Avant-pop

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about a class of popular music that includes genres not limited to pop music. It is not to be confused with Experimental pop, Art pop, or Progressive pop. For other uses, see Avant-pop (disambiguation).

Avant-pop is popular music that is experimental, new, and distinct from previous styles[1] while retaining an immediate accessibility for the listener.[2] The term implies a combination of avant-garde sensibilities with existing elements from popular music in the service of novel or idiosyncratic artistic visions.[3]

Definition

"Avant-pop" has been used to label music which balances experimental or

postmodern and non-hierarchical incorporation of varied genres such as pop, electronica, rock, classical, and jazz.[3]

Paul Grimstad of The Brooklyn Rail writes that avant-pop is music that "re-sequences" the elements of song structure "so that (a) none of the charm of the tune is lost, but (b) this very accessibility leads one to bump into weirder elements welded into the design."[2] The Tribeca New Music Festival defines "avant-pop" as "music that draws its energy from both popular music and classical forms."[4] The term has elsewhere been used by literary critic Larry McCaffery to describe "the most radical, subversive literary talents of the postmodern new wave."[5]

History

In the 1960s, as popular music began to gain cultural importance and question its status as commercial entertainment, musicians began to look to the

beat poetry, and 1960s pop art.[3]

In late 1960s Germany, an experimental avant-pop scene dubbed "

pop-rock.[3] According to The Quietus' David McNamee, the 1968 album An Electric Storm, recorded by the electronic music group White Noise (featuring members from the U.K.’s BBC Radiophonic Workshop), is an "undisputed masterpiece of early avant-pop".[7] In the 1970s, progressive rock and post-punk music would see new avant-pop fusions, including the work of Pink Floyd, Genesis, Henry Cow, This Heat, and the Pop Group.[3] More contemporary avant-pop artists have included David Sylvian, Scott Walker, and Björk, whose vocal experimentation and innovative modes of expression have seen them move beyond norms of commercial pop music.[3]

Others who have been credited as avant-pop's pioneers include the Velvet Underground's Lou Reed,[8] singer Kate Bush,[3] performance artist Laurie Anderson,[9] art pop musician Spookey Ruben,[10] and Black Dice's Eric Copeland.[11] As of 2017, contemporary artists working in avant-pop areas include Julia Holter, Holly Herndon and Oneohtrix Point Never.[3]

In 1979, Andrew Stiller of

Horse Latitudes" (1967), the Beatles' "Revolution 9" (1968) and, later, the solo improvisations of Terry Riley.[12]

List of artists

Further information: List of avant-pop artists

See also

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 0253110343
    .
  2. ^
    Brooklyn Rail
    . Retrieved 1 October 2016.
  3. ^
    ISBN 9781501326103
    .
  4. ^ Kozinn, Alann (May 11, 2006). "'Emerging Avant-Pop': From Charles Ives to Frank Zappa". The New York Times.
  5. ISBN 978-0-932511-72-0
    .
  6. ^ Patrick, Jonathan (March 8, 2013). "Joe Meek's pop masterpiece I Hear a New World gets the chance to haunt a whole new generation of audiophile geeks". Tiny Mix Tapes.
  7. ^ McNamee, David (January 19, 2009). "The Best Of The BBC Radiophonic Workshop On One Side Of A C90". The Quietus.
  8. Tablet Mag
    .
  9. ^ Michael Anthony (March 22, 2016). "Laurie Anderson, More Than 'Just a Storyteller'". Star Tribune. Archived from the original on July 28, 2020. Retrieved November 25, 2016.
  10. ^ Siegel, Evan (February 10, 2016). "Avant-Pop Pioneer Spookey Ruben Conducts a Synth Symphony on 'Granma Faye'". Spin.
  11. ^ Pitchfork Staff "Eric Copeland: avant-pop pioneer", Guardian Music Blog, November 18, 2008, accessed March 22, 2011.
  12. ^ Stiller, Andrew (February 9, 1979). "Classical". The Buffalo News: 27. Retrieved January 5, 2023.
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