The Best Avant-Garde and Experimental Music of 2017

The personal is political, the local is global, and privacy is passé. Our musical experimenters are mere soldiers, fighting the good fight in the name of a brighter and weirder tomorrow.

A Noah Harrison

Music

20 Dec 2017

Ex Eye: Ex Eye

Led by Colin Stetson and augmented by drummer Greg Fox, Ex Eye makes a black metal/jazz amalgam that is cathartic in its athleticism.

Tanner Smith

Music

12 Jul 2017

Colin Stetson: All This I Do For Glory

On his most recent release, Stetson produces some of the most intense expressions of his virtuosity.

Mark Matousek

Music

25 Apr 2017

All This I Do for Glory: An Interview With Saxophonist Colin Stetson

Extreme soul searching leads sax stylist Colin Stetson towards the very core of his creativity.

Mike Pursley

Interviews

24 Apr 2017

Sarah Neufeld Gets Physical With "The Ridge"

Sarah Neufeld has recorded in underground parking garages, toured with Arcade Fire, and recorded remarkable music with Colin Stetson. She's also made some superior solo recordings, and her latest, The Ridge, encourages listeners to feel the music along with her.

Jedd Beaudoin

Interviews

10 Jun 2016

Colin Stetson - "SORROW III" (Singles Going Steady)

The track isn't merely about "sorrow", that passing sentiment of unhappiness that always allows recovery; rather, it is about this sentiment amplified tenfold.

PopMatters Staff

Music

08 Apr 2016

Colin Stetson and Sarah Neufeld: Never Were the Way She Was (take 2)

Two Constellation instrumentalists produce an organic work of seismic proportions.

A Noah Harrison

Music

31 May 2015

Colin All Arms: An Interview with Colin Stetson

Whether you understand his music or not, Stetson's work is undeniably powerful -- a walled-in chamber of voluptuous white noise in which the artist holds the addressees of his wayward signals captive. He speaks to PopMatters about his new album, his 100-year-old sax, and more.

Imran Khan

Music

20 Aug 2013