Tortoise July 19, 2009

The Chicago-based Tortoise revolutionized American indie rock in the mid-'90s by playing down tried-and-true punk and rock 'n' roll influences, emphasizing instead the incorporation of a variety of left-field music genres from the past 20 years, including Krautrock, dub, avant-garde jazz, classical minimalism, ambient and space music, film music and British electronica.