The heyday of Chicago's post-rock scene of the 1990s found a lot of talented and ambitious musicians lumped under its rather non-specific banner. If it wasn't always easy to express just what fit Dianogah, Tortoise and U.S. Maple into the same classification, it was at least easy to notice that a handful of individuals kept cropping up over and over. Perhaps it was their complementary dispositions towards what made music worthwhile which held the whole thing together. The only inarguable point is that their influence has lasted longer and traveled farther than most localized "scenes." more ›

We were playing Tortoise at home this afternoon and thought of featuring the video for "Prepare Your Coffin" today. But that's been done before. Ah, well. A little more digging and we found this live performance of "I Set My Face to the Hillside." Still cool. more ›

It's Friday morning so we have a few more hours to go before the weekend is here. Until then, you can watch this video of a kitten riding a tortoise on repeat (consider it a sequel to this one). More tortoise riding here. more ›

Thursday nights in Chicago can range from an all night rager to a brief stop at your favorite spot for some patio drinks and conversation. If you desire something that is more of a happy medium, and are one of the few that still regard it as a school night, then our Chill Pick is for definitely for you. more ›

It's a fable come to life. What does a tortoise versus hare race actually look like? Well, now we know. [via] more ›

This is part of Chicagoist's coverage of the Chicago International Movies and Music Festival, which runs March 4-7. more ›

We chose this new video for Tortoise's "Prepare Your Coffin" because its monochromatic hues perfectly mirror day's weather, but the band's driving music crossed with the editing of the imagery helps helps infuse this day with new life. We're hoping you feel the same and this will be enough to spark you up and power through the rest of the day. more ›

Credit Greg Kot for jumping the gun and forcing their hand before the curators even announced the line-up on their site -- a move we personally find somewhat classless -- but announcing the first few Pitchfork Music Festival acts have been announced. The Jesus Lizard (yay!), Built To Spill, Tortoise, and Yo La Tengo will open the fest with fan picked set-lists. more ›

At first we wondered how a bus-full of rowdy Hideout regulars -- musicians, employees, and employees -- would be greeted by a city like D.C. We pictured streams of lobbyists and grumpy Republicans growling with disdain at a ragtag group dressed up in their finest duds of proms long past. more ›

The huge banner containing an image of President-elect Barack Obama and makes it pretty obvious that Hideout's owners and staff were pretty vocal supporters of the dude when he was running for office and are tickled pink that he's about to take the reins. more ›

Tortoise are playing a benefit show for Stella Ackerman -- daughter of Lustre King's Craig Ackerman -- at the Empty Bottle Saturday night. Stella has an undiagnosed blood disease and the benefit is to raise money for the Ackerman both the family's medical bills and cancer research in general. If you want to buy tickets, you have to get 'em at the venue. more ›

With the Pitchfork Music Fest a little under three weeks away, the fest has released its official schedule. And, frankly, we're pretty psyched for Saturday's Hold Steady-Animal Collective pairing and Sunday's Spiritualized-Spoon pairing. Nice work, kids. more ›