Changes to the look of John Peel Wiki will take place in the near future due to a new skin being rolled out over Oct/Nov across Wikia. Please see the Wikia Staff Blog for further details. On this site, the changes will affect the navigation from the left menu, as well as introduce a fixed page width with narrower content space. Please be patient while adjustments are made for the switch to the new system.
UPDATE: As the change is now in force for some users, I have switched the navigation to the simplified one for the new system. Please check Navigation in the Help section if you can't find things. I also initially made small adjustments to the front page layout, but have now reverted to the old look until all users are on the new system.
COUNTDOWN: Just a reminder for people still using Monaco that the final switch to the new skin is due on Nov. 3. After that, it will no longer be offered as an option. Sorry. Nothing to do with me.
Tortoise is an American post-rock band formed in Chicago, Illinois in 1990. The band incorporates krautrock, dub, minimal music, electronica and jazz into their music, a combination sometimes termed "post-rock". Tortoise have been consistently credited for the rise of the post-rock movement in the 1990s. The group's origins lie in the late 1980s pairing of Doug McCombs (bassist with Eleventh Dream Day) and drummer John Herndon, who initially wanted to establish themselves as a freelance rhythm section. The idea did not come to fruition, but their interest in grooving rhythms, as well as their recording studio knowledge led to partnerships with drummer John McEntire and bassist Bundy K. Brown (both formerly of Bastro) joining, followed by percussionist Dan Bitney. Though songs are credited to all the musicians, McEntire became perceived as the group's guiding force, as his contributions mainly took the form of being the recording engineer and mixer.
Peel played the group's debut single in 1993 and would continue play their material into the early 00's. So impressed with their work in the mid-90's that he invited the group in 1996 to do a session for his show where they performed four tracks. At the end of 1996, some of Peel's listeners voted Tortoise's Djed track in the 1996 Festive Fifty (the track lasts around 20 minutes long). A couple years later, the band did a second session in 1998.
18 February 1995 (BBC World Service): 'Why We Fight (7")' (Soul Static Sound) (JP: 'Well, they were in Britain recently and I didn't get to see them, to my intense annoyance.')
1996
Tortoise - Djed
05 January 1996: 'A Survey (CD-Millions Now Living Will Never Die)' (City Slang / Virgin)
13 January 1996 (BFBS): 'A Survey (LP-Millions Now Living Will Never Die)' (Thrill Jockey)
23 February 1996: ‘A Survey (LP – Millions Now Living Will Never Die )’ City Slang
02 March 1996 (BFBS): 'A Survey (LP-Millions Now Living Will Never Die)' (City Slang)
28 December 1996: 'Djed (CD-Millions Now Living Will Never Die)' (City Slang) FF #21(JP: 'There I was, settling down to a Festive Fifty which was poised somewhere between this programme and the Evening Session, I suppose, with overtones of Mark Radcliffe thrown in as well, and then that comes up at number 21, a considerable surprise, but a pleasure....So it shows that you, as members of the voting audience have the capacity to surprise me in the same way that I can surprise you by playing records in the middle of other records. You won't believe this, but the CD that interrupted that, which is the track that is at number 20 in the Festive Fifty did seem to start spontaneously. Obviously, I was bragging last week that I'd got this new studio under control-I spoke too soon, quite plainly, but as far as I know it did start spontaneously. I must have pressed some button or done something anyway to cause it to do so.')
