I’ve been thinking lately how a lot of music usually considered “out there” is 30-40 years old, from Captain Beefheart to John Cage. Even the quirkiest artists of today don’t seem to match the edginess of these artists. I did think of a couple:
–Joanna Newsom. Harp playing indie rocker whose voice sound like she’s a six-year-old boy. Songs can stretch up to 17 minutes and have very esoteric lyrics.
–Fiery Furnaces. Brother-sister duo whose arrangements instantly change from hard rock to soothing strings, or even have those elements overlapping. Most songs are total stream of conciousness.
So what do you think are today’s most “out there” artists.
In spite of their unconventional arrangements, the Fiery Furnaces and Joanna Newsom are still making verse/chorus/verse pop music.
My vote goes toward the mainstream noise stuff - Wolf Eyes, Double Leopards, Mouthus, the Skaters, Hair Police - we’re talking about straight-up noise, devoid of melody, structure, and often even rhythm. But that alone doesn’t make it weird - what makes it weird is the whole scene that’s developed around it, where kids follow the bands, go to the shows, and start their own bands and labels with all of the fervor and dedication of punk followers in the seventies and eighties. These guys sell a lot of records.
I think we can count Scott Walker’s albums “Tilt” (1995) and “Drift” (2006) amongst the most crazy-ass shit out there. Not for the faint-hearted.
Primus is pretty weird.
If you take ‘out-there’ to mean stands alone, there is no one else remotely close to this person in their approach to music, then Mark E. Smith and his backing band The Fall fit the bill. Their sound is actually pretty mainstream though, so musically they’re not really in this category. Is there anyone, ever, who ‘sings’ like Mark E. Smith though? He is unique-ah! This nations saving grace
If you’re talking about musicians who are well-known by the general public, gotta go with Bjork and Primus.
I think Mike Patton and John Zorn deserve some kind of lifetime achievement award here. No single recording from either is the weirdest thing you’ve ever heard, but they’ve both got some unusual catalogs.
I’m amazed at how few people have heard of Steve Tibbetts.
I’ve never heard any music like his anywhere: Incomprehensible polyrhythms, chord changes and harmonic progressions that don’t follow any pattern (but still sound good), ethnic influences that even the native cultures wouldn’t recognize.
If you search for him on Amazon, you can get a ton of sound clips from his albums. He’s still my favorite musician.
The only problem comes when people ask, “What kind of music does he do?”
Hell if I know, but I like it better than anything else I’ve heard.
Well, let’s see here…
Estradasphere is pretty weird. Listen to the song “Randy’s Desert Adventure”…it’s like three or four songs in one. About a 1:12 into the song it’s like the world turns inside out.
Stolen Babies has a singing, screaming, accordian-playing lead and a great stage show. (Check out some of the other Stolen Babies videos on Youtube for the live stuff)
Sleepytime Gorilla Museum is quite a sight to behold and hear, as well.
Who I came in to mention.
Plus Diamanda Galas, Scott Walker, and Meredith Monk.
lissener: You are my newest, bestest friend! Y’know, in an entirely appropriate and nonpervy fashion…
I’ve actually gotten to see Tibbetts in concert twice in my lifetime, and the second time I not only got to meet, talk, shake hands, get him to sign an old album cover, but also play roadie for the evening (I got to carry his guitars to the truck and everything). One of my favorite concert experiences ever.
And Les Clay_pool_'s solo stuff is even weirder
Burial is almost certainly not the weirdest artist mentioned on this thread, but I’ve never heard someone make music that sounds so much like, well, dread. It’s music designed to invoke a grim, sinking feeling, urban alienation and all that malarkey.
http://www.bleep.com/player.php?track=HBCD001_DM-12 (“Pirates”)
http://www.bleep.com/player.php?track=HBCD001_DM-05 (“Night Bus”)
Godspeed You! Black Emperor is fairly weird. My first impression was 10 minutes of random soft noise, 2 minutes of hard rocking, followed by 5 more minutes of random soft noise
I vote for Animal Collective. I’m sure there’s weirder stuff but they’re pretty out there.
I saw him once, I want to say with Michael Brook. Long ago, not entirely sure of my memory.
I have to largely disagree. I find GSYBE pretty melodic. It’s spacey, sure, and it’s pretty well done, but the meat and bone of what they do has all been done by someone else first.
But you reminded me of a label mate of theirs, the transcendent genius Carla Bozulich.
If you like GSYBE, then it’s entirely possible that you will like at least some albums by The Cocteau Twins, My Bloody Valentine, Mogwai and Sigur Ros, all of whom are far superior, IMO.