#557 Tortoise, Post-Rock & Opinions on Michael Kiwanuka

Sound Opinions

Music, Society & Culture, Arts

4.3 • 2K Ratings

🗓️ 29 July 2016

⏱️ 60 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

With an eclectic all-instrumental blend of rock, jazz, dub, electronics, and the avant-garde, Tortoise emerged as the leading band of Chicago’s so-called “post-rock” scene in the 1990s. On its seventh album The Catastrophist, the group has introduced a radical new element: vocals. Tortoise joins hosts Jim DeRogatis and Greg Kot for a conversation and performance. Jim and Greg also explore the history and legacy of the post-rock movement. Plus, a tribute to Alan Vega of Suicide and a review of the new album from British soul musician Michael Kiwanuka.

Support The Show: https://www.patreon.com/soundopinions

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	I've noticed a number of peculiar incidents among the members of the student body all having to do with rock and roll music.
0:13.0	Oh, I'm down, picture man. Now if you don't think this song is the greatest song ever. I will fight you. With its eclectic instrumental
0:36.4	blend of rock, jazz, dub reggae and electronic music, Tortoise became a
0:41.2	leading band of the so-called post-rock movement of the 90s.
0:44.6	I'm Jim Deregattus.
0:45.8	And I'm Greg Kottus joins us for a conversation and live performance.
0:50.0	Plus we pay tribute to Alan Vega of Suicide and review the second album from British soul musician Michael Kiwanuka.
0:56.5	That's all coming up on Sound Opinions.
1:01.2	This is Sound Opinions and Greg we were thrilled to have Tortus in our studio for a conversation and a live performance
1:07.6	Probably the reigning band for two decades now in the genre known as Post Rock, but I think it would be helpful for some
1:13.7	listeners if we talked a little bit about Post Rock before we got into this.
1:18.9	First and foremost, that name, just as with Grunge or just about any genre name that's ever been heaped on a band,
1:26.8	every post-rock musician I've ever met in the last two decades has hated that term. Okay? They never said they were post anything. They liked rock and
1:35.2	roll, but what does that term mean? Seems to have been the English critic Simon
1:39.4	Reynolds round about 1994 who coined the name for a new wave of mostly instrumental bands
1:46.2	that were coming up in the UK and the US.
1:49.8	Simon wrote that post rock quote uses rock instrumentation for non rock purposes
1:55.8	using guitars as facilitators of timber and texture rather than riffs and power cords.
2:01.2	So Simon used that word he wasn't saying it should kill off rock. That became how it was reduced. Rock is dead.
2:08.0	How many times we've heard rock is dead over the last 60 years? Rock is dead. this is the new music. What it really was was
2:14.3	musicians using experimental techniques, kind of like a DJ, right? Jumping from
2:19.6	genre to genre. Absolutely, it was a collage style of music making, bringing an a became you know you can go all the way back to a band like the Velvet Underground
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Sound Opinions, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Sound Opinions and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.