Hear Unknown Mortal Orchestra's 17-Minute Jam "SB-02"

Oh, the things musicians record over the holidays to get away from the relatives for a few hours!

By MATTHEW SINGER

Got 17 minutes and some mind-altering substances to spare? Then take a moment to decompress from the holidays with Unknown Mortal Orchestra. 

Last year around this time, the Portland-via-New Zealand psych-pop trio uploaded a 22-minute ambient drift called "SB-01" online. This Christmas, Ruban Nielson and friends recorded a sequel. Appropriately titled "SB-02," the quarter-hour jam is another wordless, presumedly improvised odyssey, featuring Nielson, drummer Riley Geare and Nielson's brother and former Mint Chicks bandmate Kody on piano. The thing kind of whirls around for the first 10 minutes, then bursts open into a funky, lightheaded break that wouldn't have seemed out of place on UMO's first record.

No word if there's another UMO album coming in 2015 (though a follow-up to 2013's II is due), so this sprawling morsel might be the only new music we get this year. So savor it, in all its exploratory, basement-funk glory. 

WWeek 2015

Willamette Week provides local, trustworthy information that strengthens our community and holds power to account. Contribute now to our biggest fundraiser of the year!

Help us dig deeper.

Support