Experimental

Rafael Torral – Spectral Evolution

LP, Moikai / Drag City, 2024 Recorded 2020-2022 Style: Progressive Ambient, Experimental Electronic Vibes: Ethereal, Luminous, Patient, Nature, Birds, Blissful, Meditative, Abstract, Airy, Bright, Hypnotic, Mysterious, Soothing Musical Qualities: Loops, Lush, Textural, 432 hz, Harmonious, Droney, Suite, Extened Technique, Instrumental, Slow, Improvisation, Layered Instrumentation: Electric Guitar, Electric Bass, Homemade Electronic Instruments

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FYEAR

Style: Liberation Music, Industrial Jazz, Slam Poetry, Avant-Prog

Vibe: Dystopian, Rebellious, Anxious, Communal, Poetic, Bleak, Apocalyptic, Determined, Powerful, Conscious, Dark, Industrial, Intense, Winter, Climactic

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Ibelisse Guardia Ferragutti & Frank Rosaly – Mestizx

Style & Influences: Latin Jazz, Bomba, Cyber-Jazz, Plena, Trip-Hop, No Wave, Cumbia, Experimental

Vibes: Ritualistic, Ancient, Futuristic, Introspective, Brooding, Sensual, Intertwined, Grimy, Psychedelic, Moody, Eclectic, Healing

Themes: Decolonization, History, Ancestors, Alienation, Roots, Tradition

Musical Qualities: Polyrhythmic, Studio-as-an-Instrument, Electro-Acoustic, Percussive, Progressive, Uncommon Time Signatures

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White Boy Scream – Bakunawa

Style: Electro-Acoustic Opera, Sound Collage, Neoclassical Darkwave

Vibes: Ritualistic, Mythic, Decolonial, Cathartic, Spiritual, Intense, Chaotic, Powerful, Suspenseful, Personal, Storytelling

Musical Qualities: Operatic Vocals, Noise, Chants, Extended Technique, Vocal Processing, Sampling, Suite

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Meredith Monk – Dolmen Music

featuring Julius Eastman, Collin Walcott, and others

Style: Abstract Choral Music, Sound Poetry, Modern Chamber Music, Post-Minimalism

Vibes: Mysterious, Ritualistic, Mystical, Somatic, Impressionistic, Nocturnal, Spiritual

Instrumentation: Experimental Vocals, Percussion, Cello, Piano, Vocal Harmonies, Violin

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Water Shrews – Widening Spaces

Style: Drone, Free Improvisation, Psychedelic Ambient

Vibes: Journeying, Amorphous, Introspective, Woozy, Exploratory, Earthy, Washy, Hypnotic, Psychedelic, Murky, Rhizomatic

Musical Qualities: Noisy, Improvisation, Lo-Fi, Loops, Slow, Pulse, Analogue, Atmospheric

Instrumentation: Keyboards, Electric Guitar, Electronics, Synthesizers, Field Recordings

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Cassia Streb – Marginal Habitats

Style: EAI, Reductionism

Vibes: Meditative, Desert, Ecological, Desolate, Meandering, Lonely, Contemplative, Morning, Intimate, Lethargic, Primordial, Raw, Restrained

Musical Qualities: Graphic Score, Sparse, Slow, Soft, Instrumental, Improvisation, Dissonant, Electro-Acoustic

Instrumentation: Field Recording, Viola, Small Objects

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(Blouseusa) – Stimulus Overnclusion

Stimulus Overconclusion wastes no time in launching you into an otherwordly space where even familiar textures feel alien and mysterious. Throughout the first side, aquatic percussion loops on tabla or drums are submerged in strange electronic smears and warbly acoustic strings & flutes, suggesting a shapeshifting noise-folk beat tape. The flip side features overcompressed drum blasts, fractured noise rock and sci-fi electronics.

Recommended if you dig Nuke Watch, Fourth World, or This Heat

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Autechre – Confield

Style: IDM, Glitch, Experimental Electronic, Generative

Vibes: Metallic, Wet, Mechanical, Cold, Woozy, Disorienting, Surreal, Abstract, Spectral, Complex, Futuristic, Hypnotic, Mysterious, Suspenseful, Monochromatic, Detached

Musical Qualities: Polyrhythmic, Glitchy, Digital, Percussive, Dissonant, Dense, Instrumental

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Scalpy + Meanstreetz

Style: Free Improvisation, Experimental, Noise Rock

Vibes: Ecstatic, Visceral, Hypnotic, Somatic, Abstract, Passionate, Cathartic, Liberatory

Musical Qualities: Noisy, Percussive, Repetitive, Improvisation, Dissonant

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Ilhan Mimaroglu – Sing Me a Song of Songmy

Style: Avant-Garde Classical, Electro-Acoustic, Tape Music, Creative Music, Third Stream

Vibes: Ominous, Sombre, Anxious, Cinematic, Dystopian, Surreal, Poetic, Chaotic, Cold, Complex, Eclectic, Exploratory

Themes: Political, Colonialism, War, Death, Liberation, History

Musical Qualities: Orchestral, Collage, Polyphonic, Dynamic, Spoken Word, Dense, Progressive, Sampling, Choral, Improvisation

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Robert Wyatt – The Animals Film

Style: Progressive Electronic, Film Score, Experimental

Vibes: Dystopian, Hallucinatory, Mysterious, Suspenseful, Gloomy, Hypnotic, Futuristic, Exploratory, Ominous, Cinematic, Haunting, Imaginative

Musical Qualities: Suite, Vignettes, Atmospheric, Studio-as-an-Instrument, Progressive

Instrumentation: Synthesizers, Piano, Experimental Vocals, Drums

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Art Bears – Winter Songs

Fred Frith, Chris Cutler, Dagmar Krause

Style: Rock in Opposition, Avant-Prog, Tape Music, Chamber Rock

Vibes: Dystopian, Sombre, Winter, Ominous, Anxious, Cold, Disturbing, Knotty, Suspenseful, Theatric, Eccentric

Musical Qualities: Dissonant, Complex, Uncommon Time Signatures, Extended Technique, Loops, Technical, Progressive, Studio-as-an-Instrument

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David Sylvian – Blemish

featuring Derek Bailey & Fennesz

Style: Experimental Songwriter, Electroacoustic, Reductionism

Vibe: Lonely, Winter, Reflective, Sombre, Cold, Breakup, Depressive, Surreal, Meditative, Desolate

Musical Qualities: Electro-Acoustic, Glitchy, Sparse, Soft, Dissonant

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Derek Monypeny – Cibola

Style: “Desert Continuum”, Psychedelic Drone, Free Improvisation, Avant-Folk

Moods: Desert, Ritualistic, Spiritual, Meditative, Hallucinogenic, Nocturnal

Musical Qualities: Droney, Electro-acoustic, Solo Improvisation, Noisy, Instrumental

Instrumentation: Shahi Baaja, Electric Guitar, Autoharp

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ONO – Red Summer

Styles: Industrial-Gospel, Dub Poetry, No Wave, Experimental

Moods: Visceral, Dystopian, Disturbing, Haunting, Surreal, Aggressive, Mechanical, Heavy, Deconstructed, Vulgar, Cerebral, Conscious, Dark, Ominous, Shadow

Themes: Racism, History, Philosophy, Sex

Musical Qualities: Noisy, Spoken Word, Dub, Sampling, Rhythmic, Studio-as-an-Instrument, Dissonant

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Cecil Taylor – Indent

Style: Free Improvisation, Free Jazz

Moods: Passionate, Kinetic, Complex, Ecstatic, Dramatic, Energetic, Angular, Exploratory, Meditative, Focused

Musical Qualities: Solo Improvisation, Dense, Acoustic, Progressive, Dynamic, Percussive, Atonal, Active Listening, Instrumental, Technical, Rhythmic, Live

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Exhaust – Exhaust

Style: Post-Rock, Avant-Dub, Experimental

Moods: Deconstructed, Urban, Motorik, Mechanical, Dystopian, Political, Moody, Raw

Musical Qualities: Loops, Noisy, Sampling, Repetitive, Atmospheric, Dub, Instrumental, Dynamic

Instrumentation: Drums, Electric Bass, Bass Clarinet, Sampler, Field Recordings, Tapes

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Spires that in the Sunset Rise

Style: Free Folk, Ritual-Psych

Moods: Eerie, Forest, Nocturnal, Ritualistic, Witchy, Disturbing, Haunting, Communal, Pagan, Cryptic, Anxious, Surreal, Dark, Chaotic, Mysterious

Musical Qualities: Dissonant, Acoustic, Improvisation, Lo-Fi

Instrumentation: Cello, Violin, Acoustic Guitar, Autoharp, Melodica, Harmonium, Little Harp, Percussion, Mbira, Piano

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Pelt – Brown Cyclopaedia

Style: Free Rock, Ritual-Psych, Noise Rock, Experimental, Drone Rock

Mood: Raw, Ritualistic, Primordial, Suspenseful, Cathartic, Eerie, Hypnotic, Meandering, Meditative, Murky

Musical Qualities: Collective Improvisation, Dynamic, Noisy, Dissonant, Droney, Fuzzy, Lo-fi, Heavy, Repetitive, Spoken Word, Feedback

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Joe Rainey – Niineta

Style: Post-Industrial Powwow Music, Experimental Electronic

Mood: Communal, Ritualistic, Cathartic, Spiritual, Passionate, Mournful, Epic

Musical Qualities: Chants, Manipulated Vocals, Distorted, Electroacoustic, Studio-as-an-Instrument, Percussive, Noisy

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Jackie-O Motherfucker – Liberation

Style: Free Folk, Mystical Americana, Drone, Free Improvisation, Post-Rock

Vibe: Weary, Hopeful, Rustic, Communal, Spiritual, Ragged, Eerie, Melancholy, Deconstructed, Hypnotic, Communal, Haunting, Raw, Suspenseful, Intertwined

Musical Qualities: Collective Improvisation, Dynamic, Lo-Fi, Atmospheric, Droney, Group Vocals, Dub FX

Instrumentation: Electric Guitars, Vibraphone, Flute, Drums, Violin, Cello, Clarinet, Saxophone, Banjo, Melodica, Sitar, Electronics, Turntable, Keyboards, Trumpet, Electric Bass

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Eli Keszler – Stadium

Style: EAI (electroacoustic improvisation), Future Jazz

Vibe: Futuristic, Kinetic, Urban, Abstract, Impressionistic, Meditative, Suspenseful, Mysterious, Complex

Musical Qualities: Percussive, Electroacoustic, Polyrhythmic, Field Recordings, Instrumental, Improvisation (Solo), Odd Time Signatures, Studio-as-an-Instrument

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Senyawa – Alkisah

Style: Avant-Folk, Tribal Drone-Doom, Southeast Asian Folk Music

Vibe: Ceremonial, Apocalyptic, Aggressive, Hypnotic, Murky, Shadowy, Dark, Tribal

Musical Qualities: Percussive, Acoustic, Fuzzy, Heavy, Loops, Noisy, Repetitive, Droney, Extended Technique, Electroacoustic

Instrumentation: Homemade Bamboo Instruments, Electroacoustic Treatments, Percussion, Throat Singing, Chants

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Zs – Xe

Style: Experimental Rock, Brutal Prog, Free Minimalism, Math Rock, Noise

Vibe: Hypnotic, Cold, Ritualistic, Dystopian, Mysterious, Chaotic, Surreal, Loose

Musical Qualities: Dissonant, Improvisation, Minimalistic, Noisy, Complex, Instrumental, Pulse, Uncommon Time Signatures

Instrumentation: Saxophone, Electric Guitar, Loops, Percussion

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The Same – The Same

LP, Originally released in 1981 by Unlikely Records Freedom to Spend Reissue (2021) Style: Ambient Pop, Experimental Home Recording, Minimal Wave Vibe/Mood: Aquatic, Nocturnal, Hypnotic, Impressionistic, Moody, Intertwined, Dreamy, Headphone album Musical Qualities: Loops, Home Recording, Atmospheric, Percussive, Polyphonic, Pulse, Electro-Acoustic Instrumentation: electric guitar, casio vl-tone, vocals, marimba, electric bass, acoustic guitar, digital organ

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Fire! – Defeat

Style: Avant-Garde Jazz, Progressive Fusion

Vibe: Nocturnal, Groovy, Primal, Surreal, Alien, Propulsive, Powerful, Seductive, Suspenseful, Moody, Monochromatic

Musical Qualities: Rhythmic, Polyphonic, Complex, Dissonant, Extended Technique, Thematic Improvisation, Repetition, Experimental Vocals

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Sarah Louise – Earth Bow

Style: Free Folk, Cosmic Appalachia, Ambient Folk, Healing Music

Vibe: hypnotic, amorphous, confident, cosmic, dreamy, earthy, ethereal, existential, exploratory, forest, warm, spiritual, spontaneous, soothing, psychedelic, passionate, nature, meditative, hallucinogenic

Musical Qualities: Suite, Electro-Acoustic, Studio-as-an-instrument, Loops, Home Recording, Progressive, Field Recordings

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Gogoj – Oviparity

Style: Experimental, Electro-Acoustic, Noise, Drone
Vibe: Eerie, Noisy, Suspenseful
Musical Attributes: Atmospheric, Electro-acoustic, Improvisation (Solo), Dynamic, Atonal, Loops
Instrumentation: Electric Cello with Effects

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Spires that in the Sunset Rise – Psychic Oscillations [Review]

Psychedelic electro-acoustics and earthy minimalism from long-running avant-folk group Spires that in the Sunset Rise. The multi-instrumentalist duo of Ka Baird and Taralie Peterson ritualistically loop and layer a hypnotic tapestry of pre-verbal vocalizations, upright bass, flute, saxophone, synth, and autoharp, running each instrument through trippy stereo delays, visually represented by the two minute-apart clocks next to each other on the album cover. While not as witchy or jarring as the their early releases, Psychic Oscillations finds the band as entrancing as ever.

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Off World – 1

Style: Progressive Electronic, Experimental
Vibe/Mood: Ethereal, Spacey, Futuristic, Mysterious, Suspenseful, impressionistic
Musical Attributes: Atmospheric, Instrumental, Studio-as-an-instrument (Loops, Editing, Dubs), Vignettes, Improvisation
Instrumentation: Synthesizer, Drum Machine

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Horse Lords – The Common Task

The Common Task is an incessant barrage of jolting polyrhythms that simultaneously hypnotize and disorient.

Style: Experimental Rock, Math Rock, Post-Rock, Totalism
Vibe: Hypnotic, Surreal, Triumphant, Complex, Political
Musical Attributes: Microtonal, Polyrhythmic, Repetitive, Odd Time Signatures, Saharan Africa-Influenced, Technical, Instrumental

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Spaza – Spaza

“There is a heightened and sustained sense of intuition running through this recording whose sonic palette is so wide it captures – through soundscaping, invocation, lament, impressionistic vocal weaving – not only the transient and hybridised nature of life in Johannesburg, but also the heaviness of the air at the time of its recording. More ambient, controlled swirl of rhythm and experimental mixing than incessant groove, the album is an outpouring of a range of expressions that exist between the supposed binaries of indigenous forms of music and the electronic experimentation Johannesburg is known globally for.” (from Bandcamp)

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The Sea Ensemble – We Move Together

An obscure release from the great creative label ESP-Disk, containing exploratory, mysterious and playful improvisations from The Sea Ensemble—the husband/wife duo of Zusaan Fasteau and Donald Rafael Garrett. While they are both trained musicians and multi-instrumentalists, an uninhibited childish spirit permeates this release, as can be seen in Donald’s crude but visionary cover drawing; Yet the recording also feels imbued with ancient wisdom, as heard in their primal and instinctive vocalizations throughout the album

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The Necks – Vertigo

Style: Free Improvisation, Post-Minimalism, Trance Jazz, Avant-Garde Jazz

Vibe: Suspenseful, Hypnotic, Epic, Anxious, Impressionistic

Musical Attributes: Atmospheric, Repetitive, Droney, Dissonant, Electro-Acoustic, Collective Improvisation, Minimalistic

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Senyawa – Sujud

Style: Doom-Folk, Indonesian Folk Music, Avant-Folk

Moods: Apocalyptic, Spiritual, Earthy, Dark, Ominous, Nocturnal, Ritualistic, Tribal, Hypnotic

Musical Qualities: Throat Singing, Homemade Instruments, Droney, Noisy, Electro-Acoustic, Repetitive, Dense, Heavy

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Anthony Davis – Epist?m?

Style: Poly-Free Improvisation, Modern Classical, Avant-Garde Big Band

Vibe: Complex, Hypnotic, Intense, Suspenseful, Cerebral

Musical Attributes: Polyrhythmic, Polyphonic, Odd Time Signatures, Acoustic, Poly-Free Improvisation, Repetitive

Instrumentation: Orchestral, Mallet Percussion (Marimba, Vibraphone, etc) Violin, Cello, Piano, Trombone, Drums, Flute, Bass Clarinet

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