The first real experimental song ever?

XPP11

how many people have heard the song by revolution number 9 by the Beatles?? if you havnt, download it.. as far as i know its one of the first real raw experimental songs... i dont know what everyone else considers experimental, but this song is the true 100% definiton of experimental...

John

Beethoven was experimental. "Revolution No. 9" is good but people have been going crazier before the Beatles even started.

fish-head

Plus R. No.9 is a bit bollocks really..

Ernesto

yep,
way earlier: in 1913, Luigi Rossolo recorded 'art of noises', using industrial noises and rhythms. electronic instruments such as theremins and stuff started to appear as early as the 1920s.

experimental music was around for a good while before the beatles.

mike65

I suspect some on the stuff being sung by Gregorian Monks in the 11th century was considered pretty 'out there' at the time!

Mike.

John

Some Gregorian Monk chants are out there by today's standards too!

And Russolo FTW! I have a nice recording of his brother using the noise intoners, very strange stuff.

Black NG-60-90

I can imagine medieval lute players composing complex 26 minute songs about travelling to the sun and using alternating time signatures. Way way way before Rush.:D

Rustar

Let us not forget Lou Reed's 'Metal Machine Music'.

My idea of Hell is to be strapped in a chair, eyes held open with sticks (a la Clockwork Orange) while repeatedly listening to Metal Machine Music and being forced to watch Karen Carpenter play drums.

John

Wimp, Metal Machine Music is tame!

Rustar

John wrote:

Wimp, Metal Machine Music is tame!

Maybe, but is it Art?

Oh, and Ms. Carpenter is playing along with MMM at the time.

John

OK, that's a different story altogether!

And it's art. Oh is it art.

Rigsby

The late Terry Kath of "Chicago" had a track on their first album "Chicago Transit Authority" called "free form guitar".While I would n't say it was the first experimental song it certainly was innovative for it's time (1969 I think).

Giblet

Dissonance was considered a bit mad.

Helix

what about the devils chord

Léan

The brown note.

John

L&#233 wrote: »

The brown note.

Sunn O))) hit that from time to time.

ZWEI_VIER_ZWEI

First experimental song? No, but I'm sure it was hugely important and influential in opening people up to the idea that there existed exciting, strange and different types of music that existed outside the usual realm of standard, structured, pop and rock songs, in much the same way as stuff like Kraftwerk's Autobahn and Donna Summer's I Feel Love did much later on. Or maybe it didn't, seeing as I'm fairly sure there was literally nothing in record stores at the time that was of this kind of experimental nature, classical or otherwise....Or maybe there was? I don't know **** about this era, a BIT before my time (enough rambling)

Funnily enough the song reminded me strongly of Circustance by Skinny Puppy when I first heard it, that song being completely different, not even being a sound collage or what not...

voidoid

I'm just here to say how silly I find this thread title.
What futility.

Also many wouldn't even consider Revolution No. 9 to be the first experimental Beatles song.

as far as i know its one of the first real raw experimental songs... QUOTE]


you need to dig a bit deeper so!.......There are a multitude of composers who were making experimental music before the beatles parents were around!!and many composers in late 1800s Bartok etc.
As mentioned Beethoven was experimental, so much so that much of his work at the time of performance was shunned and laughed at because it was so out there for those times, and people just didnt get it

nlgbbbblth

Rigsby wrote:

The late Terry Kath of "Chicago" had a track on their first album "Chicago Transit Authority" called "free form guitar".While I would n't say it was the first experimental song it certainly was innovative for it's time (1969 I think).

Great album, Chicago Transit Authority. First of an amazing run of quality records right up until Chicago XI (1977). Then Terry Kath died and they became a totally different band - overwrought ballads etc for which they're mostly remembered for.

tj-music.com

Experimental with massive public appeal: KRAFTWERK Kraftwerk01.jpg