In the early 90s, there were very few bands that were willing to experiment with their sound. A good deal of groups pursued a rock-centric sound while other, more obscure, genres like Krautrock, dub, electronica and jazz were being overlooked. Sensing this eclectic shortcoming, a few musicians from Chicago decided to band together and form a group called Tortoise that would combine all these off-the-beaten-path genres and create a style of music that would be an amalgamation of sounds and styles. Since the group's inception, it has managed to tour frequently and become one of the more well-respected instrumental groups on the scene today, despite not having much commercial success with its studio albums.
