Been listening to Genesis tons lately - and the strangeness of their music got me thinking about the music I enjoy and how most of it is off-beat or quirky. I thought this would be a good place for everybody to share the weirdest music they have discovered, regardless of genre. I'll start by posting a couple of my favourites from Youtube:
This is not the weirdest (that distinction would probably go to Wesley Willis or Throbbing Gristle) but it is wonderfully unconventional:
That first song is excellent - thanks for the tip I'm not a big fan of Skinny Puppy, but I understand what they are going for. Download reminds me of what Frank Zappa was doing in the 60s with noise in songs like Are You Hung Up? - it is interesting, but I still prefer some sense of structure.
Weird music.. I love experimentation in music, so I have a feeling, that I'll be a regular here.. I'll post some songs tomorrow, because it'd be hard from my phone. Anyway, what do you consider weird? I'm only asking this, because Genesis, while great quality music, showed few new things compared to the progressive rock from that era.
I just love the direction of Genesis - mind you led by Peter Gabriel. To me Yes, King Crimson, Gentle Giant, etc. are extremely progressive bands with a bend towards ideas as opposed to songs. Whereas Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, etc. are the opposite of that. Genesis bridges the gap between the two. As for straight weird music - I could list the normals - TroutMaskReplica, or anything by Zappa in the 60s before he lost an octave and became hip. There are some of the weirder jazz albums in my collection - though I have only begun listening to them. I think my favourite weird stuff is some Tom Waits like Real Gone, Blood Money or SwordFishTrombone. I also like music that is strange on purpose even though clinically it really is just catchy "pop" music. The Doors are my favourite band - The Soft Parade being the best example of this. Oingo Boingo, XTC, Talking Heads, Television, Dire Straits, Jimi Hendrix, Love, Radiohead, Peter Gabriel, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, etc. - basically this is my favourite sub-catagory of weird because it is also the most accessible stuff. Essentially I think any music could be considered weird. I often consider weird synonymous with unique or good. Things I prefer in music are - good songwriting, experimentation, good-to-great technical proficiency with instruments and vocals, cinematic mindset. I think of experimentation in terms of setting up cinematic sequences within the confines of the setting of the song. Experimentation could mean that I am experimenting with using completely traditional patterns and methods or by not playing anything at all (thank you John Cage.) As for actual literal weird (or as in surreal) I feel that lyrics often have the greatest influence over this. So I tend to prefer artists who step outside the realms of traditional lyric writing. I love Paul Simon for this - he has excellent lyrical depth without sounding hackneyed or tired.
Beck, Devo, Captain Beefheart, Sufjan Stevens and Leningrad Cowboys are some wierd ones off the top of my head.
Not particularly weird to me, but this song goes a little out of the norm. And it happens to do it well ^.^ And yeah me and Balu` have quite the selection of what would be considered "Weird" to most. I'll refrain from dropping the borderline "insane" stuff till a later date to prevent ear bleedage.
I'm with Booch on probably having a couple hundred albums that sound weird to a lot of people, but I also have a few that sound weird to me. Generally experimental stuff such as Tub Ring, Cinema Strange, Cocteau Twins, Sunn O))), Earth...
I haven't seen anyone else who thinks weird can be considered a synonyme of good, but I suppose I somewhat agree. Most music, that doesn't have anything unique about it (like over 90% of current mainstream) is just boring. The lyrics are much less important to me, I'm the kind of person, who can appreciate quality lyrics, but can ignore the bad ones. Now I guess I should post some interesting music too.. I'll try to only post fairly sane songs to begin with. :x Swans are definitely definitely a polarizing band, I personally adore their later period. In the beginning they played noisy post-punk, from which they evolved into many styles. Their lyrics can be insanely depressing, but are somewhat unique.
always wanted to check into Swans - just haven't got around to it yet (mostly because what I was introduced was their early stuff - but that song is excellent) The other song definitely sounds like something I'd be interested in as well. Lyrics are important to me most likely cause I'm a writer - and I see (pop) music as an extension of the literate mind. I can turn off my filter and enjoy good music but if the lyrics fall to far into banality I just can't commit. I think my favourite collection of out there weird albums is probably my William S. Burroughs discography - with Spare Ass Annie being the best extension of literary ideas permeating interesting music backdrop.
If you want to try getting into Swans, I'd say go for either White Light from the Mouth of Infinity (the album the song I posted was from) or The Great Annihilator. Then again, I'm not a huge fan of them either, I just enjoy some of their albums. That makes sense.. And also I guess I can ignore bad lyrics easier because English is my second language. I usually focus in the words more if they are in Hungarian. That song wasn't really interesting to me musically. :x
Cool will check 'em out - that "song" is just an excerpt from a hip-hop album that combines William S. Burroughs with various musical back drops ranging from straight hip hop to jazz among others to form a more full concept. An appreciation for Burroughs, the cutup method, and jazz are almost requisite. The rest of the album features grotesque cut ups of classic Burroughs literature from books like Naked Lunch, The Soft Machine, etc. I tend to look at albums like it more like radio drama's with an emphasis on soundtrack as opposed to ambient background noise. - Burroughs and The Doors mashup
Eh... how would one consider music 'weird'? Unconventional song structure, instrument arrangement or use of effects? Btw I have no idea why prog can be considered as 'weird'. You could probably substitute the progressive in 'From Progressive to Post-Punk' with 'avant-garde'.
There are plenty of weird ideas presented by prog music - as there are in all genres. As for avant-garde - it is to broad of a term that could be cross applied to any genre where something new and exciting is being introduced to be labeled a single genre.
Ignore me on that prog thingy... I'm too confined in my comfort zone of extreme metals that I'm unwilling to Wiki anything beyond metal or -core. Anyhow, would math (genre) be considered as weird?
