CD-Charts Position 1
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The Brave and the Bold

by: Tortoise

Release Date January 23, 2006
In the often lacklustre and uninspiring world of contemporary music a diamond shines thru the gloom. An album of covers may make most music fans groan with despair but this is the exception to the rule. Turning the originals into something of exceptional beauty and joy this album is truely astonishing.

CD-Charts Position 2
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T.N.T

by: Tortoise

Release Date November 01, 1999
I was very exited when I bought this, my first (and last) album by 'Tortoise' - I had heard great things about this 'atmospheric, jazzy post-rock band' - and sure enough it does start promisingly with a good opener.

However, it is all downhill from there. This album has quite a nice overall sound, a clean mix of guitars and electronics - I was quite taken by it at first - but by the time you reach halfway in the album it has got very boring. The album is too bland and lacking in variation to hold my interest for the full time. When I had finished listening to the album for the first time, I looked at the total playing time - just over an hour - it felt like two.

Another point I will make about this album is that the songs all ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 3
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Standards

by: Tortoise

Release Date February 19, 2001
On this album Tortoise seem to have refined their sound and the overall impression is of a more disciplined and more muscular ensemble than on their previous release. The relatively short length (44 minutes) is a clue to this, and some of the self-indulgent streak they exhibited has been curbed. On the whole it also seems less like background music than some of TNT, for example '...iguazu falls'.

CD-Charts Position 4
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Millions Now Living Will Never Die

by: Tortoise

Release Date July 26, 2004
On this album Tortoise seem to have refined their sound and the overall impression is of a more disciplined and more muscular ensemble than on their previous release. The relatively short length (44 minutes) is a clue to this, and some of the self-indulgent streak they exhibited has been curbed. On the whole it also seems less like background music than some of TNT, for example '...iguazu falls'.

CD-Charts Position 5
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TNT

by: Tortoise

Release Date July 26, 2004
Highly recommended; better for chilling out than any collection of Ibiza-associated tunes. Tortoise are never obvious, so it takes a few listens before the album really starts to work its magic...but when it does you'll be enchanted. Great!

CD-Charts Position 6
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Tortoise

by: Tortoise

Release Date
Highly recommended; better for chilling out than any collection of Ibiza-associated tunes. Tortoise are never obvious, so it takes a few listens before the album really starts to work its magic...but when it does you'll be enchanted. Great!

CD-Charts Position 7
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Millions Now Living Will Never

by: Tortoise

Release Date January 29, 1996
It's quite difficult to put into words just how mesmerising this record is. Millions now living... is one of those albums whose songs meld into each other and the whole thing becomes a single 40 minute passage. From the opening strains of Djed through the bass-driven throb of Glass Museum, The Survey and The Taut and Tame, Tortoise lay down an unlikely groove, upon which glockenspiel, guitar, and beats dance (sounds pompous, i know). The mood slows toward the end, but only serves to complete the picture. Dear Grandma.. and Along the banks.. display more lounge jazz tendencies than is evident on Tortoise's other records, and as a whole i think it serves to give Millions now living.. a more organic sound than the likes of TNT or standards. A veritable ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 8
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TNT [VINYL]

by: Tortoise

Release Date March 09, 1998
It's quite difficult to put into words just how mesmerising this record is. Millions now living... is one of those albums whose songs meld into each other and the whole thing becomes a single 40 minute passage. From the opening strains of Djed through the bass-driven throb of Glass Museum, The Survey and The Taut and Tame, Tortoise lay down an unlikely groove, upon which glockenspiel, guitar, and beats dance (sounds pompous, i know). The mood slows toward the end, but only serves to complete the picture. Dear Grandma.. and Along the banks.. display more lounge jazz tendencies than is evident on Tortoise's other records, and as a whole i think it serves to give Millions now living.. a more organic sound than the likes of TNT or standards. A veritable ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 9
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TNT

by: Tortoise

Release Date March 09, 1998
...you sit back, relax, turn on your cd player, put a tortoise disc in it and ... well ... just float away ...

CD-Charts Position 10
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Lazarus Taxon [3CD + DVD]

by: Tortoise

Release Date August 21, 2006
First of all, this is probably not the best place to begin if you're looking for an introduction to Tortoise -- if you start with this, you'll like as not get a bit hopelessly confused. If you're new to the band, I would suggest starting with their excellent second and third albums (Millions Now Living Will Never Die, from 1996; and TNT, from 1998), and then if you like what you hear this would be a fine place to dive into after that.

That caveat aside, though, I have to say this is an absolute dream of a box set, a gloriously sprawling and chaotic 3 CD (+ 1 DVD) collection of remixes and obscurities from the darker corners of Tortoise's back catalogue. 'Obscure', in this instance, definitely doesn't mean 'second rate'. Most of the music ... Read More: