67: Tortoise’s Millions Now Living Will Never Die (1996)

Just in terms of musical landscape and compositional excellence, this album tops all other Tortoise recordings, but it’s not just that. The production is immaculate, and “Djed” persists as one of the most incredible songs they’ve ever created. And it’s a good thing, too, because if you’re going to open an album with a 21 minute song, it had better be one of the best songs ever, am I right? This album moved Tortoise out of the eclectic guitar-driven theme of the day, and into experimentation with sparse compositions as well as meanderings into pure electronica, jazz, and dub. If you’re into any sort of electronic or instrumental music at all, you’re already quite familiar with this, and if you’re not, you really should be.

Tortoise: “A Grape Dope” (mp3)