Good Complex Music Recommendations?
 

Basically I've been searching for a few months for some "good music" :drummer: and I've definitely found some things, but none of it is REALLY what I'm looking for. Probably because I can't be very detailed in my Google search about what I like :banghead:. So maybe here you guys can understand me better than Google and give me some better suggestions? I hope so! :)

So I know everybody has a different opinion about what "good music" is, so let me try to explain to you guys what I'm looking for before you give your suggestions.

I like non-traditional stuff. I bore easily of 4/4 time and repetitive beats. I really enjoy exotic scales and exotic time signatures or other unique/experimental types of things. I really like progressive music and music that is emotional. If an artist can bring tears to my eyes with their music or lyrics then I am seriously impressed. If music progresses through different emotions, different scales, and different time signatures, then wow I am in love.

I view music as a true art form, and when I listen to music I wonder how the artist ever managed to produce something so perfect and so complex. I really appreciate good sound design. I wish some techno artists would REALLY unleash the power of electronic music. An example of very good electronic music is Shpongle (the song "Electroplasm" is a good example). They mess around with time signatures, scales, different genres, different emotions, etc. They truly produce art with their computers.

Basically, I really appreciate complexity. I don't like simple traditional meaningless stuff. I wanna hear some stuff that some crazy music PhD's produced that takes years to fully appreciate.

Also.. I'm not afraid of any genres. I listen to BTBAM, Born of Osiris, Animals as Leaders, Shpongle, The Beatles, Queen, Eminem, PJ Harvey... Almost anything I can get my hands on that seems like it has some legitimate talent in it. I don't want any "started from the bottom now my whole team ****in here", or "I'm faded, faded, faded, faded" :nono:. Although I don't mind rap music. I appreciate complex rhythms like those that Eminem uses on occasion, or Tech N9ne. Sorry for the lackluster examples, it's actually really hard to find good examples of what I'm looking for.

tl;dr
I want some stuff that is legitimately artistic. Give me instrumental music that will bring tears to my eyes, or some rap songs in 7/8 time, or even some music that doesn't follow a specific time signature, like the song "On Impulse" by "Animals as Leaders".

Thank you all for your time and suggestions!
-Ryan

I'm glad you asked. I'm going to put a bunch in spoilers, but first, I'll recommend you my favourite album sans spoiler. The opening track is my usernamesake.



Here's a good example of complex classical music. Schoenberg's music is very complex by Western standards. He helped develop the twelve tone system to create atonal music, but his results are quite beautiful.



Since you seem to like genre hopping, I'll toss in Naked City too since they hop around like it's going out of style.


And Mr. Bungle, another genre hopper.


Some complex free jazz from John Coltrane and another one of my favourite albums.


Art Bears is outrageously complex. I think Winter Songs is the record I had to spend the most time with before I could appreciate it.


The Pop Group's early work was pretty complex as well, and incredible to boot.


Zu makes great use of odd time signatures and they're in my top five. Super heavy stuff that hits all the right places for me.


Soft Machine. Just yes. Complex and brilliant, these guys are gods of the Canterbury prog scene.


dalek is on the hip hop side of things and tonally they're quite complex even though melodically it's a little more stagnant than the rest of my recs. The lyrics are choice too and lacks cliches a lot of people see hip hop as containing.


Drive Like Jehu is a post hardcore group with pretty complex melodies on the guitars. Badass as hell if you ask me.


Ornette Coleman for some more jazz. It kind of sounds free, but there's quite a bit of structure going on here.


Frank Zappa is a well known complex composer, so check him out too if you haven't already.


I'll close with my second favourite band, This Heat. A lot of their music isn't particularly complex but they're incredible talented. The change ups on this track fits the bill though.


Enjoy!

If you dig complexity, you should check out some AvantProg.

Henry Cow





Thinking Plague



5uu's



Ruins



Rational Diet




I could go on and on... Not sure that's your thing though.
If you're into prog you should know King Crimson. But if not: King Crimson.

I figured I'd see you in here. I was afraid our recs might overlap but looks like we're good.

Figured the same thing and hoped to be first, but you beat me to it. But yeah, nice selection between us two.
Hope ruli digs at least some of it, we need more fans of all that here.

I see you listen to some Animals as Leaders. I'll throw this on the pile:

Check out Carving Desert Canyons and/or The Migration by Scale the Summit.

Oh and check this out.
Made even more amazing by the fact that it's one guy playing everything.

Thanks for the recommendations folks!

This should keep me busy for a while!

And yep Chula I'm already a big fan of Scale the Summit :)