Day 0813 - Millions Now Living Will Never Die

Tortoise "Millions Now Living Will Never Die" (1996)

So the age-old question "what's the difference between a turtle and a tortoise?" is answered.  Turtle is a 60s psychedelic rock band, and Tortoise is instrumental post-rock.

The band was formed by a group of multi-instrumentalists, including two separate rhythm sections.   The liner notes for their albums just list the band members and not what instruments they place which suggests that either they either mix it up a bit, or they are just mysterious mofos.

The music is subdued, hypnotic repetitions, often with Krautrock vibes to them (such as on the epic "Djed").  There are John Zorn-esque jazz-flavoured rock grooves ("the Taut and Tame") and almost Morricone-esque soundscapes ("Restless Waters").

Day 0776 - Protection

Massive Attack "Protection" (1994)

 

Things had not been running smoothly for Massive Attack, their tour in the US had not fared well, they had briefly tried shortening their name to ‘Massive’ in order to not ruffle feathers during the first Iraq war, and had parted ways with their main singer Shara Nelson.

Despite these setbacks the group put together a strong sophomore release, with guest spots from 'Everything But the Girl' singer Tracey Thorn, and rapper Tricky.  Tricky had featured on the first Massive Attack album but had since started his solo career, and after “Protection” would not record with the group again for around another 10 years.

It strikes me how simple some of these songs are, the first few tracks (even the sublime and moody title track) are mostly just the same piece of music looped around with the vocals adding points of difference.   There’s sounds ranging from the deep muddy dub of "Spying Glass", through to "Sly" with its strings-and-beat combo, a sound that would become synonymous with trip-hop.

The whole thing is rounded off with a funky, sound-effect laden cover of the Doors' "Light my Fire"

Day 0397 - Parallel Lines

Blondie "Parallel Lines" (1978)

I have a greatest hits by Blondie, which I enjoy... but ye gods, this album has so much more variety and interest than the hits package!

Blondie had started to develop their punky sound into more of a new-wave direction and producer Mike Chapman gave their sound more polished sheen.  Chapman took what was to be a James Brown-esque hard-funker "Heart of Glass" and giving it a disco groove.

The album has a kind of fun playfulness throughout, occasionally verging on the childish. Even the slightly menacing "one way or another" sounds like a playground threat with its "I'm gonna getcha getcha getcha".