Page 1 of 8 12345 ... LastLast
Results 1 to 25 of 199

Thread: Favorite Avant-Garde Albums?

  1. #1
    Banned
    Join Date
    Dec 2015
    Location
    Divided Snakes of America
    Posts
    1,981

    Favorite Avant-Garde Albums?

    Please post your favorite Avant-Garde album(s). Definitions are always slippery, so feel free to interpret Avant-Garde as experimetal, music concrete, noise etc. I guess the point is that we're talking about music that pushes through the boundaries of convention in terms of structure, melodics, harmony, rhythm, instrumentation, technique etc.

    I could post a few dozen probably, but I'll kick it off with one of my all-time Avant-Garde favorites:


    P.S. For me Avant-Garde is part of progressive music, but if this is in the wrong forum or has been covered before and I missed it, please let me know.

  2. #2
    Member rcarlberg's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Seattle
    Posts
    7,765
    "Guitar Solos" is challenging, for sure, but I've never found it to be particularly revelatory or growth-inspiring.

    Trout Mask Replica
    was revelatory and growth-inspiring.

    Sun Ship was revelatory and growth-inspiring.

  3. #3
    Banned
    Join Date
    Dec 2015
    Location
    Divided Snakes of America
    Posts
    1,981
    I don't claim "Guitar Solos" to be particularly revelatory or growth-inspiring either, I just like it a lot . "Trout Mask Replica" is a great pick! Is "Sun Ship" the posthumous Coltrane release? I haven't heard that but I'd guess I'd better get crackin' and give that one a listen!

  4. #4
    No matter the ambition or aspiration, there's a difference between the avant-garde as emanating from 'rock music' sources as opposed to 'art music' ones.


    IMHO. Academics or no.

    The art music avant-garde albums that have meant most to me personally are the following:



    Delusion of the Fury by Harry Partch, Topography of the Lungs by Bailey/Bennink/Parker and The Tempest by Arne Nordheim.

    Within rock music it's Uncle Meat by Zappa/Mothers, S&BB by King Crimson, Rock Bottom by Robert Wyatt and Western Culture by Henry Cow.


    But there are further dozens that literally changed my life through the years
    .
    "Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
    "[...] things that we never dreamed of doing in Crimson or in any band that I've been in," - Tony Levin speaking of SGM

  5. #5
    I'm here for the moosic NogbadTheBad's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Boston
    Posts
    10,223
    Oh here's a thread I need to monitor.
    Ian

    Host of the Post-Avant Jazzcore Happy Hour on progrock.com
    https://podcasts.progrock.com/post-a...re-happy-hour/

    Gordon Haskell - "You've got to keep the groove in your head and play a load of bollocks instead"
    I blame Wynton, what was the question?
    There are only 10 types of people in the World, those who understand binary and those that don't.

  6. #6
    Parrots Ripped My Flesh Dave (in MA)'s Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    42°09′30″N 71°08′43″W
    Posts
    6,263
    I often find myself skipping the voice pieces, though.

  7. #7
    Banned
    Join Date
    Dec 2015
    Location
    Divided Snakes of America
    Posts
    1,981
    I agree with that distinction Mr. SS. I wasn't making any distinctions since this is under "Progressive Music Discussion" I'm hoping it's not misplaced. Love all the rock picks - didn't even see some of them as necessarily Avant but makes sense. Will definitely check out the first recommendations, I haven't heard any of them, although I'm a fan of HP and Arne Nordheim's "Electric".

    Yes Dave, Varese - good pick! Of course we all know Zappa was a big fan.

  8. #8
    Boo! walt's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Oakland Gardens NY
    Posts
    5,626
    MI0001062251.jpg

    Sorry for the tiny image.Olivier Messiaen-Complete Works for Organ.Olivier Latry-pipe organ.

    The Science Group-Spoors
    Gastr del Sol-Camoufleur
    Alvin Curran-Songs And Views From The Magnetic Garden
    Art Ensemble of Chicago-People In Sorrow
    Last edited by walt; 07-10-2018 at 03:30 PM.
    "please do not understand me too quickly"-andre gide

  9. #9
    Banned
    Join Date
    Dec 2015
    Location
    Divided Snakes of America
    Posts
    1,981
    I have to then add Messian's Quatuor Pour la Fin du Temps as one of my all-time favorites, written in a WWII prisoner-of-war camp. Love the Science Group, never heard of Gastr del Sol, so yay!

  10. #10

  11. #11
    Parrots Ripped My Flesh Dave (in MA)'s Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    42°09′30″N 71°08′43″W
    Posts
    6,263
    I don't find that Komara all that avant garde, though it was a good reminder that I still need to get my hands on a copy.

  12. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by Dave (in MA) View Post
    I don't find that Komara all that avant garde, though it was a good reminder that I still need to get my hands on a copy.
    muh-OK


  13. #13
    Geriatric Anomaly progeezer's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Madison, WI
    Posts
    11,318
    Just about everything from Lynette, Brandon & The Red Masque.
    "My choice early in life was either to be a piano player in a whorehouse or a politician, and to tell the truth, there's hardly any difference"

    President Harry S. Truman

  14. #14
    Outraged bystander markwoll's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Northern Virginia
    Posts
    4,379
    As my tastes have changed, I find it harder to pin Avant Garde on albums.
    Now weirdness or relative unlisten-to-ness seems to be the key.
    At one point 'With Friends Like These' Kaiser and Frith, some Throbbing Gristle ( or Psychic TV, or SPK ) some of the "No New York" artists would have been right up there.
    It all seemed like noise when I first heard it. Some of it still does.
    These days Thinking Plague, 5uu's, Art Bears/Henry Cow are more melodic to my ears, as does 'Friends&Enemies' ( a re-release of the Kaiser&Frith albums )
    Zorn's Naked City releases.
    Whether or not bands like Horse Lords count, don't know.
    I just sorted a lot of That type music into Music I Like, part of the "general population" of my collection.
    No longer outliers, those are just the abrasive ( to my ears ), noise producers, which I doubt will ever join the Music I Like.
    And then there is Einstein on the Beach.
    "It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."
    -- Aristotle
    Nostalgia, you know, ain't what it used to be. Furthermore, they tells me, it never was.
    “A Man Who Does Not Read Has No Appreciable Advantage Over the Man Who Cannot Read” - Mark Twain

  15. #15
    These aren't my favorite, but AMONG my favorite. My favorite list would be huge. Especially with regards to classical.


    Prog

    Thinking Plague - In Extremis
    Henry Cow - Western Culture
    Univers Zero - Heresie


    Jazz

    Art Ensemble of Chicago - Full Force
    David Holland Quartet - Conference of Birds
    Cecil Taylor - Unit Structures

    Classical

    Elliott Carter - Three Illusions for Orchestra
    Magnus Lindberg - Concerto for Orchestra
    Alban Berg - Violin Concerto

    I like a lot of different styles of prog and jazz, but my classical tastes are pretty much only avant garde.
    Last edited by simon moon; 07-10-2018 at 04:21 PM.
    And if there were a god, I think it very unlikely that he would have such an uneasy vanity as to be offended by those who doubt His existence - Russell

  16. #16
    Boo! walt's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Oakland Gardens NY
    Posts
    5,626
    Quote Originally Posted by Buddhabreath View Post
    , never heard of Gastr del Sol, so yay!

    A track from Camoufleur.

    "please do not understand me too quickly"-andre gide

  17. #17
    Member TheH's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Germany
    Posts
    3,231
    Where does Avant end where does RIO start etc. etc. what is Avant anyway?
    Is Avant Prog or a cosmos of its own..

    Do not care, great stuff anyway. To many great ones to mention, so just a few
    ones listed..

    Nichelodeon - Il gioco del silenzio
    Henry Cow - Legend
    Ahvak - Ahvak
    Extra Life - Made Flesh
    Cabezas De Cera - Hecho En México
    Jack O'The Clock - all they did

  18. #18
    Magnus Lingberg - Sculpture


    And if there were a god, I think it very unlikely that he would have such an uneasy vanity as to be offended by those who doubt His existence - Russell

  19. #19
    Member chalkpie's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2015
    Location
    Hudson Valley, NY
    Posts
    8,193
    Not sure if these albums are avant-garde in the biblical sense, but here are some "challenging" albums (not including any classical composers) that I wouldn't want to be without:

    Cardiacs - Sing to God (actually all Cardiacs...)
    Bob Drake - The Skull Mailbox, The Shunned Country, Arx Pilosa
    UZ - Heresie, Ceux du Dehors
    This Heat - Deceit
    SGM - Of Natural History
    FZ/Mothers - Uncle Meat, Roxy and Elsewhere, Shut Up 'N Play Yer Guitar
    Henry Cow - Leg End, Western Culture, Unrest
    The Residents - Meet the Residents, Third Reich 'N Roll
    Can - Future Days, Tago Mago, Ege Bamyasi
    Neu! - Neu!, Neu! '75
    Amon Duul II - Phallus Dei, Tanz Der Lemminge
    Faust - Faust, IV
    Tangerine Dream - Rubycon, Phaedra
    Magma - MDK, Kohntarkosz, Trianon Trilogie
    Captain Beefheart - Trout Mask Replica, Lick my Decals Off Baby, Doc at the Radar Station
    Hatfield and the North - s/t, The Rotters' Club
    National Health - s/t, Of Queues and Cures
    Robert Wyatt - Rock Bottom
    Gong - You, Angels Egg
    Soft Machine - s/t, Vol. 2, Third
    Area - Arbeit Macht Frei, Crac!
    Osanna - Palepoli
    Anglagard - Hybris, Epilog, Viljans Oga
    KC - Larks' Tongues, SABB, Lizard

    This is sort of pointless because I'm missing so much good stuff and I'm too hot and lazy to figure it out. But its a start.
    Last edited by chalkpie; 07-17-2018 at 06:15 PM.
    If it isn't Krautrock, it's krap.

    "And it's only the giving
    That makes you what you are" - Ian Anderson

  20. #20
    Quote Originally Posted by walt View Post
    A track from Camoufleur.

    I absolutely LOVE that album! Completely, playfully gorgeous and the finest "compositional" thing Jim O'Rourke has done along with his The Visitor tribute to John Fahey.
    "Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
    "[...] things that we never dreamed of doing in Crimson or in any band that I've been in," - Tony Levin speaking of SGM

  21. #21
    Member Steve F.'s Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Fluffy Cloud
    Posts
    5,635
    Quote Originally Posted by Buddhabreath View Post
    Is "Sun Ship" the posthumous Coltrane release? I haven't heard that but I'd guess I'd better get crackin' and give that one a listen!
    Bill

    Sunship is ONE of the posthumous releases.

    When I was 15 and trying to teach myself as much as I could about avant-garde music, the Wheaton library had a few very good avant-garde jazz discs.

    Sunship was one of them! It’s a real favorite to this day!!!
    Steve F.

    www.waysidemusic.com
    www.cuneiformrecords.com

    - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

    “Remember, if it doesn't say "Cuneiform," it's not prog!” - THE Jed Levin

    Any time any one speaks to me about any musical project, the one absolute given is "it will not make big money". [tip of the hat to HK]

    "Death to false 'support the scene' prog!"

    please add 'imo' wherever you like, to avoid offending those easily offended.

  22. #22
    Member Steve F.'s Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Fluffy Cloud
    Posts
    5,635
    Quote Originally Posted by Scrotum Scissor View Post
    The art music avant-garde albums that have meant most to me personally are the following:

    Delusion of the Fury by Harry Partch
    .
    Harry was huge for me and I like / love them all, but The World Of Harry Partch is STILL my go to HP release.
    Steve F.

    www.waysidemusic.com
    www.cuneiformrecords.com

    - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

    “Remember, if it doesn't say "Cuneiform," it's not prog!” - THE Jed Levin

    Any time any one speaks to me about any musical project, the one absolute given is "it will not make big money". [tip of the hat to HK]

    "Death to false 'support the scene' prog!"

    please add 'imo' wherever you like, to avoid offending those easily offended.

  23. #23
    Member StarThrower's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2017
    Location
    Upstate NY
    Posts
    1,847

  24. #24
    Quote Originally Posted by Scrotum Scissor View Post
    I absolutely LOVE that album! Completely, playfully gorgeous and the finest "compositional" thing Jim O'Rourke has done along with his The Visitor tribute to John Fahey.
    Amazing music, defying categorization. Nostalgic as hell too.

  25. #25
    What I haven't understood, and always wanted to ask, is the relation between avant-prog and avant-garde music in general [stuff that would be categorized as contemporary classical perhaps]. Is there some sort of dialogue between these two? Is the audience the same?

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •