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Tortoise, Flying Saucer Attack: Electric Ballroom, London

Ian Watson, Melody Maker, 21 September 1996

SOMEWHERE IN the paranoid corners of your mind, there are scientists trying to claim this music as their own. They erect cages of solemn reason and do their best to trap the beast with categorisations like "math rock" or "post-rock". But cold logic doesn't belong here. Approach Flying Saucer Attack with a sense of theoretical rigour and you'll hear a vague post-Velvets shimmer and nothing more. Lose that sense, however, and the spaces between the slight notes and calm vocals contain symphonies from the stars.

Total word count of piece: 433

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