Rolling Stone's 20 Best Avant Albums of 2015

The year's best in noise, out-jazz, contemporary classical, ambient, drone and more.

Published: December 29, 2015 15:20 Source

# 1

The Ark Work by Liturgy

Album • Mar 24 / 2015 Experimental Rock Avant-Garde Metal

# 2

HIVE1 by Tyondai Braxton

Album • Mar 30 / 2015 Glitch Progressive Electronic Experimental

# 3

Xe by ZS

Album • Jan 27 / 2015 Experimental Rock

# 5

Perception by Ahnnu

Album • Apr 07 / 2015 Glitch Ambient Electroacoustic

# 6

Never Were the Way She Was by Colin Stetson + Sarah Neufeld

Album • Apr 28 / 2015 Post-Minimalism Chamber Music

# 7

Ssingggg Sschlllingg Sshpppingg by Charlemagne Palestine

Album • Apr 17 / 2015 Drone Minimalism

# 10

John Zorn's Olympiad, Vol. 1 by Dither

Album • Jan 20 / 2015 Indeterminacy

# 11

The Neurobiology of Moral Decision Making by Mark Fell + Gábor Lázár

Album • Jun 29 / 2015 Glitch Footwork

# 12

Parallels by Tristan Perich + Meehan / Perkins Duo

Album • Jun 10 / 2016 Post-Minimalism Bit Music

# 13

Cardinal by Philip Jeck

Album • Oct 23 / 2015 Ambient Turntable Music

# 14

Colonial Donuts by Bill Orcutt + Jacob Felix Heule

Album • Oct 30 / 2015 Free Improvisation

# 15

Coin Coin Chapter Three: River Run Thee by Matana Roberts

Album • Feb 03 / 2015 Experimental Modern Creative

# 16

Knerpen! (Bevel) by Vom Grill

Album • Oct 02 / 2015 Electronic Industrial Noise

# 17

Meltframe by Mary Halvorson

Album • Sep 04 / 2015 Avant-Garde Jazz

# 18

Deviate from Balance by John Wiese

Album • Feb 20 / 2015 Noise

# 19

Sleeping Tapes by Jeff Bridges

Album • Jan 28 / 2015 Spoken Word Ambient Field Recordings