Search - John McEntire :: Reach The Rock: Music From The Motion Picture

John McEntire of Chicago's Tortoise is riding the postrock wave for all it's worth. The soundtrack for director William Ryan's film features a sizable chunk of McEntire's instrumental work as well as contributions from a full-fledged Tortoise, the Sea and Cake, Polvo, Dianogoh, and Bundy K. Brown. Don't expect much in the way of the bands' previous output. This is background music where, and atmosphere reigns supreme. A series of muted abstract pieces that veer dangerously close to New Age (as opposed to Tortoise's usual fusion), the music pulses to its own internal logic, dissolving in bursts of minimalist color and ambient layering. Nothing particularly substantial on their own terms, the pieces work as something more likely absorbed than listened to; the placid textures encourage a reflective, meditative state. --Rob O'Connor