Tortoise

Tortoise emerged from Chicago's early 1990s post-rock ferment as architects of a sound that refused conventional rock parameters. The group, centred around Doug McCombs, John Herndon, Dan Bitney, John McEntire, and David Pabst (later replaced by Jeff Parker), constructed compositions from interlocking rhythms, vibraphone shimmer, and dub-inflected basslines. Their 1996 album Millions Now Living Will Never Die remains a touchstone, particularly the 21-minute "Djed", which merged krautrock's metronomic pulse with jazz's improvisational curiosity and electronic music's textural possibilities.

Drawing from Can, Neu!, and Miles Davis's electric period, Tortoise treated rock instrumentation as raw material for something more exploratory. They recorded with mathematical precision yet allowed space for organic drift. Their influence seeped into indie rock's DNA, encouraging bands to think beyond verse-chorus strictures. By the late 1990s, post-rock had become shorthand for instrumental ambition, though Tortoise themselves resisted categorisation. They operated as a collective rather than following a singular vision, their music reflecting Chicago's adventurous improvisation scene. The band continues recording and performing, their legacy secure as pioneers who expanded rock's structural vocabulary without abandoning its visceral core.