5 Isotope 217 The Unstable Molecule THRILL JOCKEY, 1997

You say: “It’s the most accessible and should open the door for some of the slightly more challenging stuff.” Jamie Donald, via Twitter

Ostensibly Tortoise reconstituted with the focus on jazz, Isotope 217 saw the core band’s Jeff Parker and percussionists/utility players Dan Bitney and John Herndon teaming up with Chicago hitters Rob Mazurek (cornet), Matt Lux (bass) and Sara P Smith (trombone). The first and best of their three albums,

The Unstable Molecule sits neatly in between Tortoise’s

TNT and Mazurek’s Chicago Underground projects, connecting post-rock to purer jazz excursions, with Mazurek and Smith’s horns slotting elegantly into the matrix. The version of scene standard La Jetée/ Jetty is the first to be released, and perhaps the best.