Does anybody know what's going on with avant-garde/classical electronic music (is anything at all?)

My knowledge of the field pretty much begins and ends with the "OHM" box set, but I guess there are worse places from which one could get knowledge than that.

I just saw Morton Subotnick give a performance at Oberlin a few weeks ago and it was somewhat disappointing. It sounded kind of like a glitchy Silver Apples of the Moon with female computer voices and superb stereo imaging. But, overall, it was really unimpressive.

It seems like, as well as what OHM indicates, that pop and classical music kind of converge in the late 70s and early 80s with guys like Eno and Klaus Schluze. Today it seems like the people I most associate with avant-garde electronic are guys like Fennesz and Janek Schaefer, but I don't know if I'd really consider that the similar to somebody like Stockhausen or Feldman. I guess just on the spectrum from pop to avant-garde, I'd place an album like "Endless Summer" more on the pop side, but maybe my spectrum is skewed.

What do you guys think? Is there any really interesting experimentalism going on right now? What about in the whole of avant-garde classical? Or is everything just neo-this-or-that?

Anyone?

I think there are interesting new experiments going about.

I'm a big fan of Ryoji Ikeda, I think he is pushing the boundries when it comes to avant-garde electronic music

Checking out Ryoji Ikeda now on his website. From the few MP3s available, his pieces seem very "musical." They all pretty much adhere to a simple 4/4 meter and what not. Is it all about the timbral effects and how electronic musicians get them? Are there any new, authoritative books on elec. music? To help me listen to it "correctly"?

Has anyone heard Stockhausen's quadra(or more)phonic sound installations...y'know, "live"? I have yet to. His own releases feature some quadraphonic stuff mixed down for "regular" 2 channel CDs. He simulates four channels with panning: Far left / near left / near right / far right. He claims it'll work on a regular stereo system with four speakers. I'll try it after my upcomming move I guess. Personally, I can't wait to have sound orbit my head.

I don't know anyone who has heard Oktophonie "live."

I can commiserate. I lived across the street from Cal Arts for a few years, my private music teacher went there...and it's funny...I met a lot of composers and amateurs like myself who...basically, no-one really likes Subotnick's "music." Unless you're one of these people who, with Pavlovian alacrity, blindy worship any Avant-Garde music due to a lack of discerning auditory senses.

Personally, I have little respect for paper musicians.

I pretty much everything that Ryoji has released, I'm a big fan of his work, especially the earlier stuff.

I haven't really responded to this thread yet because, personally, it's difficult for me to determine avant-garde electronic music, in this day and age...

...I mean, electronic music was an avant-garde musical style in its infancy, although that can't be said of most electronic music being made today...musique concrete has come and gone, and real krautrock and industrial are mostly fond memories. I think this ties in with the electronic threads discussing how electronic music seems to be stagnating, with little real progression...personally, I think IDM/Drill N' Bass/Experimental Techno was the last great moment of "Avant-Garde" sensibilities in electronic music, but this seems to have become commonplace now, and I'm not sure what to consider "ahead of the rest" in electronic forms these days, but that said, I admit that I haven't been keeping up with electronic music much, I've been on a bit of a free-jazz kick for the past half year...

All that said, I'll look into Ryoji, as I'm not familiar w/ his work...so basically, I guess I'm in the same position as the thread starter, is there really anything that could be considered "avant-garde" electronic anymore?

Ok, I'm new, so hello, and i'm going to say something about music.

I like John Cage and Philip Glass. I Worship DEVO.

Avante Garde is a slang term. It hurts to categorize sometimes.

Sometimes it hurts to write it down, Thurston Moore said, "once the music leaves your head, its already compromised."

lets leap into esoteric land now: within this body of yours, you will recognize the starting and stopping of each note, the different styles of each composer/musician. and i know, its been said, however, i dont believe its been understood---its all going to the grand masterpiece, the big story. we all have our favorites, but i know without N'Sync, *shiver*, the contrast would not be there. the overall contrast. maybe my example is a bit prejudice.

too longwinded, sorry.

This is a point similar to what I was hinting at, but outside of just electronic music. Is there ANYTHING that can really be considered avant-garde anymore? Is there any more true experimentalism? If so, is it getting to the point where it's basically recycling old ideas? Is experimental "music history" over? If so, where do we go next?

Do we take these experiments and try to put them towards a greater goal of clarity of expression? Are there any artists or musicians that you would say embody this sort of "post-avantgardism"? If I were to choose one, it'd be Boards of Canada. They use a lot of interesting sound modification, mathematics, and somewhat "experimental" methods without really truly experimenting themselves. They just use all of that information to create great works of art with music.

Does anybody agree or does anybody think this is just completely off base? Let's hear some opinions!

(if anybody would like to create a new thread in which to discuss this topic, it'd be fine with me.)