After finishing an exhaustive article on Phil Schaap the radio host, author and Charlie Parker expert, New Yorker writer David Remnick set out to create a list of 100 titles that "are meant to provide a broad sampling of jazz classics and wonders." The most essential jazz recordings list includes virtually every phase of the music, from  early New Orleans jazz, swing, bebop and cool jazz through modal jazz, hard bop and fusion.
He does not mess with the jazz canon much, but the inclusion of boxed sets in lists like these is always a bit dicey: All of Ornette Coleman's Atlantic albums make it into the list via a box, for example, but John Coltrane is limited to only one from his days at the label, “My Favorite Things.”  Duke Ellington and Miles Davis are represented by five each; Parker four; Louis Armstrong, Thelonious Monk and Charles Mingus are in with three.
Among the interesting, perhaps off-the-beaten-path, choices:

Fats Waller, “Handful of Keys” (Proper, 2004; tracks recorded 1922-43).
John Kirby Sextet, “Night Whispers: 1938-46” (Jazz Legends, 2005).
Thelonious Monk, “Live at the It Club, 1964” (Sony, 1998).
Miles Davis, “Highlights from the Plugged Nickel” (Sony, 1995; tracks recorded 1965).
Charles Mingus Sextet, “Cornell 1964” (Blue Note, 2007).
Sun Ra, “Greatest Hits—Easy Listening for Intergalactic Travel” (Evidence, 2000; tracks recorded 1956-73).
Abbey Lincoln, “That’s Him” (Riverside, 1957).
John Coltrane, “Ascension” (Impulse!, 1965).
Jackie McLean, “A Fickle Sonance” (Blue Note, 1961).
Albert Ayler, “Spiritual Unity” (ESP, 1964).
Betty Carter, “Betty Carter’s Finest Hour” (Verve, 2003; tracks recorded 1958-92).
World Saxophone Quartet, “World Saxophone Quartet Plays Duke Ellington” (Nonesuch, 1986).
Charlie Haden and Hank Jones, “Steal Away” (Polygram, 1995).
Cassandra Wilson, “Traveling Miles” (Blue Note, 1999).
The Bill Charlap Trio, “Live at the Village Vanguard” (Blue Note, 2007).
The full list is here.

In a year that had no true standout as far as I was concerned, I shifted the way I judge an album. Can it be listened to in its entirety? Did I play it regularly when it was released and have I returned to it? Pretty simple criteria, but this is a dip for years that end in 7.
The 7s have been notable for great music. (1957: John Coltrane's "Blue Train," Sinatra's "A Swingin' Affair," James Brown's "Please Please Please";  '67: Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's," Jimi Hendrix's "Are You Experienced," Love's "Forever Changes," "The Who Sell Out"; '77: Ramones' "Rocket to Russia," "The Clash," Neil Young's "American Stars n Bars," Bob Marley's "Exodus," Bowie's "Heroes" and "Low"; '87: U2's "Joshua Tree," R.E.M.'s "Document," Sonic Youth's "Sister," John Hiatt's "Bring the Family," Springsteen's "Tunnel of Love"; '97: Dylan's "Time Out of Mind," Radiohead's "OK Computer,"  Notorious B.I.G.'s "Life After Death).
Anyhow,  I wound up with a short list of albums that qualified.

Top 10:
Robert Plant-Alison Krauss – Raising Sand (Rounder)
Spoon – “Ga ga ga ga” (Merge)
Robert Wyatt – “Comicopera” (Domino)
Iron & Wine – “The Shepherd’s Dog” (Sub Pop)
Amy Winehouse – “Back to Black”  (Republic)
Bright Eyes – “Cassadaga” (Saddle Creek)
Andrew Hill – “Change” (Blue Note)
Jose Gonzalez – “In Our Nature” (Mute)
Feist – “The Reminder” (Cherry Tree/Interscope)
Suzanne Vega – “Beauty & Crime” (Blue Note)

And then there was:
Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings – “100 Days, 100 Nights” (Dap Tone)
Tcheka – “Nu Monda” (Times Square)
Dino Saluzzi & Anja Lechner – “Ojos Negros” (ECM)
The Good, The Bad & The Queen (Virgin)
Robert Glasper – “In My Element” (Blue Note)
Bruce Springsteen – “Magic” (Columbia)
Nick Lowe – “At My Age” (Yep Roc)
Gruff Rhys – “Candylion” (Rough Trade)
Joshua Redman – “Back East” (Nonesuch)
Ryan Adams – “Easy Tiger” (Lost Highway)

And in the land of reissues, compilations, films and scores:
Neil Young – “Live at Massey Hall 1971” (Reprise)
The Traveling Wilburys – “The Traveling Wilburys Collection” (Rhino)
Miles Davis – “The Complete On The Corner Sessions” (Columbia Legacy)
Peter Bogdanovich’s four-hour documentary on Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, “Runnin’ Down a Dream”
Eddie Vedder’s songs for “Into the Wild”; the “Walk Hard” soundtrack; and Sonic Youth’s rendition of “I’m Not There”
”

Pitchfork cut down on the pretension in assembling its list of the year's 50 best albums and actually presented a reflection of what was actually cherished in indie circles during the year. Personally, this was a very difficult year to distinguish between Nos. 1, 3 and 5 - nothing was a true standout for me. Sure there are a handful of "you gotta be kidding me's" on the p4k list  but quibbling and dissecting is for others who do it quite well.
Easy to agree with their choices of  Tinariwen - "Aman Iman: Water Is Life"; Robert Wyatt - "Comicopera" (my No. 1);  Beirut - "The Flying Club Cup / Lon Gisland EP"; Grizzly Bear - "Friend"; Iron and Wine - "The Shepherd's Dog"; Black Lips - "Good Bad Not Evil"; Caribou - "Andorra"; Arcade Fire - "Neon Bible";
Feist - "The Reminder"; Kanye West - "Graduation"; the National - "Boxer"; Spoon - "Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga";  of Montreal - "Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?"; Radiohead - "In Rainbows" and LCD Soundsystem - "Sound Of Silver."
The head scratchers: Marissa Nadler - "Songs III: Bird on the Water"; Ricardo Villalobos - "Fabric 36"; King Khan & the Shrines - "What Is?!"; Sally Shapiro - "Disco Romance"; the Tough Alliance - "A New Chance / New Waves EP"; Jens Lekman - "Night Falls Over Kortedala"; and Burial - "Untrue."
And I immediately made a shopping list of Les Savy Fav - "Let's Stay Friends";  James Blackshaw - "The Cloud Of Unknowing";  Battles - "Mirrored"; and Panda Bear - "Person Pitch."

The countdown of the Top 10 long songs of the year continues:

6. Miles Davis - "Mr. Foster" (from "The Complete On The Corner Sessions," Columbia Legacy) 15 minutes, 16 seconds

Recorded Sept. 18, 1973. "Mr. Foster" unfolds like a blaxploitation score, Dave Liebman's tenor growing from a weep in the darkness to a declaration of resilience. Wah-wah'ed guitars and Al Foster's pulsating cymbal rides  dominate the track; Miles doesn't make a full statement until more than six minutes into the piece and his full-bodied playing gives the tune its shape over the last nine minutes. Rather than using Liebman's pronouncements as a starting point, he invests the tune with an air of caution before wandering to find a place to add heavy punctuation. It's a lean tune more rhythmically defined than melodically. Astonishing, therefore, that musicians stay the course for the full 15 minutes; more astonishing that this has never been released in any of the multitude of Miles resissues until now. 
Very cool footage can be streamed here.

The top 10 list of this year's songs clocking  in at more than seven minutes, 30 seconds continues with: 

7. Robert Wyatt - Cancion de Julietta (from "Comicopera") 7 minutes 33 seconds
Sung in Spanish, matador-summoning trumpets rise above and then fold into an oscilating drone until the horns add the texture of a whale call. Wyatt's calming high-pitched voice, somehow unchanged over the last 30 years, rolls with melody like anchored boats banging into the dock at high tide. A calm cello brings the piece to a still conclusion, never overlooking the need for tension and making the listener feel like they've enjoyed a stoic film.
Speaking of film, here's 90 minutes of Wyatt answering questions

The top 10 long songs of 2007 continues

8. Dragons of Zynth - "Closer" (from "Coronation Thieves," Gigantic) 8 minutes 31 seconds

The most accessible track on their debut release filled mostly with dense variations on metal and prog rock – let’s call it collage rock. Track opens with a sparse attack on a snare drum before building into a molten flow of woodwinds, bells and bass frequencies; it springs from the darker side of the Sigur Ros canon and flows slowly until the band gives up. Silence follows only to land in a blipping collage of synth washes, strings and a distant human voice until a roller rink organ and a plucked acoustic guitar enter.

The countdown of 2007's top 10 songs over 7-1/2 minutes continues.

9.Cafe Tacuba - "Volver a Comanzer" (from "SiNo," Universal) 7 minutes, 44 seconds

An anthem for dancing, marching or just jumping around,  the Mexican quartet welds a fat Modest Mouse sound with an '80s synth-pop aesthetic before transitioning into a languid SoCal harmony-drenched acoustic number with shimmering accents. Could it be Spanish language “Heroes and Villains”?  Blocked out it suite-like fashion, the final two minutes coalesce with an the acoustic guitar degreasing the bits that stuck to the driving bass-set beat. Ruben Albarran’s careful enunciation make it extra easy for gringos to grasp.
The video is here

The long song - a dying art form trampled at various times by the new wave, boy bands beat-driven R&B-pop  - is not about to recapture its early '70s heyday. But in looking back on 2007, particularly the  dramatic concert moments that stick with this listener, it was the lengthy, stretched out numbers that have a lasting impact, most notably Neil Young turning "No Hidden Path" into a 20-minute suite one night at the Nokia and veering close to half an hour the next.
On the surface it seemed like 2007 was a comeback year for long songs - even the Eagles entered that picture -   and a few of my favorite tunes went on much longer than the average pop record. This year's David Gilmour DVD of a London concert, for example, was a splendid celebration of the extended rock piece. 
In creating a top 10 of long songs, the idea was to find pieces that luxuriate in sound and work in a linear fashion with form in mind. It meant crossing off many straight ahead jazz tunes, soundtrack scores and works that were a few verses and a single lengthy solo. No classical  pieces were considered either. And listening to an 18:50 minute version of Jimi Hendrix's "Machine Gun" while writing this reminds me of  how near impossible it is to hold a listener's attention that long unless you are some sort of visionary.
Then came the idea of what constitutes a long song. Suggestions  from friends were as low as 4 minutes, 30 seconds; five minutes seems to be a demarcation for a number of people. I went with seven minutes, 30 seconds. Play a piece that long in concert and people definitely check their watches; put a tune that long on an album and plenty of folks are going to skip over it. (Bizarrely, after I finished this list, I saw that Rolling Stone had posted an all-time list of songs over seven minutes long. They went alphabetical, starting with the Allman Brothers' "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed," one of my all-time favorite instrumentals.)
Also had to stick to recordings released in 2007 and not include any previously issued tracks getting a re-release. Only one of the top 10 tunes comes from a reissue, but the track itself has never been issued. After listening to about three dozen tunes clocking in at more than seven minutes, it was intriguing how many of the more interesting tunes relied on drones and fugues,  a suggestion that the old way might still be the best way.
We start with No. 10.

Pop Matters has decided that Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire" is the greatest country song of all time. Naturally, the pop music  website celebrates icons (Cash, Willie, Patsy and Waylon account for a lot of entries) rather than songs - how else could you count "Hurt" as a country song? Nothing from the last three decades makes it into the upper reaches of the list. Charlie Daniels' "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" makes a curious landing at No. 11 - perhaps that's some sort of hipster irony - but the real question is why they honor  Cash's version of "Orange Blossom Special." Flatt & Scruggs, kids. Go with the real deal.

Q Magazine has polled 50 recording artists, among them Michael Stipe, John Legend and the leader of Travis, to create a list of "Perfect Songs." (Since Leonard Cohen wrote "Hallelujah," they actually mean perfect records).
The winners, in no particular order:

Bitter Sweet Symphony - The Verve
Blowin' In The Wind - Bob Dylan
Born To Run - Bruce Springsteen
God Only Knows - The Beach Boys
Hallelujah - Jeff Buckley
Life On Mars - David Bowie
Perfect Day - Lou Reed
Strange Fruit - Billie Holiday
Strawberry Fields Forever - Beatles
Sympathy For The Devil - Rolling Stones

A few of the indidviduals provide their picks here while Q provides the videos.
Personally, I'll agree with Blowin' In The Wind, Born To Run, God Only Knows and Hallelujah and throw in Marvin Gaye's What's Going On, John Coltrane's Naima, Paul Simon's Graceland, Thelonious Monk's 1947 version of 'Round Midnight, R.E.M.'s Nightswimming, Otis Redding's I've Been Loving You Too Long, NRBQ's Riding in My Car and Junior Murvin's Police and Thieves. Naturally, the list changes depending on the day.