Genre story · Rock
Experimental Rock
Rock musicians asking what happens when the familiar instruments stop behaving in familiar ways.
Experimental rock is a broad history of musicians crossing Rock with unfamiliar compositional and recording methods. Its earlier roots include the mid-1960s explorations of the Velvet Underground and Frank Zappa's groups, while later generations drew on minimalism, improvisation, electronics, studio manipulation and the wider avant-garde. Bands have pursued these approaches in very different scenes, so the name is less a stable movement than a useful description of musical curiosity within rock.
Changing the job of an instrument
A guitar can supply feedback rather than a riff. A drum pattern can repeat without a traditional verse or chorus, or a recording can be built from tape edits and found sounds. Unusual instruments and production techniques can become structural rather than decorative elements. Some experimental rock remains melodic and approachable; other recordings challenge the listener's expectation of what a song should contain.
Overlapping terms
Experimental Rock often intersects with Art Rock, Krautrock, Noise Rock and Post-Rock. These styles have more specific musical and historical definitions, and should not all be collapsed into one branch. An Experimentally tagged track may indicate a method used on that recording without establishing a band-wide genre identity.
Essential recordings
- 1968The Velvet UndergroundWhite Light/White HeatA concentrated early encounter between rock songs and uncontrolled noise.
- 1971CanTago MagoExtended rhythmic structures and tape experimentation.
- 1981This HeatDeceitFragmented song forms informed by post-punk and studio experimentation.