Tortoise + Lanois

It pains me to admit I missed the NYC show at Irving Plaza on Friday -- I had another gig to catch. But Linda Laban of the Boston Herald has a brief review of their kickoff show at the Somerville Theatre Thursday night.

Apparently, Lanois didn't do much singing -- which is fine by me, honestly. He mostly just played guitar, which makes the gig seem less like Daniel Lanois using Tortoise as a backup band and more like him sitting in with the group, a much more interesting prospect. I wonder if there's an album in the works?

At any rate, collaboration seems to be the order of the day for all my favorite cinematic postrockers. In addition to their ongoing tour with Lanois, Tortoise are about to release a record fronted by Will Oldham, AKA Bonnie Prince Billy. Pitchfork Media have the tune list -- all covers:

* Thunder Road (Bruce Sprinsgsteen)
* Daniel (Elton John)
* The Calvary Cross (Richard Thompson)
* That's Pep! (Devo)
* It's Expected I'm Gone (the Minutemen)
* Cravo e Canela (Milton Nascimento)
* Some Say (I Got Devil) (Melanie)
* Pancho (Dan Williams)
* Love Is Love (Lungfish)
* On My Own (Quix*o*tic)

Probably more of a "for completists only" release, but I'll admit to being a least a little bit intrigued at the prospect of Tortoise covering Richard Thompson and Milton Nascimento.

Meanwhile, Calexico have recently released a collaborative EP with Sam Beam of Iron and Wine. I haven't had the chance to check it out yet, but word of mouth is very positive so far, so I'll report back after I've given it a spin.

Also, I have to admit I hadn't noticed or heard about this collaboration until just now. I'm honestly not sure what to think.

Comments

[isaac]

1.

The Iron + Wine/Calexico album is great. Really great. ALthough Sam Beam wrote all of the songs, the instrumental aspect is definitely flavored by Calexico's involvement. I guess I would've loved a full length that had songs by Joey Burns on it. That's about all that could've made it better.

PS: I'm a first time visitor here... I noticed that Alarm Will Sound and Dave Douglas are on your list of namechecked peoples. Did you see Tricia Brown's El Trilogy?

[DJA]

2.

Hey Isaac,

Welcome, and thanks for commenting! I will definitely be picking up that Iron Wine+Calexico record soon.

I did some of the music copying for the El Trilogy ("Five Part Weather Invention") so I'm familiar with the music, but unfortunately I never got to see it danced.