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Bristol's Experimental Music Listings

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Bristol's Experimental Music Scene

It’s Bristol’s dance music that has earnt Bristol’s music scene international recognition, but the city’s playful experimentation between musicianship, electronics and sound art that is starting to gain the most traction. It's with a sigh of relief that we bid farewell to loop-pedal-powered hippies of the past and embrace the patch bays, compressors and modular synths of the future. All Bristol’s experimental music events are listed on this page.

Buy tickets for experimental music events in Bristol

Our recent experimental music recommendations

Sell out warning! Early bets on the beatdown of the year, 2:1 on Sunami to pummel all contenders with their no-it’s-not-a-joke-anymore bada$$ bully crossover hxc. You’ve seen the news, so expect a bleeding lip or two (and don’t wear that fresh white tee). Fans of Terror, First Blood God’s Hate etc – you know the drill! Sunami at Shredenhams.

Woi oi! Iconic 'ardkore action incoming from the unrivaled Moving Shadow fold! Reinforced / Altern8 / Shut Up And Dance heads will already have their tickets of course. For everyone else: breakbeat ravestalgia doesn’t come much ruffer than 2 Bad Mice, chopping samples and bombing tha bass like it was the Second Summer of Love all over again. 2 Bad Mice + Friends at The Jam Jar.

Sell out warning! Harakiri are the only band you need on your post-black sky chariot riding mix. Triumphant melody barely disguising soul-wrenching trauma, blistering blast-beats; BM purists beware, this is pure catharsis stitched with post-rock, post-hardcore, grunge and skramz DNA. With Denmark's impossibly mournful Sunken opening things up, ethereal awakenings await disciples of: Alcest, Deafheaven, Drudkh, WitTR. Harakiri for the Sky & Sunken at Strange Brew.

Sell out warning! You’ve never heard pipes like this! Queer futurism from visionary bagpiper Malin Lewis, playing self-made instruments and the world’s first wooden Lindsay Chanter. Malin channels their pipes and drones to form a layered, shifting sonic language that lives between binaries. Malin Lewis at The Jam Jar.

What our editors say

“Belfast-based singer-songwriter and producer Joshua Burnside brings together Irish folk traditions with Americana, world music, electronica and experimental soundscapes. His distinctive music blends intricate songwriting with found sounds, layered textures and unexpected production, creating something that feels both rooted in tradition and entirely contemporary.”
From: Joshua Burnside

“Buried beneath Anatolian soil, Ash Magick summons ancient curses and forbidden esoterica through raw black metal and industrial ritualism. Solo female Black Metal from Turkey, signed with Apocalyptic Witchcraft.”
From: Trivax

“Despite being based in Toronto, Canada, their sound lends itself more to the sardonic European art pop of Klaver’s heritage and the metallic cacophony of Northern England, where Crombie and Nixon grew up. These influences fuse to form their own brand of goth-adjacent music that is equal parts nostalgic and contemporary, all while maintaining a staunchly DIY process where each step from conception to completion is conducted by the members of the band. ”
From: THEO VANDENHOFF

“DUMMY are a Los Angeles experimental pop band blending shoegaze, dream pop, krautrock and psychedelic electronics into a sound that’s both hypnotic and irresistibly catchy. Their latest album, do you love the color of the sky? (Polyvinyl Record Co.), pairs propulsive breakbeats, hazy guitars and shimmering pop melodies with darker reflections on AI, surveillance and modern life. Drawing on influences from Seefeel and Disco Inferno to early Björk, Dummy push the boundaries of experimental music without losing sight of a great hook.”
From: DUMMY

“As a producer, performer, vocalist, and DJ, Felicia Chen (Dis Fig) has long resisted simple categorization. She cut her teeth in New York City's scrappy DIY noise scene before finding her footing in Berlin's experimental electronic underground, where her distinctive artistic sensibility began to crystallize. Chen's work is defined by dense, immersive sonic worlds where crushing heaviness meets startling vulnerability, anchored by a voice whose instinctive connectiveness cuts through even the densest sonic landscapes.”
From: Dis Fig + Cold Light, HARRGA