Wandering through Spotify lately, I’ve been drawn to longer pieces.
Came across an LP, Perpetual by Ryuichi Sakamoto, its second movement clocks in just under 20 minutes. Also have been enjoying Blackened Cities by Melanie de Biasio which I discovered through the Afterword’s best of 2016.
I’m looking for some more, any suggestions?
Difficult, uneventful, busy, calming – I don’t mind.
If you want long and calming there are quite a few long-form pieces to choose from by The Necks.
This one “Open” (2013) is fairly typical and very good.
Not -as- long and a little bit unsettling is “Poppy Nogood and the Phantom Band”, the second side of Terry Riley’s “A Rainbow In Curved Air” from 1968.
There doesn’t appear to be a full clip of this on it’s own. Start at 18m46s in the full album clip above.
Lots of long-and-incomprehensibly-bonkers prog from Magma, if you dare try it.
I was going to suggest The Necks too. Try their latest “Unfold”
Enjoyed listening to the first two Focus albums this afternoon at work so it’s got to be this
Or one of the most moving pieces of music ever made IMO
Yes, good call.
I love “The Disintegration Loops”
It’s interesting to hear the four-volume box, but the original album is the one I always return to.
yes, this. lovely, haunting, poignant.
That’s beautiful and dark. Brought back memories of visiting Alcatraz recently.
Try Thick as a Brick side 1 by the Mighty Tull. ..or if brave, A Passion Play. Steven Wilson remasters preferred.
Probably my favourite LP side ever…….Yes. Agreed.
Oh! Hang on ! What about side 2 of Abbey Road ?
Now I’m stuck and will be ruminating on this all day long.
As Slow As Possible by John Cage. Organ recital which began in 2001. Scheduled to finish in 2640.
Two lovely slices of Balearic cosmic disco:
Manuel Göttsching’s E2 E4
Lindström – Where You Go I Go Too
There’s plenty of long Godspeed to choose from, let’s have this to start with:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FngZCv3IEoE
The longest track in my collection is “November” composed by Dennis Johnson and played (solo piano) by R. Andrew Lee.
It lasts 5 hours, spread over 4 CDs.
I rather like it.
Give it a go!
Rush 2112 side 1.
If you have never heard this before be prepared to be amazed.
Brian Eno – The Ship
I Dream a Highway- Gillian Welch meanders on for a quite lovely 14 minutes 40 seconds….gorgeous I tell ya, gorgeous
Try ‘Trancefer’ by Klaus Schulze or
‘Departure from the Northern Wasteland’ by Michael Hoeing
My default long track will always be this. It has been, and always will be, my friend.
The right answer! I get up! I get down!
Sitting in this audience was one of the most emotional evenings of my life. When the intro to this began, I was choking back the tears. Life affirming.
And this. Always this.
Not nearly long enough at ten minutes but what a song!
Richard Hawley – Remorse Code
I’m not completely enamoured by Ryley Walker but the 41 minute version of Sullen Mind is better than the Golden Sings That Had Been Sung album.
Life is timeless…
https://youtu.be/neHQ-cDJ5UQ
(Tips 🎩)
And/or side 1 of Autobahn (22:43).
Blue Room by The Orb (39:57)
The live version of This Is What She’s Like from the last live Dexys CD (21 mins).
Yep.
This makes me look forward to summer
thanks, plenty to check out here
This is one of two epics on the most recent Lambchop album. Both are fab.
I could recommend much from the ’70’s prog (yuk) period, but I’m sure we have all heard enough Nektar to last a lifetime (in fact I think the coda from Remember The Future is still playing on the turntable. I put it on in 1976).
Here is a piece of ‘long’. I’ve no idea why I like it – it’s hardly full of hope, but it has an unmistakeable stark beauty to it, probably because of the spoken lyric.
Let Paddy take you somewhere more miserable.
Sinking of The Titanic / Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet, by Gavin Briars. Both lovely and moving and both on one handy CD.
Or Soil Festivities by Vangelis is one I return to often. Everybody loves the sound of a thunderstorm in the distance.
There was a later version of Jesus’ Blood that I much preferred, taking up a whole CD at 75 minutes. Warning – contains a bit of Tom Waits. I think that’s a good thing, others might not.
I thought Tom Waits hobnailed over it in a dreadful way, personally. Much prefer it without him. That was the first seed of my disenchantment with Tom and his music.
I have a good bootlegged live version from Brussels in 2005. Bryars himself conducting the Vlaams Radio Orkest. Clocks in at a few seconds over 30 minutes. Lovely slow build and back to just the recording of the voice.
His “Sinking Of The Titanic” is rather good too. He kept adding more material to that one as more information on the sinking became available. My version is the Italian premiere recording from Venice in 2005. Gavin Bryars’ Alter Ego Ensemble. Over an hour and a quarter long.
Another long-ish Gavin Bryars piece that I like is “One Last Bar And Then Joe Can Go Home”, which I can’t find on YouTube unfortunately. Sort of spooky Gamelan-like stuff with marimbas, xylophones and other tuned percussion instruments.
Here’s a couple of long ‘uns that have stayed with me over the years. Hope you enjoy them
Steve Hillage – Solar Musick Suite
Joni Mitchell – Paprika Plains
When I think of long form rock, everything comes back to Right Off.
”or the full-fat 32 minute “He Loved Him Madly” from the double CD “Get Up With It”. Or even Bill Laswell’s remix/edit from “Panthalassa” that’s a concise 13 minutes or so.
Jazz trance.
A classic album with long songs is Stormcock by Roy Harper. Here’s Me and My Woman.
https://youtu.be/QC5gebGthAs
If you are brave, you could try The Lord’s Prayer from Lifemask – that clocks in at about 22 minutes.
Also worth a listen is One of Those Days in England from Bullinamingvase.
David Sylvian: Approaching Silence
Brian Eno: Thursday Afternoon
You could always go for the time-stretch version of Music For Airports. Six hours worth.