This is a list of notable

experimental music Experimental music is a general label for any music or music genre that pushes existing boundaries and genre definitions. Experimental compositional practice is defined broadly by exploratory sensibilities radically opposed to, and questioning of, ...

ians, in alphabetical order by surname.

A–E

* Mohamed Abdelwahab Abdelfattah – (Egypt) experimental music * Acid Mothers Temple – Experimental psychedelic rock * Arca – (Venezuela) Experimental, Electronic music *

Aphex Twin Richard David James (born 18 August 1971), best known as Aphex Twin, is an Irish-born British musician, composer and DJ. He is known for his idiosyncratic work in electronic music, electronic styles such as techno, ambient music, ambient, and jun ...

- IDM, experimental, ambient, glitch *

Anaiis Anaiis (stylized anaiis) is a French-Senegalese singer-songwriter based in London who is noted for her diverse style, introspective lyrics and her Multilingualism singing ability. Biography Anaiis was born in Toulouse, France. While growing ...

– (French) (Senegal) Experimental musician * Alarm Will Sound - chamber orchestra known for performing experimental compositions *

Miguel Álvarez-Fernández Miguel Álvarez-Fernández (born 1979 in Madrid, Spain) is a sound artist, composer, filmmaker, theorist and curator working between Madrid and Berlin, where he has taught at the Electronic Music Studio of the Technical University of Berlin.The sem ...

– experimental radio and sound installations *

Giulio Aldinucci Giulio Aldinucci (born in 1981 in Siena) is an Italian composer. He has been active for years in the field of experimental electroacoustic music and in the research on soundscape. He composed eight albums released by the labels Karlrecords (D) ...

– experimental electroacoustic composer * Tori Amos – Alternative, Baroque pop, Experimental * Laurie Anderson – electronic music * Ron Anderson – noise and progressive *

Animal Collective Animal Collective is an American experimental pop band formed in Baltimore, Maryland. Its members consist of Avey Tare (David Portner), Panda Bear (Noah Lennox), Geologist (Brian Weitz), and Deakin (Josh Dibb). The band's work is characterized ...

– experimental music collective * Frédéric Acquaviva – (France) Experimental music * Robert Ashley – totalist television opera *

Cities Aviv Gavin Mays (born 1989), better known by his stage name Cities Aviv, is an American rapper and record producer from Memphis, Tennessee. Early life Gavin Mays was born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee. He attended Overton High School and Cordova ...

– experimental hip-hop, post-genre * Nigel Ayers – (UK) sound art, sound collage, member of Nocturnal Emissions * Derek Bailey –

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselv ...

Beck Beck David Hansen (born Bek David Campbell; July 8, 1970) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He rose to fame in the early 1990s with his Experimental music, experimental and Lo-fi music, lo-fi style, and became ...

– (USA)

Anti-folk Anti-folk (sometimes referred to as unfolk) is a music genre that emerged in the 1980s in response to the remnants of the 1960s folk music scene. Anti-folk music was made to mock the perceived seriousness of the time's mainstream music scene, a ...

and experimental music * David Behrman – live electronics *

Björk Björk Guðmundsdóttir ( , ; born 21 November 1965), known mononymously as Björk, is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and actress. Noted for her distinct three-octave vocal range and eccentric persona, she has de ...

– Alternative, avant-garde, experimental, electronica * Bladee – Cloud rap, experimental pop *

Boards of Canada Boards of Canada are a Scottish electronic music duo consisting of brothers Michael Sandison and Marcus Eoin, formed initially as a group in 1986 before becoming a duo in the 1990s.Hoffmann, Heiko.Pitchfork: Interviews: Boards of Canada (Septemb ...

– ambient, downtempo, IDM, electronica *

Boredoms Boredoms () (later known as V∞redoms) is a rock band from Osaka, Japan formed in 1986. The band's sound is often referred to as noise rock, or sometimes Japanoise (Japan’s noise music scene), though their more recent records have moved towar ...

– Japanese noise rock *

Burkhard Beins Burkhard Beins (born 1964 in Lower Saxony, West Germany) is a German composer/performer who works with percussion, selected objects and electronics. Living in Berlin since 1995, Beins is active in experimental music and electroacoustic improvisat ...

– percussion and objects * Kate Bush – Art Pop/Rock, Experimental Rock, Alternative Rock, Baroque pop * Buckethead – guitarist *

Butthole Surfers Butthole Surfers are an American rock band formed in San Antonio, Texas, by singer Gibby Haynes and guitarist Paul Leary in 1981. The band has had numerous personnel changes, but its core lineup of Haynes, Leary, and drummer King Coffey has been ...

– Alternative rock, Experimental, Avant-Garde * Glenn Branca – guitar, noise ensemble * George Brecht – performance art * Bull of Heaven – minimalism, noise, drone, avant-garde jazz, modern classical * Gavin Bryars – indeterministic orchestration *

John Cage John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading fi ...

–

indeterminate Indeterminate may refer to: In mathematics * Indeterminate (variable), a symbol that is treated as a variable * Indeterminate system, a system of simultaneous equations that has more than one solution * Indeterminate equation, an equation that ha ...

music *

Can Can may refer to: Containers * Aluminum can * Drink can * Oil can * Steel and tin cans * Trash can * Petrol can * Metal can (disambiguation) Music * Can (band), West Germany, 1968 ** ''Can'' (album), 1979 * Can (South Korean band) Other * C ...

– Krautrock band *

Captain Beefheart Don Van Vliet (; born Don Glen Vliet; January 15, 1941 – December 17, 2010) was an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and visual artist best known by the stage name Captain Beefheart. Conducting a rotating ensemble known as Th ...

– avant-garde blues artist. * Charli XCX – experimental pop star. * Cornelius Cardew – British composer *

Rhys Chatham Rhys Chatham (born September 19, 1952) is an American composer, guitarist, trumpet player, multi-instrumentalist (flutes in C, alto and bass, keyboard), primarily active in avant-garde and minimalist music. He is best known for his "guitar or ...

– guitar, noise ensemble *

Clipping. Clipping (stylized as clipping.) is an American experimental hip hop group from Los Angeles, California. The group consists of rapper Daveed Diggs and producers William Hutson and Jonathan Snipes. History Diggs and Hutson met in grade school, ...

– experimental hip-hop * Coil – sidereal sound, scrying, hallucinogens, ANS, glitches * Nicolas Collins * Loren Mazzacane Connors *

Controlled Bleeding Controlled Bleeding was an experimental music group based in Massapequa, New York, United States. The group was founded by Paul Lemos, the group's only consistent member. Most of Controlled Bleeding's released recordings feature two main collabor ...

– Paul Lemos * David Cope – composer, computerist *

Henry Cowell Henry Dixon Cowell (; March 11, 1897 – December 10, 1965) was an American composer, writer, pianist, publisher and teacher. Marchioni, Tonimarie (2012)"Henry Cowell: A Life Stranger Than Fiction" ''The Juilliard Journal''. Retrieved 19 June 202 ...

– (USA) tone clusters and Extended technique *

Alvin Curran Alvin Curran (born December 13, 1938) is an American composer, performer, improviser, sound artist, and writer. He was born in Providence, Rhode Island, and lives and works in Rome, Italy. He is the co-founder, with Frederic Rzewski and Richard ...

– found sounds * Current 93 – coined the term " apocalyptic folk" * Chris Cutler – English experimental music composer and percussionist *

Dead Air Fresheners The Dead Air Fresheners are a Portland, Oregon-based experimental and post-punk musical group with a somewhat fluctuating membership. They have been described by Portland's KPSU as "A long-time mainstay of the Experimental Rock Scene." They coun ...

– masked, anonymous chance music or indeterminate music ensemble * Death Grips – experimental hip-hop * Deftones – experimental rock * Stuart Dempster – reverberant spaces,

just intonation In music, just intonation or pure intonation is the tuning of musical intervals Interval may refer to: Mathematics and physics * Interval (mathematics), a range of numbers ** Partially ordered set#Intervals, its generalization from numbers to ...

, extended trombone techniques * Earl Sweatshirt - Experimental Hip Hop * The Dillinger Escape Plan – experimental metal, mathcore * Arnold Dreyblatt –

* Kevin Drumm –

* Iancu Dumitrescu – composer, founder of Hyperion group dedicated to experimental music *

Judy Dunaway Judy Dunaway (born 1964, in Mississippi) is a conceptual sound artist, avant-garde composer, free improvisor and creator of sound installations who is primarily known for her sound works for latex balloons. Since 1990 she has created over thirty ...

* Kyle Bobby Dunn – composer, arranger, experimental guitarist * Trevor Dunn –

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a Bass (instrument), bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), synthbass, keyboar ...

* Marc Edwards – free jazz * Leif Elggren *

Brian Eno Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno (; born Brian Peter George Eno, 15 May 1948) is a British musician, composer, record producer and visual artist best known for his contributions to ambient music and work in rock, pop an ...

–

ambient music Ambient music is a genre of music that emphasizes tone and atmosphere over traditional musical structure or rhythm. It may lack net composition, beat, or structured melody.The Ambient Century by Mark Prendergast, Bloomsbury, London, 2003. It u ...

, algorithmic composition * Experimental Audio Research –

ambient Ambient or Ambiance or Ambience may refer to: Music and sound * Ambience (sound recording), also known as atmospheres or backgrounds * Ambient music, a genre of music that puts an emphasis on tone and atmosphere * ''Ambient'' (album), by Moby * ...

, synth/noise *

Carolina Eyck Carolina Eyck (born 26 December 1987) is a German- Sorb musician specialising in playing the Theremin, an electronic instrument. Her performances around the world have helped to promote the unusual musical instrument. Biography German-born musi ...

– thereminist

F–J

Jean-Baptiste Favory Jean-Baptiste Favory (born 1967) is a French sound artist and composer of musique concrète, electronic and instrumental music. Biography Born in Paris in 1967, he began composing in 1989 and his first works were broadcast on the national Fre ...

– musique concrète & electronic * Florian-Ayala Fauna – musician, music producer * FKA Twigs – (UK) musician, songwriter, producer, director * Morton Feldman – composer * Flume – experimental electronic producer * Grimes – experimental electronica, synthpop * The Flying Lizards – (UK) experimental new wave group * Flying Lotus – hip hop, IDM, jazz, electronica * Henry Flynt – violinist, guitarist, inventor of Electronic Hillbilly Music *

David Fenech David Fenech (born 19 July 1969) is a French composer, guitarist and singer. His style has been described as 'a kind of punk musique concrète' He uses the studio as an instrument, using a large panel of recording techniques. He has played and re ...

– musique concrète & experimental pop music * David First –

drones Drone most commonly refers to: * Drone (bee), a male bee, from an unfertilized egg * Unmanned aerial vehicle * Unmanned surface vehicle, watercraft * Unmanned underwater vehicle or underwater drone Drone, drones or The Drones may also refer to: ...

and interference beats * John Frusciante – guitarist, Rock Musician, Electronica, Hip Hop, Avent-Garde * Cor Fuhler – improvising multi instrumentalist, composer, instrument builder * Ellen Fullman – long string Instrument * Diamanda Galás – vocalist,

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

Roopam Garg Roopam Garg (born October 17, 1995) is an American musician, guitarist and composer. He is known for his idiosyncratic work with the guitar and in ambient music, and has recorded and released several singles. Guitar World has described his work ...

–

Qubais Reed Ghazala Qubais Reed Ghazala (born 1953), an American author, photographer, composer, musician and experimental instrument builder, is recognized as the "father of circuit bending," having discovered the technique in 1966, pioneered it, named it, and taug ...

– musician, composer, father of circuit-bending *

Philip Glass Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass's work has been associated with minimal music, minimalism, being built up fr ...

– minimalism, composer * Percy Grainger – composer and performer * Bruce Haack – experimental electronic composer * Half Japanese – experimental indie rock * Richard D. James – experimental, ambient, electronic music, techno * The Hafler Trio * Lou Harrison – (USA) gamelan influenced *

Carl Michael von Hausswolff Carl Michael von Hausswolff (born 1956) is a composer, visual artist, and curator based in Stockholm, Sweden. His main tools are recording devices (camera, tape deck, radar, sonar) used in an ongoing investigation of electricity, frequency, arc ...

Joseph Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...

– composer *

Pierre Henry Henry at his home (January 2008) Pierre Georges Albert François Henry (; 9 December 1927 – 5 July 2017) was a French composer and pioneer of musique concrète. Biography Henry was born in Paris, France, and began experimenting at the age of ...

–

musique concrète Musique concrète (; ): " problem for any translator of an academic work in French is that the language is relatively abstract and theoretical compared to English; one might even say that the mode of thinking itself tends to be more schematic, ...

Lejaren Hiller Lejaren Arthur Hiller Jr. (February 23, 1924, New York City – January 26, 1994, Buffalo, New York)Lejaren ...

– first computer composition ''Illiac Suite'' (1957) with Leonard Issacson *

Susumu Hirasawa is a Japanese musician and composer. In the fifth year of elementary school, Hirasawa took up the electric guitar, inspired by the surf and instrumental rock bands he heard on the radio and on TV, later joining his junior high school's band. ...

* Christopher Hobbs – experimental and

systems music Systems music is music with sound continua which evolve gradually, often over very long periods of time. Historically, the American minimalists Steve Reich, La Monte Young and Philip Glass are considered the principal proponents of this composit ...

composer * Tim Hodgkinson – English experimental music composer and performer * Gustav Holst – English composer * Emily Howell – computer composer *

The Hub The Hub may refer to: Places * The Hub, Bronx, an area of the South Bronx, New York, known for its convergence of subway and bus lines * The Hub (Edinburgh), former church in Edinburgh that is now home to the Edinburgh International Festival * T ...

– interactive real-time computer network: John Bischoff, Tim Perkis,

Chris Brown Christopher Maurice Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. According to '' Billboard'', Brown is one of the most successful R&B singers of his generation, having often been referred to by many contempo ...

, Phil Stone, Scot Gresham-Lancaster, Mark Trayle * I Set My Friends on Fire *

Martín Irigoyen Martín Daniel Irigoyen (born January 14, 1977) is an Argentine musician best known as a composer and multi-instrumentalist with Vernian Process and Profondo Delle Tenebre. He has participated in many solo and group projects outside of Vernian Pr ...

– guitar, prepared guitar, multi-instrumentalist,

steampunk Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction that incorporates retrofuturistic technology and aesthetics inspired by 19th-century industrial steam-powered machinery. Steampunk works are often set in an alternative history of the Victorian era or ...

Charles Ives Charles Edward Ives (; October 20, 1874May 19, 1954) was an American modernist composer, one of the first American composers of international renown. His music was largely ignored during his early career, and many of his works went unperformed f ...

– quarter tones, tone clusters, aleatoric music, polyrhythm and polytonality * Don Joyce – sound collage * iwrestledabearonce * JPEGMAFIA – experimental hip-hop

K–P

KK Null , known by his stage name KK Null, is a Japanese experimental multi-instrumentalist active since the early 1980s. He began as a guitarist but learned how to compose, sing, play drums, and create electronic music. He also studied Butoh dance at ...

– noise rock * Kommissar Hjuler – cut-up collages * Anne La Berge – flute, improvisation, electronics, composition *

André Éric Létourneau André Éric Létourneau is a French Canadian media and transmedia artist, researcher, author, musician, composer, curator and professor based primarily in Montreal and Saint-Alponse-Rodriguez, Québec, Canada. He uses several pseudonyms, most ...

– gamelan, flute, composition, chance-operations, electronic music, microtonal music *

George E. Lewis George Emanuel Lewis (born July 14, 1952) is an American composer, performer, and scholar of experimental music. He has been a member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians ( AACM) since 1971, when he joined the organization ...

– trombone, composition, improvisation, electronic music, computer music * Steve Lieberman – American punk bassist, flutist called The Gangsta Rabbi * A Life of Science – Arizona based electronic band * Lightning Bolt – noise rock *

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...

– composer and performer * Annea Lockwood – environmental sounds *

Alvin Lucier Alvin Augustus Lucier Jr. (May 14, 1931 – December 1, 2021) was an American composer of experimental music and sound installations that explore acoustic phenomena and auditory perception. A long-time music professor at Wesleyan University in Mi ...

– (USA) acoustical phenomena *

John Lydon John Joseph Lydon (; born 31 January 1956), also known by his former stage name Johnny Rotten, is an English singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer of the late-1970s punk band the Sex Pistols, which lasted from 1975 until 1978, and aga ...

– (UK) singer * The Mars Volta – rock band *

Elio Martusciello Elio Martusciello (born 23 November 1959, Naples, Italy) is an Italian experimental music composer and performer, principally on guitar and computer. He has studied photography with Mimmo Jodice and visual art with Carlo Alfano, Armando De Stefa ...

– Italian experimental music composer and performer *

Melvins Melvins (sometimes The Melvins) are an American rock band formed in 1983 in Montesano, Washington. Their early work was key to the development of both grunge and sludge metal. Initially, they performed as a trio but later also sometimes appeare ...

– experimental * Meshuggah – extreme metal, experimental metal, progressive metal * Mama Baer – voice improvisation * Travis Miller - Experimental Artist *

Miya Masaoka Miya Masaoka (born 1958, Washington, DC) is an American composer, musician, and sound artist active in the field of contemporary classical music and experimental music. Her work encompasses contemporary classical composition, improvisation, elect ...

– composer and performer * Merzbow – (Japan)

noise music Noise music is a genre of music that is characterised by the expressive use of noise within a musical context. This type of music tends to challenge the distinction that is made in conventional musical practices between musical and non-musical ...

* Moondog –

* Gordon Mumma – live electronics * Muslimgauze – (UK) *

Ben Neill Ben Neill (b. November 14, 1957) is an American composer, trumpeter, producer, and educator. He is the inventor of the "Mutantrumpet", a hybrid electro-acoustic instrument. Early life, family and education Neill was born in Winston-Salem, North ...

– sound installations, mutantrumpet * Phill Niblock – minimal music composer * Nocturnal Emissions – (UK) * Nurse With Wound – (UK and Ireland) collaborative solo project of artist Steven Stapleton *

Michael Nyman Michael Laurence Nyman, Order of the British Empire, CBE (born 23 March 1944) is an English composer, pianist, libretto, librettist, musicologist, and filmmaker. He is known for numerous film soundtrack, scores (many written during his length ...

– (UK) composer and former critic and musicologist *

Midori (band) was a four-member jazz-punk fusion band formed in 2003 in Osaka, Japan featuring Mariko Gotō on vocals and guitar, Yoshitaka Kozeni on drums, Keigo Iwami on bass, and Hajime on keyboard. Gotō often wore a serafuku while performing, and woul ...

– (Japan) four-member jazz-punk fusion band * The Observatory – Singapore-based art-rock band *

Obsil Obsil was a musical project of the Italian composer Giulio Aldinucci (born in Siena, 1981). The word "Obsil" stands for ''observing silence''. Even though his musical research is focused mainly on electro-acoustic and experimental music, he also ...

– (ITA) composition, electronic music *

Olivier Messiaen Olivier Eugène Prosper Charles Messiaen (, ; ; 10 December 1908 – 27 April 1992) was a French composer, organist, and ornithologist who was one of the major composers of the 20th century. His music is rhythmically complex; harmonically ...

– (France) composer and organist. * Pauline Oliveros – (USA) meditative music,

, reverberant spaces, ''Expanded Instrument System'' * Oneohtrix Point Never - (USA) electronic music, ambient music, vaporwave * Yoko Ono – (UK, USA,

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

)

happening A happening is a performance, event, or situation art, usually as performance art. The term was first used by Allan Kaprow during the 1950s to describe a range of art-related events. History Origins Allan Kaprow first coined the term "happen ...

s *

Orange Monkey Orange Monkey is an American experimental rock band from California. The band currently consists of Aukey, Crystal, Mc Ryan, Dave and a penguin named Hiyo (formerly known as The Mysterious Hiyo.) The music is kitsch, quirky and satirical, with ch ...

– (USA) *

Ortiz Morales Ortíz Morales, Jesús Manuel, also known as Ommalaga (born 24 January 1959), is a Spanish composer. Career Morales is an Experimental music, experimental and noise musician, audiovisual producer, and academic researcher. He directs the Contempo ...

– (Spain) Experimental and noise music. Old kinematik synchronisms reconstructions. * John Oswald – (USA) plunderphonics * Nam June Paik –

s, action music * Paul Panhuysen – string and other sound installations * Evan Parker – (UK) saxophonist * Harry Partch – (USA) microtonal composer * Portishead – Bristol * Henri Pousseur – (Belgium) self-described as "experimental"

Q–Z

A.R. Rahman Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967) is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer and songwriter, popular for his works in Indian cinema; predominantly in Tamil and Hindi films, with occasional forays in int ...

– (India) Film Music composer *

Steve Reich Stephen Michael Reich ( ; born October 3, 1936) is an American composer known for his contribution to the development of minimal music in the mid to late 1960s. Reich's work is marked by its use of repetitive figures, slow harmonic rhythm, a ...

– (USA) multimedia documentary opera * Hans Reichel – Free improvisation musician and inventor of electro-acoustic instruments * Renaldo and the Loaf – (UK) * Dino Residbegovic – (BiH) experimental/live-electronic contemporary music composer *

The Residents The Residents are an American art collective and art rock band best known for their avant-garde music and multimedia works. Since their first official release, ''Meet the Residents'' (1974), they have released over 60 albums, numerous music vi ...

– (USA) * Boyd Rice – (USA)

* Terry Riley – (USA) multimedia minimalist composer * Ivette Román-Roberto – experimental vocalist * Cipriano de Rore – (Franco-Flemish) * David Rosenboom –

biofeedback Biofeedback is the process of gaining greater awareness of many physiology, physiological functions of one's own body by using Electronics, electronic or other instruments, and with a goal of being able to Manipulation (psychology), manipulate t ...

(human) *

Keith Rowe Keith may refer to: People and fictional characters * Keith (given name), includes a list of people and fictional characters * Keith (surname) * Keith (singer), American singer James Keefer (born 1949) * Baron Keith, a line of Scottish barons ...

– British guitarist * Luigi Russolo –

Futurism Futurism ( it, Futurismo, link=no) was an artistic and social movement that originated in Italy, and to a lesser extent in other countries, in the early 20th century. It emphasized dynamism, speed, technology, youth, violence, and objects such ...

and

Kristoffer Rygg Kristoffer Rygg (born 9 September 1976), also known as Garm, Trickster G. Rex and God Head, is a heavy-metal vocalist, musician and producer known primarily for his work with Ulver, Arcturus, and Borknagar. Biography Born in Oslo but raised i ...

– Frontman and main composer of

Ulver Ulver (Norwegian for "wolves") is a Norwegian experimental electronica band founded in 1993, by vocalist Kristoffer Rygg. Their early works, such as debut album '' Bergtatt'', were categorised as folklore-influenced black metal, but the band h ...

Erik Satie Eric Alfred Leslie Satie (, ; ; 17 May 18661 July 1925), who signed his name Erik Satie after 1884, was a French composer and pianist. He was the son of a French father and a British mother. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire, but was an und ...

– precursor of

minimalism In visual arts, music and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in post–World War II in Western art, most strongly with American visual arts in the 1960s and early 1970s. Prominent artists associated with minimalism include Don ...

, dada * Pierre Schaeffer – Musique concrète *

Mathias Rehfeldt Mathias Rehfeldt (born August 25, 1986 in Tübingen, Germany) is a German composer, music producer and organist. Mathias Rehfeldt is a Munich-based composer, organist and crossover-artist, his music blurs the lines between classical and modern el ...

– experimental organist, composer *

Giancarlo Schiaffini Giancarlo Schiaffini is an Italian jazz trombonist and tubist most associated with avant-garde music, free improvisation and free jazz. A member of the Italian Instabile Orchestra, Schiaffini has worked with such artists as Mario Schiano, Lol Coxh ...

– Italian experimental music composer and performer * Elliott Sharp – multi-instrumentalist * Mark Stanley – guitarist, composer * Solage – composer *

Sonic Youth Sonic Youth was an American rock band based in New York City, formed in 1981. Founding members Thurston Moore (guitar, vocals), Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar) and Lee Ranaldo (guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of the b ...

– noise rock band * Soul Coughing – improvisational jazz, hip hop, noise, and samples. * Howard Stelzer – (USA) *

Sunn O))) Sunn O))) (pronounced "sun") is an American experimental metal band formed in 1998 in Seattle, Washington. The band is known for their distinctive visual style and slow, heavy sound, which blends diverse genres including doom metal, drone, bla ...

– drone metal band *

Svoy Mikhail Tarasov (russian: link=no, Михаи́л Тара́сов), better known by his stage name Svoy (which can be loosely translated as "self-contained"), is an American producer/writer/artist for Universal Music Group in the genre of pop/ e ...

– (USA, Russia) Universal Music Group producer/writer/artist, ''"...One of the most accomplished experimental electronic artists"'' —Timmy Kusnierek, Your EDM * Swans (band) – experimental rock, no wave * Toru Takemitsu – composer * James Tenney – alternate tunings, perceptual phenomena * They Might Be Giants – alternative rock, indie rock, experimental rock, children's music * Lynda Thomas – experimental musician and performer *

Throbbing Gristle Throbbing Gristle were an English music and visual arts group formed in 1975 in Kingston upon Hull by Genesis P-Orridge, Cosey Fanni Tutti, Peter Christopherson, and Chris Carter (British musician), Chris Carter. They are widely regarded as pi ...

–

industrial music Industrial music is a genre of music that draws on harsh, mechanical, transgressive or provocative sounds and themes. AllMusic defines industrial music as the "most abrasive and aggressive fusion of rock and electronic music" that was "initiall ...

, noise, shock lyrics *

Edgard Varèse Edgard Victor Achille Charles Varèse (; also spelled Edgar; December 22, 1883 – November 6, 1965) was a French-born composer who spent the greater part of his career in the United States. Varèse's music emphasizes timbre and rhythm; he coined ...

– electronic music * Michael Waller – contemporary music * Ween – psychedelic and lo-fi band that covers a multitude of genres * Xiu Xiu – experimental rock, noise pop, spoken word *

Kathleen Yearwood Kathleen Yearwood is a Canadian experimental singer-songwriter and author, born in 1958. From Subterranean Records description of Kathleen Yearwood: :This powerful and very radical Canadian artist and her music have been described variously as ...

– experimental, avant garde composer *

La Monte Young La Monte Thornton Young (born October 14, 1935) is an American composer, musician, and performance artist recognized as one of the first American minimalist composers and a central figure in Fluxus and post-war avant-garde music. He is best kno ...

–

, minimalist, drone music * Richard Youngs –

postmodern Postmodernism is an intellectual stance or mode of discourseNuyen, A.T., 1992. The Role of Rhetorical Devices in Postmodernist Discourse. Philosophy & Rhetoric, pp.183–194. characterized by skepticism toward the " grand narratives" of moderni ...

minimalist *

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American musician, composer, and bandleader. His work is characterized by wikt:nonconformity, nonconformity, Free improvisation, free-form improvisation, sound experimen ...

– composer and performer * Evan Ziporyn – (

Bang on a Can Bang on a Can is a multi-faceted contemporary classical music organization based in New York City. It was founded in 1987 by three American composers who remain its artistic directors: Julia Wolfe, David Lang, and Michael Gordon. Called "the cou ...

), gamelan *

John Zorn John Zorn (born September 2, 1953) is an American composer, conductor, saxophonist, arranger and producer who "deliberately resists category". Zorn's avant-garde and experimental approaches to composition and improvisation are inclusive of jaz ...

–

, various genres * Zoviet France – British band

References

{{Reflist Experimental

A–E

F–J

K–P

Q–Z

See also

References