Fables of the Reconstruction - A Manifesto

"A hare one day ridiculed the short feet and slow pace of the Tortoise, who replied, laughing: "Though you be swift as the wind, I will beat you in a race." The Hare, believing her assertion to be simply impossible, assented to the proposal; and they agreed that the Fox should choose the course and fix the goal. On the day appointed for the race the two started together. The Tortoise never for a moment stopped, but went on with a slow but steady pace straight to the end of the course. The Hare, lying down by the wayside, fell fast asleep. At last waking up, and moving as fast as he could, he saw the Tortoise had reached the goal, and was comfortably dozing after her fatigue. Slow but steady wins the race. "

Aesop? What a wag. He knew his mammals from his amphibians, that's for sure. Strange though it may seem to discover that human nature hasn't really changed overmuch in two millennia, the tale of the hare and the tortoise can still be applied to a myriad of scenarios today…and none more so than the current state of the UK music industry. Think about it for a moment. Flash-in-the-pan reality popsters blaze across the shrinking attention spans of an ever-hungry public eager for a quick fix. Record industry moguls consider short-term profit ahead of long term investment. Result? A Top 40 chart heavily populated by aggressively marketed ciphers we voted for yesterday but whose names we won't remember tomorrow.

Here at Tortoise Records, we prefer to take a more “organic” approach. If you're chasing your allotted fifteen minutes of fame in a frenzied Warholian tribute, you're barking up the wrong modem. If, however, you want to move at your own pace and grow at whatever speed your muse allows you then, friend, I'm pleased to inform you that you may just have found your way home.

Our ambitions are modest. We favour the slow burner and the long stayer. We believe in artistry over industry and in creativity over commerce. We believe that there is a market for music of quality - an extant audience seeking melody and structure, power and intimacy, literacy and emotion, wit and grace…all attributes largely ignored by mainstream media in these post-millennial days. We believe that the internet allows an unparalleled opportunity to sidestep and sideline the old guard, the conglomerate kings for whom music is nothing more than another perishable commodity.

If you share our faith and have an unshakeable belief in the music you make, we look forward to hearing from you.

Slow but steady wins the race? Indeed.