specific artists

If you ever get the chance, pick up their releases "Domkirke" or "Oracle"

They very much focus on the "sonic ritual" aspect of live music.

fennesz jumps to the top of my head ... and ... i do what i can :) ... my albums are all freely available at my website - http://www.nintariman.com/

SHPONGLE

Ah, Simeon! I was fortunate enough to be introduced to Silver Apples in 1998 or so - live - chapel hill, last Polvo show. Sick, sick live drummer. So, so good.

I know that music nowadays for the most part is overloaded with materialistic bullsh*t. I have been recording music for my entire life, starting in a family band when I was 4. You can listen to some of my music at:

myspace.com/nickgee667

Really the first song on there "Mad World" is the first one I've recorded since I began my path to ascension. More songs are coming though, and hopefully fast.

Here is a big one that deserves attention: Tool. Especially their three most recent albums, Aenima, Lateralus, and 10,000 Days. The album covers of Lateralus and 10,000 Days feature artwork by Alex Grey, and the videos for the songs Vicarious and Parabola are quite literally Alex Grey's artwork in motion. I know Tool's music is a bit heavier at times, but this should not deter you, for the music and lyrics are extremely powerful and deep. If anyone has already been touched by Tool's music please go to alexgrey.com and donate to the cosM art sanctuary where a Tool shrine is planned to be constructed.

Another band that creates visionary music is Isis. I must warn that this one may take some getting used to due to their intense vocals (this is a pretty heavy band). Their latest album Wavering Radiant is by far their finest work in my opinion.

Perhaps some of you might like what I've been doing with music: http://www.myspace.com/joeldavidpalmer

Joel David Palmer
Editor, Writer, Mediator, Agricultural Engineer, Musician

I think all music is visionary.
One must have an idea (a "vision") and then procede to create it. Sometimes the visions come along with the creation. I mean all art can be visionary. Is Michelangelo not visionary? Is Mozart not visionary? Do you know Mozart had a fantasy kingdom in his mind he could travel to whenever he wanted? He talks about it in his diaries and letters. Maybe you want to call this group, new age hipster music?
Maybe you are looking for music that is not the norm? Something different?
If you want something a little less western, anyone ever listen to music of Bali? They play a style called Gamalan which can be found all along the eastern coast of asia. It is a ritual involving dance, music, singing and art. They play metal xylophone like instruments with golden hammers. Every note they play is a dancemove. Youtube it, pretty "visionary" stuff.
Ever hear of Tuvan or Mongolian throat singing?
This is cliche but I love Indian classical and some pop. Indian Classical is inseperable from spirituality, the entire purpose of creating music is for the spirit.
Someone has also mentioned to me but I haven't checked it out. Turkish and Arabic classical music. Apparently their tone systems are meant to bring on very strong euphoria. Similar to India their music is spiritual in intent but apparently even more advanced in some respects to Indian.
Hungarian rythm? Eastern Europe has some of the most varied and interestingly eclectic cultures in the world.
There are tons of different drumming and melodic cultures from Africa. Check out the Bwiti tribe's music, that tribe that takes Iboga, very beautiful music. Ever see the documentary of Bela Fleck going to africa to find the original banjo? Tons of unheard cultures in Africa. A pandora's box.
I mean you guys mention Moon Dog but he is only a tiny little part of the insanity that is "classical" American music that has been going on for the past 100+ years. Charles Ives? Harry Partch? Bang on a Can? Phillip Glass? Steve Reich? John Adams? Terry Riley? Lamonte Young? All of those guys can blow your mind if you let them and do just a little study on who they are. There is this huge academic "underground" world surviving through colleges that is pushing the envelope of what art is way past what many people will accept as music. John Cage? Fluxus? Henry Cowell? I mean that's just stuff I studied a tiny bit in school.
You could then get into jazz. Sun Ra anyone? Rasaahn Roland Kirk? John Coltrane? Monk? Chicago Art Ensemble?
Nobody has mentioned Squarepusher. His latest album he has written on his website a very detailed description of his "vision" that he had that inspired the album.
There are SO MANY different cultures in this world. SO MANY different visions!

Not sure if anyone has mentioned them yet. They have been playing since the late 70's and took on new technology along the way. Mostly instrumental, they go far into non western modalities while infusing their music with very cerebral electronic land scapes. They are one of those bands that seems to get better and better, after about 30 years of playing together, they are simply phenomenal. They have a dedicated live following in GB where they are from, but seems like not many Americans are informed yet of their existence. It is a shame, since live electronic music is getting big here, and much of it, although good and conducive to visionary states, is a bit shallow. I love STS9 but they sometimes seem like a graphic design concept, fans tend to seem very concerned with the hipness of it all, such is any scene I suppose. But listen to Ozric Tentacles and you can tell that there is much more of a deep appreciation for the power of sound to transport, beyond any desire to create a trendy sound. I could be wrong though, since I have never met them.

I didn't write this. I wouldn't write this. It was written by a friend of mine who is a music and literature student, and much more cynical about life than I. That said, you may find this blurb rather pessimistic, especially when she questions whether the cerebral qualities of IDM are part of a mind/body fracture. I think the word fracture is putting it a little harsh. Regardless, this touches slightly on what I was just writing about the brain over body, geeky, quality to what I would consider visionary music. The reason it is just a blurb is that her teacher rejected it as a topic she could write about. Anyways...

"I wish you could talk" -Caitlin Turner

If rave culture and all of its trappings (“huggy demonstrativeness”, in Simon Reynolds’ words) primarily concerns itself with the body, then Intelligent Dance Music (IDM) must be all about the mind, man. IDM, which developed during the dance music diaspora of the late 1990’s, remains a controversial label in the nomenclature of electronica. How, after all, are we to reconcile such an “un-danceable” genre of music within a spectrum of sound so overly concerned with its effects upon the body? This paper seeks to accomplish that task through an exploration and analysis of four questions, with the first being: The theoretical shift within IDM’s structure and sound suggests that a different type of artistry takes place in Squarepusher’s studio than in Paul Oakenfold’s— Does IDM celebrate the body of the artist above the body of the audience? Secondly, how does the relationship between substance use/abuse and electronic music relate to IDM specifically? The word “dissociative” describes both a type of recreational chemical and a mental state of being—did the shift from E to Acid to Ketamine usher in the mind/body fracture inherent to IDM? Thirdly, how does bodily interaction within musical space and physical place affect the relationship between what one hears and what one feels? The pleasure one finds in hallucinatory disconnection and disembodiment while plugged into headphones listening to Four Tet at the computer differs greatly from the pleasure one finds while interacting with a thousand sweaty bodies at a rave. Finally, Is IDM’s growing popularity a decade after its conception simply symptomatic of a larger cultural fracture between the body and mind, between intellectual identity and temporal existence? IDM can be compared to be-bop or progressive rock in the way it polarizes audiences—“shut up and dance” becomes “shut up and dream”.

That being said, here's what I've been listening to -- a couple of "labels" that are doing important things.

Sublime Frequencies
- produces music and film, short wave, field, and radio recordings of Asia, Africa, and the middle east
http://www.myspace.com/sublimefrequencies2

Gandhara Recordings
- I'm actually involved with this artist co-op (check out Broken Deer). They release music on handmade, sustainable materials, and the emphasis is on spontaneous, strange, beautiful sounds
http://www.myspace.com/gandhararecordings