The album features vocals from Yo La Tengo’s Georgia Hubley (on “Yonder Blue”) and U.S. Maple/Dead Rider’s Todd Rittmann (on a cover of David Essex’s “Rock On”). A press release explains that the album’s initial inspiration came after they received a commission from the City of Chicago in 2010. The band were asked to create music “rooted in its ties to the area’s noted jazz and improvised music communities.” They performed some “loose themes” live and eventually turned them into something “orchestrated and complex” for the album.
Tortoise have also announced a world tour. Find those dates below the album’s tracklist.
The Catastrophist:
01 The Catastrophist 02 Ox Duke 03 Rock On 04 Gopher Island 05 Shake Hands With Danger 06 The Clearing Fills 07 Gesceap 08 Hot Coffee 09 Yonder Blue 10 Tesseract 11 At Odds With Logic
Tortoise:
01-23 Chicago, IL – Thalia Hall (in the round) 01-24 Milwaukee, MI – Mad Planet 02-07 Copenhagen, Denmark – Vega Jr. 02-08 Hamburg, Germany – Fabrik 02-09 Berlin, Germany – Berghain 02-10 Antwerp, Belgium – Trix 02-11 Utrecht, Netherlands – Tivoli 02-12 St. Gallen, Switzerland – Palace 02-13 Geneva, Switzerland – Antigel Festival 02-14 Zurich, Switzerland – Stall 6 02-15 Reutlingen, Germany – Franz.K 02-16 Vienna, Austria – Arena 02-17 Budapest, Hungary – A38 02-18 Zagreb, Croatia – Mochvara 02-19 Bologna, Italy – Locomotiv Club 02-20 Rome, Italy – Monk Club 02-21 Milan, Italy – Magnolia Club 03-09 Minneapolis, MN – The Cedar Cultural Center 03-11 Ann Arbor, MI – The Blind Pig 03-12 Toronto, Ontario – Lee’s Palace 03-13 Montreal, Quebec – Fairmount 03-14 Northampton, MA – Iron Horse 03-15 Cambridge, MA – The Sinclair 03-16 New York, NY – (Le) Poisson Rouge 03-17 Brooklyn, NY – Littlefield 03-18 Philadelphia, PA – Underground Arts 03-19 Washington, DC – Black Cat 03-20 Charlottesville, VA – The Southern 03-22 Louisville, KY – Headliners Music Hall 03-23 Newport, KY – Southgate House Revival 03-24 Indianapolis, IN – Radio Radio
Watch the band perform “Prepare Your Coffin” on Pitchfork.tv’s “Don’t Look Down”: