Long Long Long
Ten great songs that are longer than ECHOES (ie. 23:35).
THE LONGER FLOYD ONE
Pink Floyd – Atom Heart Mother (23:44) (from Atom Heart Mother, Harvest, 1970)
Pseudo-classical suite (nearly called The Amazing Pudding) with starring roles for Rick Wright’s organ, the brass section of the EMI Pops and John Aldiss’s long-suffering choir, barking nonsense, all marshalled by avantcomposer Ron Geesin. Best bit: when Gilmour comes in at 10:36. DE
THE POST-ROCK ONE
Godspeed You! Black Emperor – Providence (29:02) (from F# A# ∞, Kranky, 1998) The Canadian soundscapers perfected their – and post-rock’s – blend of classical expansiveness, drone-rock repetition, Morricone twang, martial rhythms, found sound manipulations, obtuse references and grandstand dread as early as their first album. The glockenspiel of the apocalypse arrives, disingenuously, at 6:08. JM
THE TECHNO ONE
The Orb – The Blue Room (39:58) (Big Life single, 1992) Still-beautiful sub-pelagic trance assembled from a million samples (Weather Report, Mad Professor, Marilyn Monroe, Quentin Crisp…) and nailed to Jah Wobble’s bass reverberations. Literally never a dull moment – and timed to qualify as a single, coming two seconds under what was then the limit. DE
THE JAZZ ONE
The Necks – Drive By (60:16) (Fish Of Milk/ReR Megacorp album, 2003)
Most of the albums in the cult Australian trio’s discography have a single track – infallibly graceful, jazz-adjacent improvisations that land around the hour mark. As a consequence, few bands have asserted the incremental pleasures of going long so consistently: start with this 2003 banger. JM
THE AFROBEAT ONE
Fela Kuti – Confusion (25:36) (from Confusion, EMI, 1975) This sonic recreation of the colourful chaos of inner-city Lagos starts with five minutes of Fela’s eccentric electric piano and Tony Allen’s percussive counterblasts, then goes funky with the entry of George Mark Bruce’s bass before blooming into Afrobeat of the trippiest stripe. DE
THE AMBIENT ONE
Brian Eno – Reflection (54:00) (Warp album, 2017) Eno’s ambient conceptualising upgraded to ‘generative music’, via microscopically evolving tones, designed to run off an app for however long you need to give your kitchen those minimalist gallery vibes. The CD edit clocks in at 54 minutes; Spotify adds an extra 10:24 of bespoke serenity. JM
THE HEAVY ONE
Boris – Absolutego (60:15) (Fangs Anal Satan single, 1996)
Boris love their Brobdingnagian epics – cf. the ravishing Feedbacker (43:51) and minimalist Flood (70:32) – but the Japanese noise rockers are at their most bloody-minded across this hour of fuzz-gnarl and dentist-drill lock-groove. The 2001 reissue on Southern Lord is five minutes longer! DE
THE JAMMING ONE
Grateful Dead – Dark Star (48:06) (From the Rhino album Europe ’72, Vol. 15: Grote Zaal, De Doelen, Rotterdam, Holland (5/11/1972), 2011) Never ones to play for an hour when they could stick around for four, the Dead’s commitment to the never-ending jam regularly reached its apotheosis on Dark Star. This one is especially languid and jazzy, wanders into Can-esque zones, and is suspected to be the longest version extant. JM
THE INDIE ONE
Microphones – Microphones In 2020 (44:44) (from Microphones In 2020, P.W. Elverum & Sun Ltd, 2020) Microphones/Mount Eerie man Phil Elverum intones his unspectacular autobiography (“I saw Stereolab in Bellingham and they played one chord for 15 minutes”) over a minimal, hypnotic strum. Somehow, it’s breathtaking. Best bit: when Elverum goes electric at 11:34. DE
THE 1000-YEAR ONE
Jem Finer – Longplayer (1000 years) (www.longplayer.org, 1999) Yep, that’s right: this algorithmically regenerating piece derived from 234 Tibetan singing bowls and gongs is programmed to last the millennium – you’ve already missed the first 22 years. Installed at Bow Creek Lighthouse in east London, and the work of an unlikely meditative sound artist: Finer was originally banjo player in The Pogues. JM
Sat through by Danny Eccleston and John Mulvey