The Drift: the best in weird and experimental music

Introducing a new column in which Cal Cashin rounds up the month's best avant-garde music from around the world

In the seven years I have been writing for Loud And Quiet I have taken great joy in platforming the strangest, most far-out and far-flung music the planet has to offer. I have covered soulful Gqom from South Africa, pummelling dance music from Uganda, and rip-roaring punk from Japan, whilst also profiling some of the capital’s boldest iconoclasts, like Black Midi, Wu-Lu and Lunch Money Life in all their glory.

As the publication enters a new chapter, I have pledged to continue this drive to champion the avant-garde, the strange and the fascinating, in a new monthly column, The Drift.

Each month, I will bring you a selection of new releases from around the world and across the genre spectrum. I will cover music that is ever-experimental in nature, from the – reputed – avant-garde practitioners knowing-the-rules-just-to-break-them to bands creating bold genre flavours you’ve never tasted before, and to kids asking: “what if we just fuck around and find out?”

United only by a sense of adventure, these releases have brought me endless joy in pursuit of the abnormal, and my goal will always be for you, intrigued reader, to join me on the ride.

And in my opinion, experimental, avant-garde, and weird music matters more in 2025 than ever before. The world is in a very dark place; the crucial expressions of marginalised groups are being suppressed more and more. Meanwhile, the music industry is in a dire state, and artists that boldly step away from the homogenous monoculture of the mainstream are struggling more and more and more, to earn a living from their art. It doesn’t feel beyond the realms of possibility that in our lifetimes the framework for the music we love so desperately could vanish altogether.

So it’s the least I can do, really. With this column I want to champion stories from the fringes and platform music from the margins. Shine some light on some truly crucial voices, amplify worldwide talents you need to hear to believe, and champion those who dare to tread where most wouldn’t.

Without further ado, to catch you up on the weird, wild and way-out music so far in the first couple of months of the year, this is The Drift.