Avant Rock

This text explores how avant-garde rock emerged from the social and political upheaval of the 1960s - the same time in which rock music was becoming a more universal musical language, strongly associated with youth culture. The book traces the evolution of the musical genre to the present day.

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Critiquing avant-garde rock bands from the 1960s to the present, Bill Martin examines how social upheaval gave rise to this new form of musical expression. He covers early experimentation by artists such as James Brown; initiation into the mainstream and the resulting adaptations by the Beatles and the Who; and continues into the present looking at how groups like Stereolab, Sonic Youth, Jim O’Rourke, and others continue to innovate. An annotated discography is included.