Annie Hogan’s ‘Tongues in My Head’ Is Richly Cinematic
Annie Hogan’s exploration of artistic expression shows world-building, all sorts of paintings, mental photographs, and invisible portraits carry great weight.
avant-garde
Music/Feature Sub Head/Featured: Top of Home Page/Features/Lists/Music Features/PopMatters Picks/The Best Music of 2025
The 20 Best Experimental Albums of 2025
This year has been particularly exciting for experimental music, ranging from free-form guitar freak-outs to lush, ambient, always pushing boundaries.
Laura Ann Singh Creates a Unique, Unclassifiable Gem
Laura Ann Singh steers her reckless way through traditional jazz, torch song elegance, avant-garde experiments, and an anarchic sense of punk rebellion.
David Garland Eloquently Navigates Loss on ‘The Spark’
David Garland’s The Spark may be an expression of loss, but it also overflows with kindness, positivity, and the endless curiosity of a truly original artist.
‘Everything Is Now’ Digs Into NYC’s Avant-Garde Ferment
Everything Is Now expertly demonstrates how NYC’s varied avant-garde subcultures were birthed in cold-water lofts, coffeehouses, and tiny storefront galleries and theaters.
Lingyuan Yang Made a Spellbinding Jazz Trio Album
Lingyuan Yang has crafted a brooding, often tumultuous beast that takes the best aspects of freeform jazz and turns it into something unique and beautiful.
Tim Berne’s ‘Yikes, Too’ Creates Adventure and Magic
Tim Berne’s Yikes Too is three imaginative jazz musicians in a sandbox, building and molding, occasionally smashing a bit, but most typically creating magic.
Pidgins Upend Corporate Culture with ‘Refrains of the Day, Vol. 2’
Self-described as “an experiment in percussive languages”, the latest project from avant-garde Mexican duo Pidgins is uplifting and immersive.
Circuit des Yeux’s Glorious New LP Is Modern-Day Alchemy
Circuit des Yeux’s work, including her singular voice, conjures the grand epics, the metamorphoses that the ancients whispered and sang about.
Sarah Belle Reid Creates a World of Imaginary Bird Calls
Experimental duo Sarah Belle Reid and Vinny Golia use improvisation playfully and imaginatively with a unique new release that’s something truly magical.
Death Sneeze Embrace Avant-Garde Punk and Much More
Death Sneeze’s debut album is noisy, multifaceted, boundless, and cacophonous but contains a million unique moments ripe for discovery.
Featured: Top of Home Page/Features/Lists/Music/Music Features/PopMatters Picks/The Best Music of 2024
The 20 Best Experimental Albums of 2024
The best experimental albums highlight the breadth of human expression and take listeners to heretofore unknown realms in music, pushing boundaries.