“I Set My Face to the Hillside” by Tortoise

Tortoise’s TNT (1998) was the band’s third album, coming on the heels of the critically acclaimed Millions Now Living Will Never Die (1996) — which, for the record, was the first album I ever saw described as “post-rock.” With TNT, the Chicago-based outfit honed their instrumental skills to create some of their loveliest material.

Chief among said material is “I Set My Face to the Hillside,” a Morricone-esque piece that evokes barren desert vistas, ghost towns, and the lonesome cowboys drifting through them. Enid Valu’s video above captures the band performing that song at Munich’s Technikum earlier this year.

The video itself is a bit disorienting, as Valu shifts between the various band members, some of whom are obscured by John Herndon’s drum kit. As for the performance itself, it’s as masterful as you’d expect from the post-rock veterans, who subtly and slightly rework certain parts and melodies.