More from the Airmchair on "epic" electronica...
Coincidentally I was listening to Tangerine Dream's 40 min "Rubycon, Part 1 & Part 2" when I read this and was really enjoying it :) On the flip side recent albums like BT's musically long winded solo effort "This Binary Universe" seem to smack of self indulgence. (As an aside to it's credit he wrote it entirely in C-Sound, and as in fact a full A/V DVD release, with some great visual work by Scott Pagano )

I think this phenomenon is definately not confined to electronic music, nor is it unprecedented in electronic music, but is a "format" that requires significant musical dexterity to pull off successfully, and can either fail or succeed. I'm not wishing for the Joe Santriani of electronic music to emerge, but if a track succeeds in this format it's length is far less concerning.

In reference to the Pitchfork article I draw an another conclusion from the article the the author seemed to ommit. The ability for musicians to shorten the feedback process from performance to studio (via digital DJ'ing or laptop performance) is a positive indication that electronic musicians are finally beginning to enjoy the ease of flexibility in music writing that live musicians have always enjoyed. A rock band goes on tour and has the ability to hone, refine and compose their set live before having to lay it all down in the studio. The ability for (formerly studio based) electronic musicians to do the same simply means better applied ingenuity, and ideally, better music.