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Reviewed for FasterLouder

Tortoise have been seeking to reshape the boundaries of modern music for nearly 20 years now and on this, their 6th full-length release, they push the margins even further, with mixed results.

Looking back at the career of Tortoise there are 2 landmark albums. Millions Now Living Will Never Die, one of the classic records in the post-rock genre, and TNT with its more languid jazz undertones. Those releases bridged the gap between rock, indie, jazz, krautrock and experimental music and paved the way for many musicians and listeners who were searching for an experience outside of normal sounds and song structures.

Though 2001’s Standards introduced more krautrock and noise elements, it is Beacons Of Ancestorship that really marries the extremes of their sound and in doing so it makes for a disjointed and disconnected listen.

‘The Fall Of Seven Diamonds Plus One’ is pure Tortoise with its hanging chords, funereal keyboards and dragging chains. It floats along and is a reminder of some of the moments of brilliance from TNT. At the other end of the spectrum is ‘Yinxianghechengqi’ which starts off like a Beastie Boys amateur punk song before ending with some ambient space sounds.

This contrast in styles is all over the record. ‘Gigantes’ is an impressively percussive piece of cyber-funk, layered and squelching its way over 6 minutes. On the other hand they let themselves down with the Chemical Brothers lack of subtlety on ‘Northern Something’. It doesn’t add anything to the record other than a distraction between the better tracks.

Tortoise still seem to operate best when they are playing as a band. When you can hear the distinction between the drums, the heavy rolling bass and the wonderful guitar work of Jeff Parker with its emotive jazz feel. They do this on two thirds of Beacons…, making it a good but not great album.

Contemporary bands like Battles have been strongly influenced by Tortoise and you can imagine younger listeners commenting “These guys sound a bit like Battles”. Their influence is now no longer just limited to the electronic rock end of the spectrum as the sounds on ‘Charteroak Foundation’ suggest they have been favourites of Radiohead and some of the more psych sounding acts like Wooden Shjips. ‘Monument Six One Thousand’ also betrays the relationship Tortoise have had with IDM.

Beacons… reminds us of what made Tortoise such an important and ground breaking band. Unfortunately it doesn’t raise their bar any higher and doesn’t match the peaks of their stronger work of the late 90s. It is more of a reminder like “Ah yeah, Tortoise, they’re a pretty clever band aren’t they”. This is an album that requires a fair amount of work to get into, and though not ultimately satisfying it does reward with some intriguing moments.