Tortoise | Gesceap

Seriously. Leave it to Chicago’s longtime band Tortoise to announce its first album in six years, the 11-track “The Catastrophist”, with a song, “Gesceap”, made up of a gorgeous seven-and-half minutes of beautifully kaleidoscopic instrumentals — slowly building faints, arpeggios and scales that lead into a cacophony of sounds. The song is a kind of musical burst of painting, an upbeat Tim Hecker “Ravedeath, 1972”.  The band’s sound on this record is described as a place where “moody, synth-swept jams like the opening title track cozy up next to hypnotic, bass-and-beat missives …” The new record will be released January 22 via Thrill Jockey Records. You can follow the band on twitter and facebook. — David D. Robbins Jr.