Long, rhythm-focused pieces of music
January 7, 2022 6:52 AM   Subscribe

Music for 18 Musicians by Steve Reich. Dysnomia by Dawn of MIDI. Elements of Light by Pantha du Prince. Gamelan orchestras. Seeking more like this: long pieces of music driven by steady, propulsive, repetitive and/or gradually changing rhythm.

Other examples: In C by Terry Riley. Kraftwerk. Einstein on the Beach by Glass. I’ll edit and add more if I think of them.

Open to any genre, time period, or culture of origin. DJ mixes? Hell yeah. I have a slight preference for no vocals, but it’s not a dealbreaker.
posted by 2or3whiskeysodas to Media & Arts (34 answers total) 38 users marked this as a favorite
 
some of Oren Ambarchi's records - Sagitarrian Domain, Quixotism and Hubris. Horse Lords as well, maybe, though they're more of a "real band". david borden might fit the bill, but sans percussion. Joshua Abrams/Natural Information Society.

I'll try and add more to this when I can go through some of my favorites.
posted by AlbertCalavicci at 6:58 AM on January 7, 2022


Konono N°1
posted by moonmilk at 6:58 AM on January 7, 2022 [5 favorites]


to add: some of the more out there miles davis stuff like agharta and dark magus. the adrian belew period king crimson albums (discipline, etc).
posted by AlbertCalavicci at 7:05 AM on January 7, 2022


Drumming performed by Sō Percussion

Cantaloupe Music is my go to I would suggest browsing their catalog.
posted by sol at 7:14 AM on January 7, 2022 [1 favorite]


Not so long, but Felix's Fastslow can be fun (if a bit "OMG look at me! I've just worked out my sequencer lets me change the tempo!!").

I've a CD single somewhere that goes from about 120 to 2000 bpm. I can't remember the band or track name, which is probably an indicator of quality.
posted by pompomtom at 7:24 AM on January 7, 2022


One generic term for all this stuff is Process Music.

I'll add to the mix a whole bunch of electronica, such as almost the entire production of Autechre. Where they write a complex Max/MSP machine and let it run to make the music. But many of the musicians, especially Autechre, make really complex and changing pieces that obscure the algorithmic certainty. It's not simple or particularly repetitive. But some electronic producers do embrace minimalism. You might find Gas appealing.
posted by Nelson at 7:25 AM on January 7, 2022 [3 favorites]


riffing off sol's mention of Sō Percussion, Man Forever, who collaborated with them at least once.
posted by AlbertCalavicci at 7:32 AM on January 7, 2022


Check out the various groups/projects of Nik Bärtsch. His album Continuum has a lot of repeating rhythms with there instrumentation on top.
posted by jonathanhughes at 7:35 AM on January 7, 2022


You might like Man with a Movie Camera with music by Michael Nyman. A lot of people don't like this version and prefer it with a cinematic orchestra, but I think the repetitive rhythm on this one really suits the daily work/rest bustle of the city in the film.
posted by phunniemee at 7:35 AM on January 7, 2022


Try Lotte Pen.
posted by Mizu at 7:36 AM on January 7, 2022


You want Rhys Chatham's Guitar Trio Is My Life.
posted by dobbs at 8:25 AM on January 7, 2022 [1 favorite]


Perhaps Wim Mertens?
posted by dobbs at 8:34 AM on January 7, 2022


Ambient/industrial:
The Halfer Trio - Mind Loss
Zoviet France - Mohnomishe (esp. tracks 1,3, and 5)
Abul Mogard - Tumbling Relentless Heaps
Alec Empire - We Were Burnt
O Yuki Conjugate - Raindance, Alia Ma
Foetus - Diabolus in Musica (considerbly harsher than the others listed)

Dub/electronic:
Maurizio - M4, M4.5A (and check out other Basic Channel-related releases and basically the entire genre of Dub Techno)
Deepchord Presents Echospace - Aequinoxium

Sui Generis:
Ketjak - The Ramayama Monkey Chant
posted by googly at 8:40 AM on January 7, 2022 [1 favorite]


While you mentioned gamelan orchestras already, Gamelan Son of Lion is a long-running American new music gamelan ensemble (with a very '90s web presence) that you might like.

There's The Necks, though some of their stuff is more rhythm-focused than others.

'In C Mali' is one of my favorite versions of the Terry Riley composition.
posted by box at 8:43 AM on January 7, 2022 [1 favorite]


Yet again I get to recommend Steve Reich’s Variations for Winds, Strings and Keyboards, which you can find on YouTube. I consider it his most underrated piece.
posted by wittgenstein at 8:48 AM on January 7, 2022


Black Meteoric Star - Dawn
posted by niicholas at 9:06 AM on January 7, 2022


A CD from the mid-90s which is kind of hard to identify, since the track names are just their timings, and the name ("Global Communication") is written on the CD cover only in Morse Code, but the longest track (14:31) may scratch your itch, although rather than the 'minimalist' tag Philip Glass or Steve Reich get, this was being described as 'pulse' music back in the day, IIRC.
posted by Rash at 9:20 AM on January 7, 2022


jim donovan released a cd called "indigo" in the late 90s that's one hour long piece at 58 bpm.

(he was also the original drummer for rusted root, but i've never held that against him.)
posted by noloveforned at 9:44 AM on January 7, 2022




Hallogallo by Neu (or Krautrock anthologies)
Much of Stereolab
Boards of Canada
Keep diving into Glass, Reich, Riley
My favorite Glass these days is Aguas de Amazonas, Piano Concerto 3 (Dinnerstein), and The Hours (soundtrack or suite)
Third Coast Percussion, especially if you can watch the performance (check YouTube)
(Sorry no links, on phone)
posted by matildaben at 10:08 AM on January 7, 2022


Phil Kline might be worth a try. (e.g., The Blue Room and Other Stories)

Also, and perhaps a little weirder, Squonk (the base clarinet duo, not the more famous bands with the same name), and Zoe Keating

I'm looking forward to listening to the other answers here.
posted by eotvos at 10:24 AM on January 7, 2022


Promises by Floating Points/Pharoah Sanders (although less beat driven).

How dyou feel about Afro Beat? Fela Kuti definitely fits the propulsive, rhythmic, repetitive but changing definition

Lou Harrison, Chamber and Gamelan Works

état, daniel wohl (the songs are not long on their own but the whole album works together as a long ambient/rhythmic gestalt)

Melodium, Low Gravity
posted by dis_integration at 11:59 AM on January 7, 2022




Become Ocean is more subduded (until it isn't). Not really percussive, but so compelling in the dark with headphones.
posted by tayknight at 12:36 PM on January 7, 2022


Max Richter's Sleep (an incredible and gorgeous 8-hour long LIVE performance!) might suit your ears?
posted by vers at 1:24 PM on January 7, 2022 [1 favorite]


Boredoms: ‘seadrum / house of sun’

A two track album, each track is 20 minutes, drum and drone, cosmic energy.

If that floats your boat, you’ll probably dig Boredoms lp ‘Vision Creation Newsun’, which also has this driving, Krautrock-inspired motorik rhythm. (And on that score, you might dig some motorik krautrock, like Faust, Harmonia, Neu!, Cluster).
posted by Joeruckus at 3:35 PM on January 7, 2022


The Drummers of Burundi seem to check all of the boxes. Here's a little more info about them.
posted by Turtles Kazoo This at 4:30 PM on January 7, 2022


Music for 18 Musicians is one of my favorite pieces of music. I haven't found anything yet that scratches that itch exactly, but these two ensembles are in the park: GoGo Penguin and Mammal Hands (both on Gondwana Records, btw).
posted by bricoleur at 4:49 PM on January 7, 2022 [1 favorite]


Rhys Chatham also has this piece "for 400 electric guitars".
posted by dobbs at 7:15 PM on January 7, 2022


Shackleton/Villalobos

If you like that track you should check out both artists individually, as they both use rhythm in interesting ways, I think.

Villalobos best stuff is on 12 inch vinyl singles, his albums aren't great but I think his first album is his best.

Shackletons style has changed a bit recently, my favourite stuff from him was released between around 2005 and 2015.
posted by DelusionsofGrandeur at 12:12 AM on January 8, 2022 [1 favorite]


There is quite a lot music from West Africa - and hence to places like Brazil and Cuba - where gradually changing poly-rhythms are used to evoke particular spirits. For example in Brazilian Candomble each spirit or orixá has its own characteristic pattern that is played in an attempt to have a practitioner fall into a trance and become representative of that spirit. For example here it the pattern for Ijeshá - here by Dudu Tucci.
posted by rongorongo at 2:48 AM on January 9, 2022


A few to check out:

TV Victor – "Agai"
Anything by Föllakzoid (a fantastic Krautrock band from Chile), but especially their album I (which leans into minimal techno territory)
Mysteries of Science – "Interfacing"
Datacide – "So Much Light"

I assume that you're familiar with the genres of "minimal techno" and "dub techno"? Your question describes them perfectly. If not, say so, and I'll post some links.
posted by escape from the potato planet at 11:06 AM on January 12, 2022


Also check out Plastikman (aka Richie Hawtin), one of the pioneers of minimal techno.
posted by escape from the potato planet at 11:07 AM on January 12, 2022


Coppice Halifax – "Orange Acre (Ndru Remix)"
Shifted – "Warm Currents"
Shifted – "Control"
Positive Centre – "Was the Old in Out"
Deepbass – "Lucid"

The individual tracks in minimal techno tend to be only 6–15 minutes long, but they're meant to be heard in the context of a continuous, hour-plus DJ mix.
posted by escape from the potato planet at 11:19 AM on January 12, 2022 [1 favorite]


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