Experimental

Experimental on vinyl: sound collages, tape and new paths

In short: Experimental music looks for new sounds beyond verse and chorus: tape loops, noise, electronics and collage. At the Vinyl Room it ranges from Karlheinz Stockhausen and Brian Eno to The Caretaker and William Basinski. You’ll currently find 418 records here, many of them from recent years.

What is experimental music?

As early as the fifties, composers such as Karlheinz Stockhausen worked with tape and electronics. Later, musicians such as Brian Eno brought these ideas into pop music. His album with David Byrne, “My Life in the Bush of Ghosts” (1981), built whole tracks from voice recordings and noise. Today names such as The Caretaker with the six-part “Everywhere at the End of Time”, William Basinski and Animal Collective stand for the style.

What to look for

Many experimental records come out today on small labels in limited runs. You’ll also find many still-sealed copies with us. With older records, label, catalogue number and runout help.

From our stock

First pressings

Still sealed

New in

→ Electronic on vinyl · How to spot a first pressing · Grading explained · Plattenparty on YouTube

FAQ

What is experimental music? Music that looks for new sounds – with tape, noise, electronics or collage instead of a classic song form.

What is “My Life in the Bush of Ghosts”? An album by Brian Eno and David Byrne from 1981 that builds music from voice recordings and noise.

Who is The Caretaker? A project by the Englishman Leyland Kirby. His six-part “Everywhere at the End of Time” (2016–2019) uses decaying recordings to describe the forgetting of dementia.