Albums for a Long Train Journey

About 54 minutes Touré’s guitar and Diabaté’s kora leave enough room for each other that you can drift in and out of listening. Begin with “Debe,” then notice how the phrases on “Kaira” make you choose which player to follow. It’s an easy record to settle into while there’s still plenty to see through the window.

About 65 minutes Little figures emerge out of the opening swirl of “Brakhage” and give the album a pace that can go on for miles. By the time “Refractions in the Plastic Pulse” changes scenes within a single track, you’ve learned to listen for the small rhythmic figures that come through each change. Choose it when you want plenty of movement at an even volume.

About 68 minutes “Sugarcube” gets you out of the station quickly. The patient tapping and small sounds of “Green Arrow” make a stretch of quiet feel just as much a part of the trip. This is a good one if you’d like the album to keep surprising you as much as the route does, though it gets loud in places.

About 61 minutes The pulse builds gradually on “Under the Pressure,” leaving you time to settle in before the full band arrives. “Suffering” relaxes that pace without breaking the mood. Put it on when you want a record that can keep moving through long views and give you quieter passages to look up in.

About 74 minutes “Chicago” makes a trip feel as big as the reason you took it. “Casimir Pulaski Day” turns the attention down to one relationship and gives the words much more room. There’s enough change across the album to keep a long ride interesting, even when the view stays the same for a while.

About 43 minutes There’s an almost abrasive sound inside “After the Flood,” and “New Grass” gives you a much softer place to land. Let the quieter parts take their time. This fits a trip where you’re happy to stop watching the clock, and where the noise around you will let you hear the album’s low sounds.

About 52 minutes The guitar in “Dream in Blue” gives the start of the record a shove. “Kiko and the Lavender Moon” has a loping rhythm and a wavering melody, giving a short tune a darker sound to explore. Choose it if you want an hour with a few surprises and enough of a beat to take with you when you get off.

About 45 minutes You can hear the repeated synth figure through several pieces, even as the instruments around it change. Try following the pulse in “Continuum 1,” then hear what it’s become by the end of “Continuum 10.” It suits a leg of the trip with one continuous view and plenty of small changes to catch.

About 68 minutes Metheny and Lyle Mays wrote this as one suite. The pauses and restarts are inside the piece, so a musical idea heard in the opening can turn up in a different setting well into the trip. Save it for a ride long enough to listen closely through the whole thing. There’s plenty going on, especially once the full group gets moving.

About 80 minutes “Time Escaping” has a lot of little noises competing for your attention. “Simulation Swarm” finds a groove sturdy enough to carry a fast flow of words. Between them are gentler songs with room for a look out the window. Save it for a long stretch when you’d like the volume and pace to change.

About 46 minutes The floating beat of “Helicopter” is a good place to loosen your attention. Leave enough time for “He Would Have Laughed,” where repetition gives way to a second section that feels like finding yourself somewhere unexpected. It fits a shorter leg of a long trip without making it feel like a short album.

About 61 minutes “Chan Chan” sets an unhurried pace, while “Candela” has much more bustle. There’s a stretch of appealingly different voices and tempos between them, so the record can keep you company without demanding the same amount of attention all the way through. Choose the original album if you have about an hour.

About 71 minutes Give “Svefn-g-englar” enough time for its slow guitar swells to become familiar. The change in scale when the music gets louder makes more sense after that wait. Keep going into “Flugufrelsarinn” when there’s room for another long build and the scenery has started to look bigger than it did when you got on.

About 66 minutes “Dawn” gives the album a quiet route in. The rhythm under “Thin Line” makes it feel as though you’ve picked up speed without leaving the piano’s world. It’s a useful choice when you want changes you can feel while looking out the window and plenty to notice if you turn your attention back to the recording.