A Lazarus Taxon

A Lazarus Taxon
Box set by Tortoise
Released	August 21, 2006
Recorded	1993-2005
Genre	Instrumental rock, post-rock
Length	69:05 (CD1) 73:17 (CD2) 37:07 (CD3) 179:29 (total)
Label	Thrill Jockey
Producer	various
Professional reviews
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Tortoise chronology
The Brave and the Bold (2006) A Lazarus Taxon (2006) Beacons of Ancestorship (2009)

A Lazarus Taxon is the name of a box set by Chicago post-rock group Tortoise, released in 2006 on the Thrill Jockey label.

The set contains three CDs, one DVD and an accompanying 20-page booklet. The CDs contain 33 tracks of rare material from tour, compilation and non-American releases, the band's out of print 1995 album Rhythms, Resolutions & Clusters, which compiled remixes by friends of the band including Steve Albini, Rick Brown, Jim O'Rourke and Brad Wood, and other previously unreleased material including a restored remix by the Minutemen's Mike Watt that was delivered too late for inclusion on Rhythms... and subsequently fell victim to a malfunctioning DAT machine. Tortoise bassist Bundy K Brown himself restored the tape, twelve years after it was recorded.^[1] The DVD contains most of the band's music videos as well as over two hours of "extensive and rare" live performance footage.^[2] The set was compiled by the band themselves.^[3]

The set's title is derived from the palaeontological term "lazarus taxon", meaning a taxon (or grouping of organisms) that disappears from the fossil record only to reappear again at a later point, which in turn refers back to the resurrection of Lazarus by Jesus in the New Testament.

The photography used in the artwork was personally selected by the band from the work of retired Swiss police officer Arnold Odermatt, who became noted for his pictures of accident scenes and police training, often returning to accident scenes he had photographed to shoot them again once they were free of people. Tortoise were given permission to use the pictures from Odermatt himself, and from Berlin's Springer & Winckler Galerie, which first unearthed and promoted the artist's work.

Track listing

All tracks written by Tortoise except where noted.

Disc one

1. "Gamera" – 11:53
2. "The Source of Uncertainty" – 3:42
3. "Blackbird" – 5:01
4. "Sexual For Elizabeth" (S. Annen/D. Bitney/J. Herndon/P. Johnson/J. Marshall/D. McCombs/J. McEntire/J. Parker/Shing02) – 4:49
5. "To Day Retrieval" – 3:58
   • Remix of "Ten-Day Interval" by Autechre
6. "Whitewater" – 5:07
7. "Didjeridoo" (D. Ellington) – 4:33
   • Originally performed by Duke Ellington
8. "Autumn Sweater" (G. Hubley/I. Kaplan/J. McNew) – 7:07
   • Originally performed by Yo La Tengo
9. "Wait" (J. Parker) – 4:27
10. "A Grape Dope" – 4:12
11. "Restless Waters" – 3:41
12. "Vaus" – 5:01
13. "Blue Station" – 5:34

Disc two

1. "Madison Area" – 3:27
2. "TNT" – 10:03
   • Remixed by Nobukazu Takemura
3. "Why We Fight" – 4:23
4. "Elmerson, Lincoln, and Palmieri" – 2:39
5. "Peering" – 5:11
6. "Goriri" – 6:40
7. "As You Said" (I. Curtis/B. Sumner/P. Hook/S. Morris) – 4:21
   • Originally performed by Joy Division
8. "CTA" – 5:07
9. "Deltitnu" – 5:50
10. "Adverse Camber" – 6:00
    • Remixed by Autechre
11. "Cliff Dweller Society" (D. Bitney/K. Brown/D. Fliegel/J. Herndon/D. McCombs/J. McEntire) – 15:23
12. "Waihopai" – 4:13

Disc three

Tracks 1-7 previously issued as Rhythms, Resolutions & Clusters (1995)

1. "Alcohall" – 4:03
2. "Your New Rod" – 4:18
3. "Cobwebbed" – 4:38
4. "The Match Incident" – 5:31
5. "Tin Can Puerto Rican Remix" – 4:24
6. "Not Quite East of the Ryan" – 5:08
7. "Initial Gesture Protraction" – 4:47
8. "Cornpone Brunch Watt Remix" – 4:18
   • Remixed by Mike Watt

Disc four (DVD)

1. "Salt The Skies" (video)
2. "Dear Grandma And Grandpa" (video)
3. "Glass Museum" (video)
4. "Seneca" (video)
5. "Four Day Interval" (video)
6. "The Suspension Bridge at Iguazú Falls" (video)
7. "Monica" (video)
   • Live at Primavera Sound, 2005
8. "Gamera"/"Glass Museum"/"Reservoir"/"Djed"/"The Equator"/"Vaus"/"Cornpone Brunch"
   • Live in Toronto, 1996
9. "Ten Day Interval"/"Othello"
   • Live at Deutsches Jazz Festival, 1999
10. "Seneca"
    • Live on "Chic-a-Go-Go", 2005
11. "Salt The Skies"
    • Live for "Burn to Shine", 2004

Personnel

Performance

Dan Bitney Bundy K. Brown John Herndon Doug McCombs John McEntire

David Pajo – guitar Jeff Parker Kira Roessler – bass Shing02 – rapping

Production

Steve Albini – production Sean Booth – remixing Rick Brown – remixing Rob Brown – remixing Brendan Canty – remixing Dan Fliegel – composer Lenny Golzalez – photography Baldomero Gordillo – liner notes Christopher Green – direction Georgia Hubley – composer Fat Jon – composer, lyrics Ira Kaplan – composer Alan Licht – liner notes

James McNew – composer Arnold Odermatt – cover art, photography, sleeve photo Jim O'Rourke – remixing Pace Rock – composer, lyrics Andrew Paynter – photography Marty Perez – photography Casey Rice – remixing Sheila Sachs – design Nobukazu Takemura – remixing Saverio Truglia – photography Mike Watt – remixing Julian Weber – liner notes Brad Wood – remixing

References

External links

• A Lazarus Taxon at Thrill Jockey
• Artist Arnold Odermatt at the Springer & Winckler Galerie site

Tortoise Dan Bitney Doug McCombs Jeff Parker John Herndon John McEntire Bundy K. Brown David Pajo Studio albums Tortoise Millions Now Living Will Never Die TNT Standards It's All Around You Beacons of Ancestorship Other releases Rhythms, Resolutions & Clusters In the Fishtank 5 The Brave and the Bold A Lazarus Taxon Yanni Live at the Acropolis (Beck's Record Club)