Customer Reviews

Its All Around You

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have been a Tortoise fan since the late 90s, but never as committed as I have been since Standards was released. I approached It's All Around You with caution because I anticipated disappointment. At first, I agreed with all of the reviews that I had read. The album seemed to merely exist as another Tortoise album with no movement forward.

While I must admit that this is not a giant leap from Standards in terms of a cohesive album, it is the better of the two albums, in my opinion. Namely because of the climax that this album reaches. Standards almost appears to front load the best ideas while It's All Around You saves the best for last.

The first track threw me off because it is easy to dismiss it as close to random instrumentation with a solid (slightly simple) bass track. But it is so much more. Upon a couple of repeated listens, that song, like the rest of the album, revealed much more structural ingenuity. The multiple instruments that take part in the melody bounce off of one another and it becomes difficult to tell when a guitar ends and a vibraphone picks up. But the instruments are not to be observed seperately. Listening to how they compliment each other and form a beautiful melodic series is devestatingly brilliant. I posit that the first song sounds unlike anything that Tortoise has done before.

The entire album is phenomenal, but I would like to highlight the last song. This is where I really believe this album shines the most. Never before have I heard a band capture increasing intensity in a drum performance so well on tape. The song builds and builds and the instrumentation perfectly compliments the drums throughout this climactic process.

I hear far too often that this album is more of the same. If the same means being a mind-blowingly awesome band time after time, I hope that they don't change a thing.

just saw these guys at ny's bowery ballroom and hearing them live it's easy to figure out what's different about these new songs compared to their older stuff. in many ways, everything pre-standards is still amazing, especially live, because of the strong song structures, which are very architectural and decontructivist, literally. you see, hear and feel how the songs are built layer upon layer, building and building to the inevitable crumble and stumble that comes back satisfyingly to the original motif. i think beginning with standards, the songwriting has become much, much tighter, so that you almost don't notice the amazing musicianship at times. but also, the design of the songs is less apparent, and so sometimes, in comparison to the older tortoise sound, the new songs feel a might boring, especially with the slow jams. but when you experience this stuff live, you realize nothing has changed and these new songs rock just as much as the old ones. (also, i think one of the reasons it may feel like they're stalling, musically, is that the instrumentation hasn't changed: two vibraphones, two drum kits, bass, synth/effects, jazz guitar; hopefully on the next album they'll mix up the sounds some.) the double drumming live is killer. they played for nearly two hours and seemed really into it, as was the crowd. the opening act beans from anti-pop consortium was amazing as well.

This CD is just awesome. I love it. The first time I heard this, i was in awe, from the first track. I've probably listened to it over 30 times and it's still awesome. If you like this album, you'll like TNT and Millions Now Living Will Never Die. Tortoise is amazing.

I definitely wasn't disappointed when I heard this latest Tortoise disc - I wasn't blown away, either, though. Just saw Tortoise in Tokyo last week, and I can't stop listening to this album, now. 'Tortoise - Tortoise' was my favorite for a while, next to TNT. Both have been completely supplanted by this and 'Standards', both of which made up the majority of their short set.

These guys are amazing - live, and on their studio releases. If you don't listen closely enough, you may mistake Tortoise for new-age music, and I think the superficial similarity probably keeps a lot of people from taking the time to discover the most amazing, creative, and inspired 'rock' groups since Pink Floyd.

Their sound (even before they used computers to produce/make their music) sounds so influenced by technology, but manages to maintain the warmth and natural feel of jazz or even folk music.

Their use of the xylophone is central to their sound, but is done with the perfect balance of restrained melody, and percussive exuberance.

I think its impossible to compare Tortoise to any other group around. Their sound is truly 'ahead of its time' and timeless. Although their sound is totally different, for these two reasons, I can only think of Pink Floyd. I hate to compare or group Tortoise with other 'contemporary' 'electronica' or alternative groups such as Modest Mouse, Air, or Boards of Canada. Stereolab has some similarities, but I believe they had a common genesis...

OK, I'll stop babbling. Just buy this disc. Its beautiful and inspirational, and jams sometimes, too

As a previous reviewer said, this album is distinctly tortoise in sound. However, I don't think that this detracts from the album. I feel that this is tortoise at their best. This album showcases some of their most subtle, melodic and consistent work to date.
All the usual elements are here: the mesmerizing blend of instraments to the point where you don't know where one ends and the other begins, the screwball rhythms, the jazz inspired melodies and some great rock-out moments.
This album won't take any tortoise fan by surprise, theye are simply doing what they do best.

This album is a culmination of all previous Tortoise works. Though not as outstanding as TnT, Standards or Millions, at first listen, over time it will be one of their best. It is a great work of art and better than anything you are likley to hear on the radio today or tomorrow. Listening to with headphones reveals the layers of sounds and with repeated listening there is always something new to uncover.

I am a tortoise fan. I've bought all of their albums since the self-titled brown album. I agree with CJJB that this is an excellent outing for the band. I do understand the dissapointment people feel, but I think that stems from an pervasive dissonant feel, wherein the tracks fluctuate from being sweet to frightening quite a few times. I feel the band might be responding to the times we live in post-9/11. Our existence seems entrenched with terror, while we fight it, like it or not, we utilize it. The utilization of dissonance in this album reminds me of that. The increasing feedback and the abrupt ends, I picture destruction, the end of it all...there is silence. The accompanying story about the fickle girl has a lot to do with the M.O. of the album. While Standards is outstanding, I think its more accesible than Its all around you, the same for tnt. It's all around you can and uplift you and scare you within minutes, and that I think requires a bit of patience and then reverence for artistic courage. The production and sound quality on this is exceptional as well, I mean tremendous. Any previous tortoise album does not reach it, people who are into that aspect of the music should check this out for that alone. With a pair of quality headphones, it tingles the canals.

When I first heard this album I didn't think much of it. But then I gave it a listen all of the way through and I must say this just gets better with every listen. I must also agree that this needs to be listened to with headphones so you can get the full effect. Although I have only listened to the first 4 tracks on headphones, I listened to the whole album on my sound system and in my fathers car. His car has an awesome sound system. He couldn't beleive how great it sounded in there. So to the people that don't like it upon first listen, try it with headphones I think you will get a little more out of it. I think this album is close to what they sounded like on MNLWND. I also think that this is better than Standards, which I also like just not as much as all of the others. I would recommend buying this album. I hope an import comes out.

This would've been 4.5 stars, for I don't think any of Tortoise's offerings are a full 5 knockout. But this album has been unfairly panned from so many angles that I feel the need to give it a good showing on Amazon.

As a Tortoise fan who started listening in the late 2000s, I can see why views differ on this album. Critics have described it as being "too polished", "too safe", "not as innovative", etc. etc. And yes, if you were one of the original fans who was wowed by their eponymous debut, this is quite a departure from it in that IIAY is a mature work of taste and elegance.

Their original sound was steeped in the mostly-blind thrashings of indie rock, having the low production values you expect from the genre. I suppose original fans started to take issue when Tortoise had aspirations to move beyond their sophomoric efforts and make something respectable. It wasn't until TNT that their sound, the imprint that is uniquely them, emerged from their storm of influences. (Millions Now Living Will Never Die was a chance to get all the indie out of their systems.) Standards built on TNT and was an ambitious leap forward in production and composition, being ultimately a more challenging and genre-bending album than any of their previous offerings.

It's All Around You is, finally, a maturation of the Tortoise way and an iconic album. Its compositions are surer, bolder, subtler than any of their previous work. Where their earlier tracks were often whimsical and wandering, these are thoughtful, artfully produced works that don't need to lean on their pastiche or irony or 21st century genre fusion to be respected. The triptych that opens the album is some of the most breathtaking work they've ever done, as audacious and ambitious as anything you've heard from them. The first track is a latin-infused tapestry of guitar and vibe melodies, while the second is a sibilant electronic dub brain massage. The third is a bold, sweeping Zappa anthem that will have you shaking your head in wonderment. This is Tortoise's most cohesive album yet, making an argument for focused end-to-end listening while having tracks that are capable of standing on their own.

There are no throwaways or missed notes on IIAY, and its mood wanders from joyful heights to angsty darkness and back. Tortoise's production values improve with each album they release, and this is no exception - you will greatly benefit from playing this album through a quality sound system or headphones, and make sure you're reproducing the bass properly because it's sublime. John McIntyre's drumming is on showcase here, building to a wild crescendo with the album's closing track. The electronic expression of Tortoise is more finely represented here than on any previous album.

I could say more, but I think you get my drift - this is Tortoise condensed and refined. To say this album is safe or derivative of their earlier work is to miss what it clearly is: Tortoise growing up. Tortoise getting better at Tortoise. It happens. Bands mature and refine their goals and their means. Clinging to envelope-pushing for indie cred results in strings of albums that feel more like sophomoric demos than polished end products. Don't let fickle cynical scenester types tell you otherwise.

This is the first time I have heard Tortoise and I am in love. There are not a lot of bands that create their own musical niche.

Tortoise is definitely one of them!