Where's all the contemporary instrumental music that isn't classical, jazz, New Age, electronic dance, or wild-eyed free improv?

you might find some examples in there. i'm assuming by 'electronic dance' you're including 'IDM' aka ambient vocal-less electronica you couldn't possibly dance to

but does Hot Butter's 'Popcorn' count as electronic dance?(!)

you didn't mention instrumental ROCK - in which case i guess Mogwai may be for you (they just released their latest album)

Jean-Marc Zelwer. Pascal Comelade. Jorge Reyes, even...

I like some instrumental progressive, but most of the stuff I know of is old (and in some cases out of print).

I am not very familiar with post-rock. Based on the brief samples I've heard, it doesn't sound too interesting, but I was thinking of at least checking out Millions Now Living. . ., which seems to be liked more widely than most post-rock I've heard about.

Thanks. A lot of these names are only vaguely familiar, so they might hold potential.

*

It's not as though I won't listen to anything in the categories I ruled out. It's just that when I like music from those categories it tends to be uncharacteristic in some way (jazz that is, say, rhythmically very different from most jazz--like much of Sun Ra's; or classical music that has heavy non-western influences, or uses just intonation or something; or free improv that isn't wild-eyed). But for the purposes of this thread, mostly eliminate all of that.

I just saw this.

Maybe a good suggestion might be Talvin Singh's music? He's a London-born and India-trained tabla player and producer. His music, while definitely centered around very traditional Eastern elements, is also very much multi-cultural (musicians on his albums from London, India, Pakistan, Japan, all over the world pretty much) and it blends very modern electronic drum-n-bass type stuff with bad-ass tabla playing and a huge variety of other flavors (electric guitars, Japanese traditional choir-music, dub reggae echo flavors, etc.) as well as respecting/coming from some fairly ancient music traditions. Plus it sounds awesome!

I think my already existing prejudice against jam bands has only been made stronger by ILM. Except that I like some music which could, in a broad sense, be put in that category (the Akrestra functions that way at times, whether we want to admit it or not; and the Boredoms are a sort of jam band in their later releases).

The Talvin Singh I've heard didn't appeal to me. I'm not big on tabla though, for some reason.

There's some out-there electronic stuff that's not quite "dance", classical, or improv like Tim Hecker's My Love Is Rotten to the Core. Or Kevin Drumm. Some of it might be a little too much on the harsh side for your tastes.

stevem, I did mean to include IDM in "electronic dance." I say "electronic dance" because it annoys me to see "electronic music" or "dance music" used in a sense that is so much narrower than I'd already gotten used to using it. I would say "electronica" but just about anyone who is into electronica hates that term for it.

t., I heard some Pascal Comelade a long time ago, but it was a little too "sleepy" (as my x- would say). Covers of Satie and "Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy." Of course, since this was about two decades ago, he could have done 100 entirely different albums in the mean time.

what about Trembling Strain? elemental progressive music made with diverse ethnic and hand-crafted instruments. led by the enigmatic Pneuma (clinical psychiatrist by day...), they're something like Japan's version of the Third Ear Band. more so than Ghost.

okey dokey.

both very good from the limited amount that i have heard, though i dont really understand this thread much. If you want to hear instrumental music i dont know why you wouldn't just listen to "classical, jazz, New Age, electronic dance, or wild-eyed free improv?" as well as post rock? Theres plently to choose from!

both very good from the limited amount that i have heard, though i dont really understand this thread much. If you want to hear instrumental music i dont know why you wouldn't just listen to "classical, jazz, New Age, electronic dance, or wild-eyed free improv?" as well as post rock? Theres plently to choose from!

If you have problems with P2P, a bunch of the bands listed on this thread have downloads available on http://www.epitonic.com/

I am not sure that really explains things any better, but anyhow, it is indeed possible to mostly not like those mega-genres, and still want instrumental music. For one thing, I know from past experience that there are instrumental things that appear to fall out of those categories, which I enjoy immensely. Some Hans Reichel would be an example. (If he is indeed free improv, he is not wild-eyed.) There were prog/space rock things of old, like Mars Everywhere and Sensations Fix, which I would love to get on CD. Fripp & Eno's collaborations fall outside of any of the categories in my subject line (in my view). K. Leimer's Land of Look Behind, or what I remember of it. Ingram Marshall? I was just going over old issues of the New Music Distribution Catalog and was reminded of his existence; shortly after I saw a new article about him on the Perfect Sound Forever web-site. These examples are old because I really haven't made an effort to keep up with music along these lines.

Also, I tend to like middle eastern instrumental music, but it has not traditionally been elaborated into extended forms the way European classical music has. Oud solos, for example, can be great but a whole album of seven minute taksim, one after another, can get to be a bit samey. (Some attempts to advance the tradition of Arabic instrumental, such as those by Munir Bachir and Marcel Khalife, seem bloodless and disappointing to me.) I do mean to pick up any instrumental Turkish music that the Erguner ensemble has been involved with.

Jazz and classical have their own priorities, and sub-genres of both have their own conventions, and maybe I want something else.

Oh yeah, LISTEN TO NEW ORLEANS BRASS BANDS. Rebirth Brass Band, New Birth Brass Band, and Soul Rebels Brass Band esp.

Louisiana Music Factory

It's related to jazz, of course, but is more about hittin' it in the club and in the street. By the same token, it's not very close to the other stuff you are interested in, the vibe has more in common with hip-hop than anything.

Hmm. Well, now that you mention it...

I'm not too big on most of the downtempo I've heard. If Motion counts, I like that, but even that is more for certain moods, not something I play a lot. I'm very cautious about post-rock. I'm somewhat intrigued by the idea of ambient metal and may pick up on some of those bands. Also, as usual, I guess, some of the Japanese bands mentioned here at least seem interesting.

Earth 2 (a little disappointed at first, but I liked it more the longer it played)
Ground Zero: Plays Standards (I think I like this a lot so far. I'm afraid I am doomed to a future of discovering more and more Japanese artists whose CDs I will buy as expensive imports. There are some lyrics, but that's okay. Ayleresque saxophone, but very different sort of structures. Well, maybe not. But the name Otomo Yoshihide seems to turn up in interesting places.)
Susie Ibarra: Flower After Flower
Hans Reichel & Tom Cora Angel Carver

Others will have to wait, but I will be tracking down other suggestions from this thread eventually.

Obviously I was thinking of Otomo Yoshihide.

I feel as though I have this musical Dr. Jekyll and My Hyde thing going on (which would be more interesting if I were an artist instead of a consumer).

I like Tone but they may edge a little too close to trad jazz for you.

Then there's Dirty Three, who are sort of emo as instrumental music (n.b.: this is not an insult).

I don't think I was clear, but this was meant as a complaint, not at suggestions made, but at the state of c.i.m.t.i.c.j.n.a.e.d.o.w.f.i.--and there should have been a question mark at the end of the sentence.

Also, what about Red Snapper? They use jazz instruments, but their music is hardly jazz in the traditonal sense of the word, more like soundtrack music.

Can you recommend any Baden Powell? I bought his remake of Afro-Sambas and was originally happy with it, but then the backing chorus started to bother me more and more. (I like the way it uses some western classical instruments I don't usually enjoy hearing.) I bought that 2-CD edition of his first three albums, but only liked a small part of it. I have a short live CD of Powell performing in Hamburg, which I like. I have another one, the title of which I can't remember right now, that's just okay. (And I also bought Seresta Brasileira, which I ended up selling, since I found it a bit blah.) I have also heard a piece performed by him that I really like on one of my Brazilian compilations. I know it's a little odd that I would have bought so much by him, while being so ambivalent, but a lot of this was bought under my initial enthusiasm for Afro-Sambas (the 1996 one). So, any suggestions on what else I might like? I think I like his somewhat harder edged playing.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/world/mixingitljf.shtml

I definitely want to buy William Parker's Eloping with the Sun. I don't know whether he is presenting this as jazz or not, but from the short clips I've heard of it, it sounds like something I'd like. (Three jazz musicians, playing instruments other than what they usually play. For instance, the drummer is just playing a frame drum, rather than his usual drum kit.)

I have a list of things I want to purchase some time soon, that is even longer than it usually is, but I will still be slowly adding in some of the sorts of things recommended here.

Still waiting for my Qur'an recording, which should be kind of mind-blowing.

I do not like the Parker CD so far.

Also, highly recommendable is the Finnish accordion player Kimmo Pohjonen. His latest LP "Kluster" mixes accordion samples with live playing (through various filters) to produce sounds you'd never think came out of an accordion.

I am anxious to get two of bob snoom's suggestions: the Scott Tuma and Lotus Eaters CDs. I think his suggestions overall are maybe the closest to what I was looking for, though I'm not sure I'm interested in all of them. Also very interested in hearing some Altered States (which I think I first heard about on this thread, unless it was a last x thread).

Overall, I'm still pretty preoccupied with exploring Arab, Greek, and Afro-Latin music, at least in my list-making head.

(Inicidentally, re: the Qur'an recording, I got about halfway through the set and then quietly lost interest in listening any more. I expect that I'll come back to it. Some sections of the recordings are much more interesting than others.)

Nebulas, Satan's Pilgrims, Huntington Cads, Fathoms, Space Cossacks, Apemen (NL), Jon & The Nightriders, Halibuts, Laika & The Cosmonauts, Mermen, Hypnotic IV, Bambi Molesters, Andrew Surfers, Beat Tornados, 50 Foot Combo, Blue Stingrays, Bomboras, Death Valley, Exotics, El Caminos, Huevos Rancheros, GT Stringer, Husky & The Sandmen, Krontjong Devils, Planet Seven, Saboteurs, Dave Allan & The Arrows, Surf Coasters, Sir Finks, Treble Spankers, Treblemakers, Vara-Tones, Slacktone, Ghastly Ones, Hypnomen, Looney Tunes, Prodigals, Woodies........

Definitely not muzak. (I guess this name change thing creates a lot of confusion. I feel pretty stuck with "Rockist Scientist" for now.)

Also, I'm not being entirely facetious in my new question.
(No blues either.)

sundar, Diamanda Galas is on my shopping list. Much as I hate to say it, I haven't really liked anything I've heard by Monk for a long time. (Doleman Music is the best I've heard so far.) The others you mention I don't know (at least in their vocal side), so I might check some of that out. I was kind of looking for things with actual lyrics in English, which I guess most of your suggestions fit, but maybe not all.

Not that I (let alone the world) don't have more urgent problems to confront, but--

And yeah, I'm excited to discover that a bunch of avant-garde jazz from recent years might work for me, but even this William Parker Scrapbook is a little rough going for me at times. I'm not george gosset (for whom Parker is probably pop anyway, but anyway. . .): I don't want to have to work extremely hard for my music. Haha, "Holiday for Flowers" comes on and it almost seems like a sarcastic response to my complaints. "Maybe if you didn't think of this music as something to put on in the background while you. . ."

Maybe because they've heard post-rock? I probably shouldn't be so smartalecky about a genre I've heard so little of; but what little I've heard, I've found uninspiring. (I think I'm mostly through with new takes on minimalism though, so that's probably part of the problem.)

I will look into this Noxagt though.

Around here? Probably few listen to those bands. I'm wanting to do something that would definitely be considered rock music.

If you checked out Don Cab and liked that kind of thing, another band called Cheer-Accident and Ativan are both pretty good. I saw them both live a couple of times. "Not a Food" by Cheer-Accident and "German Water" & "Pills Not Planes (ep) by Ativan are worth hearing. Ativan went all ambient on their later records and I didn't like it as much.

longtime lurker here, moved to post a humble inquiry - sorry to bump an ancient thread but didn't want to start a new one...

the Bad Timing / The Visitor / Hergest Ridge comparisons in the other thread made me wonder: are there any other albums in a similar vein? i mean (mainly) instrumental, (mainly) acoustic, long-form pieces or suites, preferably with more of a focus on texture/instrumental color than virtuoso showmanship. i've heard a lot of stuff, but haven't really encountered anything similar; i suspect something of the sort might be lurking somewhere between early ECM, Canterbury, 70's Euro prog/psych, Takoma / private press folk obscurities...

much obliged for any suggestions!

fuck maybe this is the wrong thread after all because i don't think i'm looking for anything exactly contemporary. all suggestions are welcome though