Experimental pop
Experimental pop is pop music that cannot be categorized within traditional musical boundaries[1][2] or which attempts to push elements of existing popular forms into new areas.[3] It may incorporate experimental techniques such as musique concrète, aleatoric music, or eclecticism into pop contexts.[4] Often, the compositional process involves the use of electronic production effects to manipulate sounds and arrangements,[2] and the composer may draw the listener's attention specifically with both timbre and tonality, though not always simultaneously.[5]
This article is about a pop subgenre defined by avant-garde sensibilities. It is not to be confused with Avant-pop, Progressive pop, or Art pop.Experimental pop
Experimental pop music developed concurrently with experimental jazz as a new kind of avant-garde, with many younger musicians embracing the practice of making studio recordings along the fringes of popular music. In the early 1960s, it was common for producers, songwriters, and engineers to freely experiment with musical form, orchestration, unnatural reverb, and other sound effects, and by the late 1960s, highly experimental pop music, or sounds that expanded the idea of the typical popular song, was positively received by young audiences.
Author Bill Martin states that while the term "experimental pop" may sound "seemingly oxymoronic", it is possible to identify three criteria for characterizing its music:
Some tendencies among artists include the incorporation of experimental techniques such as musique concrète, aleatoric music, or eclecticism into pop contexts.[4] Often, the compositional process involves the use of electronic production effects to manipulate sounds and arrangements.[2] According to musicologist Leigh Landy, experimental pop settings combine sound-based work and note-based work, though not always simultaneously.[5] Composer Nico Muhly described the world of experimental pop as "celebrations of sonic juxtapositions".[6]
History[edit]
Origins (1950s–1960s)[edit]
Martin writes that experimental pop developed at roughly the same time as experimental jazz,[nb 1] and that it emerged as "a new kind of avant-garde" made possible by the historical and material circumstances of its time.[3] In the pop and rock music of the early 1960s, it was common for producers, songwriters, and engineers to freely experiment with musical form, orchestration, unnatural reverb, and other sound effects. Some of the best known examples are Phil Spector's Wall of Sound and Joe Meek's use of homemade electronic sound effects for acts like the Tornados.[9] According to author Mark Brend, Meek's I Hear a New World (1960) predates better-known experimental pop by several years,[10][nb 2] whereas musicologist Leigh Landy names the American composer Frank Zappa as one of the first experimental pop musicians.[1]
Musician David Grubbs writes that many younger musicians "moved out of [John] Cage's shadow by taking to a different extreme and embracing the practice of making studio recordings of works along the fringes of popular music".[13] Grubbs further explains that some of the most prominent avant-garde musicians who formed rock bands in the mid 1960s were the Welsh John Cale (later of the Velvet Underground) and the American Joseph Byrd (later of the United States of America), who both went on to create albums of experimental pop music.[13] However, a "gulf" would still exist between experimental composers and "out-there" pop musicians, partly due to the role of the recording studio. Regarding this, composer Robert Ashley is quoted in 1966;