually cinematic in scope.
TNT is an escapist album in all senses
of the word. It offers a cathartic escape
into the subconscious and escapes the
generic shackles that hold back so many
other bands.
THIS WEEKEND
Two DAY
OPEN HOUSE . .
Friday, 5-10
Saturday, 12-5
Tour galleries, exhibition spaces, & artists & craftspeople's studios
in Ann Arbor, Dexter &Ypsilanti
Get maps @ www.annarborartwalk.conL