The first tortoise album was the original recipe

I bought it back in '98 from the used bin of Park Ave CD's for $7.98. I was going to buy a new copy but Park Ave had such friendly customer service back then they found me a less expensive alternative. The CD was unscathed so I proceeded to buy it... I miss the customer service of the south!
The first five tracks of this self-titled debut are powerful reminders that musical landscapes can be created outside of pre-existing formulas. I was highly influenced by this CD in the late 90's. This was a time when post-rock was the most innovative direction of the indie rock scene and bands such as The Sea and Cake, Tortoise, Stereolab, Yo La Tengo and Trans Am were crafting some of the most layered and expressive music of the time.
Magnet Pulls Through is the first track, it introduces the world to Tortoise's instrumental music with a mellow beat and repeating patterns laced on top. The bass guitar work is especially noteworthy not so much for technical prowess as for emphasis on the rythem and melody. You can tell there are many influences being sighted here, from jazz to krautrock, yet the result is unmistakeably their own sound; simplified yet effective, predictable yet pleasant.
Night Air slows down even further as people used to higher beats per minute will soon realize the title of the band implies more than just a name. There are slight vocals on this track, not sure if it is John Mcentire or Bundy K. Brown but it does seem sythesised and all you can make out of the lyrics is "nitroglycerin."
Ry Cooder is deceptive because it begins as a "start and stop" rhythmic pattern but soon dissolves into the funkiest beat on the album. This track is as close to Eleventh Dream Day as Tortoise gets. The Ry cooder track alone probably spawned off dozens of imitation math rock bands due to its pseudo improvisation combined with seldom then used acoustic instruments such as vibraphone (see Mercury Program, Euphone, Dianogah).
Onions Wrapped in Rubber is the least accessible of the first five, but you should still hear it. There are analog electronic sounds which are not easily recognizable, but when I was younger I could sometimes hear a ringing in my ear similar to the acoustic occurrences produced here. It's mechanically eerie, like sounds emanating from an adjacent room somewhere, but in a good way.
The Onions track then melts into Tin Cans and Twine, the feel good track of the album, track five. A soothing, yet melodic baseline keeps time as the drums come in on top of the beat and together they synchronize a chorus and then a breakdown section just to repeat again in an all-to-elegant fashion.
It is now 2006 that I am writing this and the first five tracks of Tortoise's self titled debut are a fresh now as they were then. This album was recorded in 1993 for Thrill Jockey, release 013. The orignal lineup of tortoise was their best:

Douglas McCombs - Bass, Bass 6, Guitar, Lap Steel
John Herndon - Drums, Vibes, Keyboards, Sequencing
Dan Bitney - Bass, Guitar, Percussion, Vibes, Marimba, Keyboards
John McEntire - Drums, Modular Synthesizer, Ring Modulator Guitar, Electric Harpsichord, Keyboard
Bundy K. Brown - bass guitar