Avant-Rock
Avant-rock is a lineage and tradition within the broad family of rock music which expands on the instrumental and structural experimentation of mid-to-late 1960s psychedelic rock in a variety of directions, generally retaining an anti-commercial orientation and sonic aesthetic. Avant-rock is so named for its influences from avant-garde music? like noise? and early electronic? music, and is also called experimental rock due to on its emphasis on experimentation and innovation within the rock framework.
The earliest period or first wave of avant-rock can be understood as avant-psych, a loose grouping of more radical approaches to rock performance and recording which grew out of the more conventional psychedelic music movement of the time. Distinctive avant-psych approaches include:
- drone rock?, based around extended droning? tones and textures
- early noise rock, emerging from the fuzz and feedback of the most intense acid rock?
- tape rock?, splicing and altering rock instrumentation with musique concrete? techniques
- free form freakout?, an early psychedelic form of structureless rock music, eventually forming part of free rock?
- synthedelia?, based around early usage of synthesizers in rock
- Krautrock?, a loosely-defined category based around early 1970s German psychedelic music, particularly associated with the motorik?
The other prominent school of avant-rock coming out of the 1960s was dada rock?, related to psychedelia while distinguishing its sound through its heavy reliance on blues? and jazz? idioms, among other distinctly American? influences. Both avant-psych and dada rock were consequential influences on the avant-prog? movement of the 1970s, a parallel to the progressive rock genre with more complex, dissonant, and freely-structured pieces which stretched the boundaries of what a rock band could be, compared to a chamber ensemble or a small orchestra. Although it developed beginning in the late 1960s and had a prominent substyle zeuhl? by the mid-1970s, avant-prog wasn't really codified until the late 1970s Rock in Opposition? movement which brought together a number of supposedly uncommercial European acts under one banner for a music festival. RiO has remained a rallying term and identification for fans of this music despite or because of its loose musical definition, and has been extended to more contemporary acts who demonstrate musical influence from or an affinity with the RiO approach.
A second wave of avant-rock emerged around the late 1970s, as art rock? artists with avant-psych tendencies like Brian Eno? and David Bowie? influenced a new generation of bands coming up alongside proto-punk? but with a more distinctly underground sensibility which incorporated punk? without being subsumed by that movement's most nihilistic and anarchic tendencies. The marquee example of this period was the New York No Wave? scene and its "skronk?" noise guitars and radical deconstructions of song structures, chords, performances, and every part of rock music. Out of this scene grew offshoots like avant-funk?, punk jazz?, and mutant disco? which applied these guitar tones and deconstructive principles to other genres within the post-punk context. More broadly, the early period of post-punk and art punk? experimentation which draws on avant-psych influences can be understood as New Musick?, and it had a lasting impact on the evolution of indie rock, New Wave?, goth?, and even arena rock.
Avant-rock in the 1980s was largely dominated by artists influenced by various parts of No Wave or industrial?, particularly new explorations in noise rock and noise punk? which emphasized dissonance and harsher guitar tones with unconventional tonalities, particularly led by the dissonant rock? of Sonic Youth?. In addition, the pigfuck? movement was influenced by the boundaryless approach of avant-rock, intermingling with a wide range of influences and innovating guitar tones which would be harvested commercially within the post-grunge? alternative rock? boom of the 1990s. At that time, the landscape of avant-rock was largely centred around a few strains which together became known as "post-rock", spanning a range of post-indie? approaches from the more repetitive and electronic-influenced British space rock? and ambient pop? acts around Too Pure? to a Midwestern American strain which emerged out of post-hardcore, evolving alongside math rock, emo?, and slowcore? into a form of indie rock which even became commercially viable in the 2000s.
In the 21st century, new approaches to avant-rock have largely been defined by their incorporation of new electronic instrumentation and techniques while referencing earlier avant-rock paradigms like No Wave and avant-prog in composition or performance, as well as a particular postmodern? tendency towards polystylism?, particularly anachronistic blends of different eras.