Tortoise (album)

Tortoise is the debut studio album by American post-rock band Tortoise. It was released in 1994 via Thrill Jockey.

By March 1998, Tortoise had sold 35,000 copies (8,000 LPs and 27,000 CDs).

Reception
Trouser Press noted that "the beckoning warmth of the gently shifting rhythms ... make it easy to forget that there's nary a whit of guitar and only the briefest whiff of standard-issue keyboards in play." In his review for AllMusic, Glenn Swan writes that Tortoise "share equal responsibility and trust in each other, pouring out a thick stew of meditative grooves, light production experiments, and rusty guitar-string ambience -- the likes of which have rarely sounded so approachable, but this is not to say the album is a sellout leap into commercialism. There are a couple head scratchers and murky moments that fail to make much of an impact, but the quintet have spun such a rich web of mood and personality that any fall from grace barely changes altitude".

Personnel
Credits for Tortoise adapted from album liner notes.

Tortoise
 * Dan Bitney
 * Bundy K. Brown
 * John Herndon
 * Douglas McCombs
 * John McEntire

Production
 * Bundy K. Brown – recording (assistant), mixing (assistant)
 * John McEntire – recording, mixing
 * Tortoise – arrangement, production

Artwork and design
 * Sam Prekop – cover design