A Lazarus Taxon


A Lazarus Taxon is a box set by Chicago post-rock group Tortoise, released in 2006 on Thrill Jockey.

Release

The set contains three CDs, one DVD and an accompanying 20-page booklet. The CDs contain 33 tracks of hard-to-find material from tour, compilation and non-American releases. The band's out of print 1995 album Rhythms, Resolutions & Clusters, compiled of remixes by friends of the band including Steve Albini, Rick Brown, Jim O'Rourke and Brad Wood features as well. Also in the set is other previously unreleased material including a restored remix by the Minutemen's Mike Watt that was delivered too late for inclusion on Rhythms... and subsequently fell victim to a malfunctioning DAT machine. Tortoise bassist Bundy K Brown himself restored the tape, twelve years after it was recorded. The DVD contains most of the band's music videos as well as over two hours of "extensive and rare" live performance footage. The set was compiled by the band themselves.
The set's title is derived from the palaeontological term "lazarus taxon", meaning a taxon that disappears from the fossil record only to reappear again at a later point, which in turn refers back to the resurrection of Lazarus by Jesus in the New Testament.

Track listing

All tracks written by Tortoise except where noted.

Disc 1 (CD)

  1. "Gamera" – 11:53
  2. "The Source of Uncertainty" – 3:42
  3. "Blackbird" – 5:01
  4. "Sexual for Elizabeth" – 4:49
  5. *Tortoise remix of "Sexual for Elizabeth" by Five Deez
  6. "To Day Retrieval" – 3:58
  7. *Autechre remix of "Ten-Day Interval"
  8. "Whitewater" – 5:07
  9. "Didjeridoo" – 4:33
  10. *Tortoise cover version of a Duke Ellington piece
  11. "Autumn Sweater" – 7:07
  12. *Tortoise cover version of a Yo La Tengo song
  13. "Wait" – 4:27
  14. "A Grape Dope" – 4:12
  15. "Restless Waters" – 3:41
  16. "Vaus" – 5:01
  17. "Blue Station" – 5:34

    Disc 2 (CD)

  18. "Madison Area" – 3:27
  19. "TNT" – 10:03
  20. *Nobukazu Takemura remix
  21. "Why We Fight" – 4:23
  22. "Elmerson, Lincoln, and Palmieri" – 2:39
  23. "Peering" – 5:11
  24. "Goriri" – 6:40
  25. "As You Said" – 4:21
  26. * Tortoise cover version of a Joy Division song
  27. "CTA" – 5:07
  28. "Deltitnu" – 5:50
  29. "Adverse Camber" – 6:00
  30. *A different Autechre remix of "Ten-Day Interval"
  31. "Cliff Dweller Society" – 15:23
  32. "Waihopai" – 4:13

    Disc 3 (CD)

Tracks 1-7 previously issued as Rhythms, Resolutions & Clusters.
  1. "Alcohall" – 4:03
  2. *John McEntire remix of "On Noble"
  3. "Your New Rod" – 4:18
  4. *Rick Brown remix of "Flyrod"
  5. "Cobwebbed" – 4:38
  6. *Casey Rice remix of "Spiderwebbed"
  7. "The Match Incident" – 5:31
  8. *Steve Albini remix of "Ry Cooder"
  9. "Tin Can Puerto Rican Remix" – 4:24
  10. *Brad Wood remix of "Tin Cans and Twine"
  11. "Not Quite East of the Ryan" – 5:08
  12. *Bundy K. Brown remix of "Spiderwebbed" plus elements from other tracks
  13. "Initial Gesture Protraction" – 4:47
  14. *Jim O'Rourke remix of "His Second Story Island"
  15. "Cornpone Brunch Watt Remix" – 4:18
  16. *Mike Watt remix of "Cornpone Brunch" featuring extra bass guitars by Mike Watt and Kira Roeseler
  17. "Jetty_99" – 5:48
  18. *iTunes bonus track

    Disc 4 (DVD)

  19. "Salt the Skies"
  20. "Dear Grandma and Grandpa"
  21. "Glass Museum"
  22. "Seneca"
  23. "Four Day Interval"
  24. "The Suspension Bridge at Iguazú Falls"
  25. "Monica"
  26. *Live at Primavera Sound, 2005
  27. "Gamera"/"Glass Museum"/"Reservoir"/"Djed"/"The Equator"/"Vaus"/"Cornpone Brunch"
  28. *Live in Toronto, 1996
  29. "Ten Day Interval"/"Othello"
  30. *Live at Deutsches Jazz Festival, 1999
  31. "Seneca"
  32. *Live on "Chic-a-Go-Go", 2005
  33. "Salt the Skies"
  34. *Live for "Burn to Shine", 2004

    Personnel

Performance