Tortoise – It's All Around You

Phenomenal record. Truly unique piece of music (but then so are all their albums...no one else sounds quite like them). Can't believe it's almost 20 years old. Orchestral, jazzy, electronic, experimental, post-rock....whatever you want to call it, it's music made by some very talented and free-thinking creative musicians, that's for sure. There's no one album that encapsulates their their "sound" but if you don't know their music, I'd say this would be a good start.

Terribly underrated record.
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One of the first records I ever bought brand new back when it came out in 2004. This is top-notch Tortoise, full of big but controlled sounds and fascinating band interplay. Record sounds great too, highly recommended.

This is a really noisy pressing, especially the A side. Disappointing.

I'd say my copy is more of a translucent orange, rather than a translucent yellow. js

Surprisingly poor master to vinyl. Or at least dramatically different from the CD version, and EQ'd in very odd way, and a loss of clarity from the digital version that is surprising.

Some pretty profound post-rock from Thrill Jockey’s own Tortoise which features some of the most beautiful and poignant art in recent memory. The front cover is an awe inspiring sunset dying over a cascading waterfall and rapids yet overlooking this scene is a yellow helicopter perched next to a luminescent city while the back features a blurred rainforest beneath an overcast sky but blocking most of the sky is a huge projection screen with a better looking skyline beaming out of it. While the liner notes tell a story of life dissatisfaction and miscertainty in the 21st century and the songs are rawly titled, the Tortoise movement isn’t exactly taking the route their name would suggest. Instead of going slow and steady, they’re heading straight for the main vein. Musically, they try to match the grandiose beauty of their imagery and succeed quite handsomely at it. Bits of the Flaming Lips appear in “Crest,” occasional world music and Dark Side Of The Moon sounds appear leaving the mood fairly chilled yet urgent while the inventive guitar effects and production brings me flashes of the unrealized possibilities of Radiohead. Although It’s All Around You never reaches the sonic peaks of anything Mogwai have done, the contemplative vibe helps let the obvious anti-advancement juxtapositions set in. This is one to think about, think during, and, well, get!