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Best avant-garde artists of the 2010s

Streaming rewrote every incentive underneath a record: its length, its release date, whether it needed a single at all. Trap production became pop's default rhythm, and a lot of the decade's best artists arrived through a laptop rather than a label.

Everyone who released a avant-garde album in the 2010s, ordered by how Riffiter listeners rate their catalog.

Leprous№ 1Leprous6 albums here4.0Weighted score4.1 avg · 4 ratings
  1. 2The Mothers of InventionThe Mothers of Invention4 albums here4.04.0 avg · 3 ratings
  2. 3Art ZoydArt Zoyd23 albums here3.93.8 avg · 3 ratings
  3. 4UlverUlver8 albums here3.73.6 avg · 6 ratings
  4. 5KralliceKrallice6 albums here3.73.3 avg · 3 ratings
  5. 6Scott WalkerScott Walker6 albums here3.73.4 avg · 4 ratings
  6. 7RuinsRuins1 album here3.73.2 avg · 3 ratings
  7. 8Laurie AndersonLaurie Anderson5 albums here2 ratings
  8. 9Gaye Su AkyolGaye Su Akyol1 album here2 ratings
  9. 10Colin StetsonColin Stetson7 albums here1 rating
  10. 11Arthur RussellArthur Russell3 albums here1 rating
  11. 12SighSigh5 albums here1 rating
  12. 13LiturgyLiturgy4 albums here1 rating
  13. 14Jim O’RourkeJim O’Rourke93 albums here1 rating
  14. 15Glenn BrancaGlenn Branca4 albums here1 rating
  15. 16Mary HalvorsonMary Halvorson15 albums here1 rating
  16. 17EarthEarth5 albums here1 rating
  17. 18Mike PattonMike Patton8 albums here
  18. 19Yoko OnoYoko Ono5 albums here
  19. 20BucketheadBuckethead68 albums here
  20. 21Mr. BungleMr. Bungle1 album here
  21. 22MoondogMoondog7 albums here
  22. 23Captain BeefheartCaptain Beefheart33 albums here
  23. 24John CageJohn Cage13 albums here
  24. 25This Mortal CoilThis Mortal Coil1 album here
  25. 26The Bad PlusThe Bad Plus8 albums here
  26. 27Marc RibotMarc Ribot5 albums here
  27. 28Olivier MessiaenOlivier Messiaen15 albums here
  28. 29Pierre HenryPierre Henry19 albums here
  29. 30Meredith MonkMeredith Monk3 albums here
  30. 31Terry RileyTerry Riley7 albums here
  31. 32Bill LaswellBill Laswell30 albums here
  32. 33Morton FeldmanMorton Feldman1 album here
  33. 34ZuZu6 albums here
  34. 35Michael GiraMichael Gira3 albums here
  35. 36Univers ZéroUnivers Zéro3 albums here
  36. 37Pop LeviPop Levi1 album here
  37. 38Keiji HainoKeiji Haino2 albums here
  38. 39Tyondai BraxtonTyondai Braxton1 album here
  39. 40NegativlandNegativland4 albums here
  40. 41KoenjihyakkeiKoenjihyakkei2 albums here
  41. 42AuAu2 albums here
  42. 43Roz VitalisRoz Vitalis6 albums here
  43. 44Yuka HondaYuka Honda2 albums here
  44. 45VirusVirus1 album here

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An artist's score here is every rating their catalog has collected. Add yours and the order moves.

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