Music Banter - View Single Post - Doing a project on Avant Garde music- anyone here knowledgeable about it?

Seltzer · 12-16-2007, 09:41 PM

You might want to add Sun Ra to your free jazz list, as he really was quite an influence.

To be honest, I don't see why King Crimson isn't considered avant-garde. As much as I like the other prog giants like Genesis, Rush, Jethro Tull and Yes, I feel that none of them were anywhere near as original as King Crimson. Fripp's use of sonic textures, the atonality, the pure darkness/heaviness compared to other music at the time, the unique instrumentation (THRAK had 2 drummers, a bassist and someone on Chapman stick), the lyrical perspectives, their wild improvisational style etc. It's hard to describe... you really have to listen to it. They did (and still do) experiment quite a bit and this leads to most of their albums having a unique sound. I mean, they had a jungle (as in electronica) song released in 1981.

You could consider Meshuggah to be avant-garde. Given the fact that they stylise their music to be machine-like with polyrhythms and the Meshuggah riff style, the huge range of influences, the jazzy flowing solos, the use of repetition, complex rhythms and vocals as an instrument to produce a trance state... they could probably be considered avant-garde.

Ulver is a band I would consider avant-garde. They have their Black Metal Trilogie, of which one is folky black metal, one is straight biting black metal, and one is completely folky. Their following albums were electronic, trip-hop, minimalist, ambient... everything. Experiments in music...

I see Gorguts on your list, which is good. Perfect example of avant-garde metal.

12-16-2007, 09:41 PM	#3 (permalink)
Seltzer Fish in the percolator! Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Hobbit Land NZ Posts: 2,914	You might want to add Sun Ra to your free jazz list, as he really was quite an influence. To be honest, I don't see why King Crimson isn't considered avant-garde. As much as I like the other prog giants like Genesis, Rush, Jethro Tull and Yes, I feel that none of them were anywhere near as original as King Crimson. Fripp's use of sonic textures, the atonality, the pure darkness/heaviness compared to other music at the time, the unique instrumentation (THRAK had 2 drummers, a bassist and someone on Chapman stick), the lyrical perspectives, their wild improvisational style etc. It's hard to describe... you really have to listen to it. They did (and still do) experiment quite a bit and this leads to most of their albums having a unique sound. I mean, they had a jungle (as in electronica) song released in 1981. You could consider Meshuggah to be avant-garde. Given the fact that they stylise their music to be machine-like with polyrhythms and the Meshuggah riff style, the huge range of influences, the jazzy flowing solos, the use of repetition, complex rhythms and vocals as an instrument to produce a trance state... they could probably be considered avant-garde. Ulver is a band I would consider avant-garde. They have their Black Metal Trilogie, of which one is folky black metal, one is straight biting black metal, and one is completely folky. Their following albums were electronic, trip-hop, minimalist, ambient... everything. Experiments in music... I see Gorguts on your list, which is good. Perfect example of avant-garde metal. __________________ In the Court of King Crimson \| Last.fm \| RYM Last edited by Seltzer; 12-16-2007 at 10:30 PM.