avant-garde

Jessica Ackerley, Kevin Cheli, and Gahlord DeWald Create Experimental ‘Submerging Silently’

Jessica Ackerley, Kevin Cheli, and Gahlord DeWald Create Experimental ‘Submerging Silently’

Jessica Ackerley and co. offer a fascinating, experimental one-off recording that sees three musicians playing off each other with wild, unpredictable results.

Lucian Ban and Mat Maneri Adapt ‘Oedipe’ for Modern Jazz

Lucian Ban and Mat Maneri Adapt ‘Oedipe’ for Modern Jazz

Though Lucian Ban and Mat Maneri’s Oedipe Redux is quite a technical achievement, it faces an uphill battle when it comes to stirring the soul.

No Sex Please, We’re British: Coil’s Subversively Overt Homosexuality

No Sex Please, We’re British: Coil’s Subversively Overt Homosexuality

Homosexuality drove experimental band Coil’s creativity, yet they rejected the demand that they either embrace performative homosexuality or remain discreet and closeted.

Natural Information Society’s ‘Since Time Is Gravity’ Derives Energy From Communion

Natural Information Society’s ‘Since Time Is Gravity’ Derives Energy From Communion

The music Joshua Abrams makes with his Natural Information Society is at once inviting, spell-inducing, and consciousness provoking.

15 Essential Scott Walker Songs

15 Essential Scott Walker Songs

We celebrate the career of experimental pop pioneer Scott Walker through 15 of his essential songs.

Storm de Hirsch’s Utterly Unclassifiable Feature Film ‘Goodbye in the Mirror’

Storm de Hirsch’s Utterly Unclassifiable Feature Film ‘Goodbye in the Mirror’

Thematically and stylistically, Storm de Hirsch’s Goodbye in the Mirror is a bizarre amalgam of films by Varda, Cassavetes, Akerman, Wishman, and a dozen other directors working across mainstream, independent, and avant-garde contexts.

Liturgy’s ‘93696’ Delivers Ecstasy, Physicality, and Intellectual Endeavor

Liturgy’s ‘93696’ Delivers Ecstasy, Physicality, and Intellectual Endeavor

Already noted for their determination to challenge themselves and their listeners, Liturgy’s 93696 shows them refusing to settle for less when more is possible.

Filling Hearts With Diamonds: An Interview with Ravenna Hunt-Hendrix of Liturgy

Filling Hearts With Diamonds: An Interview with Ravenna Hunt-Hendrix of Liturgy

Exemplified by the new album 93696, Liturgy have moved ever further out into space all their own, tethered only by a slender cable to their sonic point of origin.

Stephanie Lamprea Creates a Fearless Interpretation of an Avant-Garde Song Cycle

Stephanie Lamprea Creates a Fearless Interpretation of an Avant-Garde Song Cycle

Colombian-American soprano Stephanie Lamprea brings a spectacular amount of vocal technique to a challenging, unique, and weirdly playful piece of music.

John Cale Collaborates with Contemporary Artists on ‘MERCY’

John Cale Collaborates with Contemporary Artists on ‘MERCY’

John Cale enlists Weyes Blood, Sylvan Esso, and Animal Collective to create a dark, unsettling new LP, MERCY, combining darkness with beauty on a knife edge.

The Alchemy of the Velvet Underground’s Art

The Alchemy of the Velvet Underground’s Art

In The Velvet Underground documentary, Todd Haynes shows the music catapulting across time and space to Andy Warhol’s Factory, where the alchemy worked its magic.

Roger Clark Miller Soundtracks Dreams with Composed Improvisations

Roger Clark Miller Soundtracks Dreams with Composed Improvisations

Roger Clark Miller’s sonically fearless Eight Dream Interpretations for Solo Electric Guitar deserves to be considered more than just a Mission of Burma offshoot.