Experimental Pop
tagStarted 1967Peak 1995-2015Last big hit still active
Located in 3 routes
Pop that treats the studio as a laboratory: tape manipulation, unconventional song structures, genre-splicing and restless production, but anchored to a melodic core. Sounds shift mid-song, textures pile up and dissolve, instruments are detuned or invented. Curious and shape-shifting, prioritizing sonic discovery over format.
History
Springs from The Beatles' and Brian Wilson's late-'60s tape experiments, but coheres as a label with Animal Collective, Sufjan Stevens' 'Age of Adz', Dirty Projectors and Caribou in the 2000s, who treated digital tools and odd structures as core songwriting material rather than effects.
Defining artists
Essential listening
Sources
- Pitchfork
- AllMusic: Experimental Pop
- Rate Your Music