This is always a difficult list to compile because the word “experimental” so often means music that is difficult to categorize. Or difficult to describe. Or just difficult. But these are some of our favorite unfamiliar, unsettling, provocative, transgressive, spaced-out, psychedelic, surreal, meditative, confrontational, and, sure, difficult albums of the year. This is just a tiny fraction of all the musique concrète, neo-classical, avant-garde, and ambient jazz music that was put out this year. And hopefully, this can be a launching pad to discover artists that didn’t quite fit on this list, or anywhere else for that matter.
Listen to selections from this list on our Spotify playlist and Apple Music playlist.
Check out all of Pitchfork’s 2023 wrap-up coverage here.
(All releases featured here are independently selected by our editors. When you buy something through our retail links, however, Pitchfork may earn an affiliate commission.)