• Tortoise – The Catastrophist

    January 22, 2016 - By 

    There have been several acts that have stood as the totems of instrumental rock music, or post-rock in the broadest sense of the word: Mogwai, Explosions in the Sky, Godspeed! You Black Emperor and Sigur Rós all acting as cornerstones of the genre’s respective corners. For the past 26 years however, Chicago five-piece Tortoise have been the oft-unsung heralds of a scene’s progressive evolution, gradually bubbling under as one of those defining acts, cementing their influence on the countless bands that have followed a similar stylistic path. Originating as a “rhythm section for hire” of sorts, the focus on rhythm…

  • The End of an Era? How a Generation Got Beat Pt. 2

    November 28, 2013 - By 

    Over the years, ATP has become a watchword for a certain kind of classicism, an “accepted history” of what ‘good’ music is over the last 30 years. In this version of events, punk is good, rock is largely bad, unless it doesn’t take itself seriously, although “new” metal is ok. Electronica is generally given a by ball. Bands like Mission of Burma, Yo La Tengo (below), and The Flaming Lips are regarded as in the same way Mojo readers regard The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and Eric Clapton, and many of the younger people there are aware they’re seeing something…