tortoise and the ex: in the fishtank

Just call it post-rock thrown into a malfunc-tioning blender. With their all-too-rare, obsessive sonic craftsmanship, Thrill Jockey Records mainstay Tortoise have produced some of the best music of the late '90s. They exert tremendous influence on today's exploratory, pseudo-improvised, intricately arranged rock scene. The Ex, though not nearly as well known, have a solid record for producing loud, deconstructed songs that edge somewhere between Mogwai's brood-and-explode styling and the endearingly whiny lyricism of Karate. Despite both bands' accomplishments in an indie field cluttered by terminally disposable acts, they make an odd and generally unsuccessful pair.

While In the Fishtank has some good moments, the EP never quite gets over itself. Both bands play as if they spent their two-day session giggling about the novelty of recording in the same studio. "The Lawn of the Limp," the disc's opening cut, is a tease. More so than any of the later tracks, it fuses the groups' disparate sounds to create a pleasing if uninventive wall of static and knob turning. Mixing poor lyrics with what seems to be Tortoise's attempt to save their delicate, multi-layered sound from complete submersion by the Ex, the two following tracks, "Pooh Song" and "Central Heating," consist of bland noodling, static, and incoherent drumming. The remaining three songs are a bit more sensical, though still all too similar—Tortoise does seem to have exerted more influence here, and the sound is crisper, but crisp is still only a relative term. Finally, the cool looped feedback on "Huge Hidden Spaces" just can't carry 12 minutes of music, and as I popped In the Fishtank out of my stereo, I was left with the suspicion that I had wasted the better part of half an hour.

If you're new to either Tortoise or the Ex, this is not a recording for you. Aside from the fact that an EP is usually an insufficient introduction to any artist, In the Fishtank undersells both collaborators. If you're a completist, buy this album, then save your pennies for import remixes, which are plentiful but insanely expensive. Otherwise, you'll do better by purchasing a domestic full-length from either band's library. (Konkurrent Independent)

—Nathan Littlefield

Back to A&E...