Can you recommend contemporary music artists without lyrics?
Can you recommend contemporary music artists without lyrics?
Keyword artist , or band/group name. I'm not looking for a genre, I want to search artists. Tell me about someone you like listening to.
Would appreciate if it's Not symphonic/orchestral movie/videogame OST. I know there is a lot of really good music in this category but I'm trying to avoid recommendations like Hans Zimmerman or Jeremy Soule or Enya etc., since they are either really well known or fall into the orchestral and/or "epic music score" I'm not looking for.
It's OK if some tracks have vocals or even some lyrics/voice samples but I prefer to keep them at a minimum.
Any suggestions? TIA
I don't think all these are contemporary but as someone who loves post rock and instrumental music here are some artists that make it into my playlist pretty regularly. Hope this is helpful! The ones near the top I probably listen to more regularly right now but it tends to rotate.
- Sleepmakeswaves
- We Lost the Sea
- Explosions in the Sky
- Codes in the Clouds
- Ef
- Russian Circles
- Collapse Under the Empire
- Mogwai
- Secret Gardens
- Red Sparowes
- Moonlit Sailor
- Maybeshewill
- 65daysofstatic
- Caspian
- Sleep Dealer
- If These Trees Could Talk
- Balmorhea
- God is an Astronaut
- The Evpatoria Report
- Sigur Ros
- False Horizon
- This Will Destroy You
- pg.lost
- There's A Light
- Oh Hiroshima
- Tides from Nebula
EDIT: got around to checking my library and have a few more.
- Distant Dream
- Saor
- Those Who Ride With Giants
- For Giants
- U1327
- The Best Pessimist
- Saxon Shore
- Dorena
- The End of the Ocean
- Random Forest
- Joy Wants Eternity
- Paint the Sky Red
- Eldamar
- we.own.the.sky
- Eleventh Vibration
- Shadow of Io
- Jake Eves
- The Last Sighs of the Wind
In hindsight I don't know if a giant list is the most useful thing but it's here if you want it.
Ratatat
Tycho, UTAH, Attom, lots more in my instrumental playlist. These are mostly chilled or electronic type genre songs, but I also have a "djentstrumental" playlist if that's your jam, with artists like For Giants, Andromida, Returning We Hear the Larks (a personal favorite), and more.
A lot of post-rock bands might be good for you. Usually atmospheric/instrumental music played with typical rock instruments and little to no vocals.
Some of my favorites are Explosions in the Sky, Mogwai, El Ten Eleven, and Sigur Rós.
(although Sigur Rós technically features vocals but it’s a language of nonsense sounds the lead singer Jónsi made up called Hopelandic, so it’s instrumental-voice I guess??)
Definitely check out Khruangbin! Great music, very few vocals. They are awesome live and recorded. Hope you enjoy.
Post rock post rock post rock post rock
Explosions in the Sky
Mogwai
Sigur Ros
The Album Leaf
This Will Destroy You
try these on for size and see if the genre takes you like it took me. I tried to include some stuff that is more traditional rock in form and instrumentation and some that is a bit more experimental in that regard.
Apocalyptica. Metal on the cello. They sometimes have s guest vocalist. I like their self-titled album.
Phamie Gow. Pianist and harpist. Maybe too orchestral. I turn to the Beyond the Milky Way album oftenwhen working out studying.
Mary Lattimore. Experimental harpist. I've been enjoying her latest album, West Kensington, with guitarist Paul Sukeena.
Kelly Moran. Experimental pianist Can't recommend her album Ultraviolet enough.
Burial. For some chilled, glitchy dubstep.
The Comet is Coming. For some psych jazz.
Moderat. For some house electronica.
Uboa. For some droney, noisy, doomy metal.
George Clanton. For some synthpop vapourwave. His latest album is great.
In no particular order:
Ryuichi Sakamoto (particularly Async, and his albums with Alva Noto)
Aphex Twin
Apparat (though he does also feat singers on some albums)
Four Tet
Squarepusher
Ørdrop Wolkenscheidt
MGMT
Sevish
Matt Elliott (very few sung bits)
Paco de Lucía
Guilhem Desq
Jordi Savall
Ledetraad
Bremer & McCoy
Athletic Progression
Psykovsky
Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Kettel
Secede
R mccarthy
Sungazer
999999999
Susumu Yokota
Caravan Palace
These do fall into the vg category but it's more edm / retro than "epic orchestral":
Scattle
Chris Christodoulou
Toby Fox
The Toxic Avenger
Jake Kaufman
The term for this would be 'instrumental', which I only mention because it might help you find what you want. If you search streaming platforms for '[some genre] instrumental' it might turn up a playlist.
Here's some favourite albums of mine, which are 'ambient' so you might find them terribly boring, but they certainly are instrumental:
- 1 2 3 - Pole
- And Their Refinement of the Decline - Stars of the Lid
- Plume - Loscil
- The Sound of Lights When Dim - Slow Dancing Society
I listen to Ghost Data and Porter Robinson lots. Both are electronic music, but I like them more than Zedd or Madeon because they sound more unique.
Ghost Data's chord progressions are unique but repetitive (I don't know many other artists that have a chord progression or vocal idea like that of "Queen of Knives", so it's unique, but the main chord progression of "Queen of Knives" doesn't change all that much throughout the song, so it's repetitive). I like that there's sonic variety while exploring singular ideas fully, like how the main melody of "Thy Flesh Undone" repeats through different instrumentations.
Porter Robinson stuff is pretty great because it sounds more emotional than most EDM I hear. It can sometimes have words, sometimes not. The Worlds album is more of an ambient and emotional/inspiring twist on EDM; specifically I'm thinking of "Goodbye to a World" and "Lionhearted" as uniquely happy songs.
I give an honorary mention to "Antirrhinum" by MALO because its rhythms are pretty cool and confused me a lot at first. It was entertaining trying to figure them out.
miles davis esp like bitches brew type era
Polyphia, Casiopea (Mint Jams album)
I'm a metal head, so these will be in a similar vein, though there is techno and more relaxed stuff at the end. Might add links if I remember later:
Chon, Animals as leaders, Polyphia, Plini, Syncatto, Intervals, Meganeko, Broke For Free
Joe Satriani, Jeff Beck, Keith Jarrett.
A few I can think of while going through my music library:
- Ochre
- Makeup And Vanity Set
- Blanck Mass
- Carpenter Brut
- Danger
- Magic Sword
- Ratatat
- MASTER BOOT RECORD
Their capitalization, not mine :)
Some are relaxing and others are loud and fast.
The Omnific
Polyphia
Is Rock okay? If so: And So I Watch You From Afar
And so I watch you from afar
Toe
Com Truise
Badbadnotgood
If These Trees Could Talk. Polyphia. Those are two I like quite a bit. Explosions In the Sky. This Will Destroy You.
Guts Pie Earshot are one of my favorite bands - just Cello & Drums (except in their first years), for example Butterfly
The Comet Is Coming - for some psychedelic/jazz/rock, Tiny Desk Concert
Space Rock - An Interstellar Traveller's Guide is one of my favorite compilation albums (so not really an artist but a bunch of artists)
Some more space rock: Yuri Gagarin
Die Wilde Jagd have some lyrics, but also many instrumental tracks, like Austerlitz.
When it comes to techno, there is obviously a lot of choice, I like e.g. Ellen Alien Lism for a more ambient vibe
I saw you said you like some electronic music, so I'll throw in Prefuse 73 (or really, any of Scott Heren's pseudonyms) and Infected Mushroom. Prefuse 73 has some voice samples but is largely electronic/trip-hop, while Infected Mushroom has a decent split between songs with lyrics and songs without, so I recommend just grabbing an album and picking out what works for you.
If you like proggy stuff I'd definitely check out Arch Echo, they're incredible. If you like acoustic stuff then Rodrigo y Gabriela are also a great listen, and so is Kaki King (though I mostly only know her older stuff)
The American Dollar
Ever check out some jam bands? They all have vocals but stretch the music out in interesting ways.
moe, Umphrey’s McGee, Aqueous, Phish, etc
Onward & Upward (22:48) • Umphrey's McGee • 2017-07-23 • CEFCU Center Stage at The Landing, Peoria, Illinois https://relisten.net/umphreys/2017/07/23/onward-upward?source=67144
If the reason you want something without lyrics is so that you can focus on other stuff, you could consider songs in other languages. There's so much content out there to explore, and you might be able to find stuff in a genre that you already enjoy. I don't find it distracting, and it's fun finding new artists I otherwise would have never tried.
When I want pure instrumental, I usually go "instrumental {{genre}}" and just save the playlists.
Los Bitchos
Sure, just Odesza we were young Two feet just felt like playing the guitar and not singing Odesza kusangi Odesza koto Brock Berrigan Making Up (70s inspired music) Hippie Sabotage enlightened energy Hippie Sabotage smoke room Hippie Sabotage drifter
Not everyonea cup of tea, alternative/edm but yes let me know your thoughts
Little People
Rival ConsolesPolyphia is a pretty incredible instrumental band.
Opiuo, Ott and Griz are probably my favorites.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJj_4ir12-w
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cjxNU0S17g
Carpenter Brut. Though I only really listen to the trilogy from them.
Check out DJ Ugly Katz!
Disclaimer: That's one of my own projects...
stuff i've been listening to lately:
- andy stott
- gas
- forest swords
- boards of canada
- tortoise
Rival Consoles
If you like guitar, Tom Anello.
Khruangbin
HOME, the anthem of speedrunning is by them too.
Check out ENV -- Some of my favorite lyric-less music. There are a couple of playlists on YouTube with their albums. Firefrost is a good song to start with.
GoGo Penguin is a jazzy trio from the UK that makes midern jazz that is really engaging. I'm really a progmetalhead, but this band is ficking epic.
Bersarin Quartett is another band that I love. It's is a bit tough to get into, but it's really rewarding if you like slowish dreamy complex music. All song titles are in German, but luckily there's no lyrics.
Listened to these two albums today, both fantastic
https://youtu.be/5w6_D-jrt6s
https://youtu.be/2GhWimO54YEMarconi Union, Mord Fustang, Caravan Palace, Pkch, Siriusmo, Jacob Mann Big Band, Shubh Saran.
That should get you a wide variety.
Covet, Chon, Scale the Summit, Caspian, Mouse on the keys, God is an astronaut, Weekend Plans, DJ Williams projekt
I've been listening to a lot of music that is featured on the NPR shows Hearts of Space and Echos, which i highly recommend. The following artists/bands are of that type, instrumental, chill, "slow music for fast times", and all are available on Bandcamp.
Hollan Holmes
Kiasmos
Lars Leonhard
Michael Stearns
Röyksopp
Tauk
Feint, Matt Large, and especially Gregory David are awesome.
Additionally, Bernth is really cool if you like guitar.
Snarky Puppy! Bill Lawrence's solo work is also good
City of the Sun is some fantastic Latin-inspired instrumental post-rock. (That’s probably drivel, idk what genre they are).
Their cover of Young Folks is how I found them, but their self-titled album from 2020 is probably one of my favorites of the last several years. It’s a good balance of calming serenades and powerful melodies.
Hon. mention - The Samuel Jackson Five - Easily Misunderstood is another old favorite of mine. Angrier and edgier, but still haunting in its own way.
The Beastie Boys also have a couple fantastic instrumental jam albums - The In Sound From Way Out, and The Mix-Up.
I guess you might like ambient music. It's a huge genre, but since you have start somewhere https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJFai85mu8M&list=OLAK5uy_kK7tukxLd8mVVTU1LdBAqIuDQIIalolvU (he died 5 days ago btw, may he RIP)
Helios - Caesura and Ochre - Lemodie for electronic music. Jizue - Bookshelf and Mouse on the Keys - An Anxious Object for jazz. Auxcide - of Atoms and Stardust for chiptune. Kplecraft - L 012 for both chiptune And jazz. Flying Saucer Attack - Distant Station for space rock. Dedalus - Dedalus.
Chapelier Fou, but kinda went into a "symphonic direction" over the years I guess, but maybe you still like the older stuff? My personal favorite.
Nils Frahm, his albums are quite different from each other; here are some I like in no particular order:
Elephant Sessions, Kan, Peatbog Faeries, Monster Ceilidh Band, Flook. Peatbog Faeries have a new album out now that's great, but it is their first album with some vocal samples (not with many words though). All Celtic fusion bands to a greater or lesser degree.
Chief Kaya, Benzmixer, Automhate, Versa, Badphaze, Akirah, Ternion Sound, Spass, Aweminus
Detektivbyron
Its Swedish folk music with some electronica.
I only have the Hemvagen EP, and I really like half of songs, with the title track being my favorite. I think the E18 album contains all of the same songs and more.
They were partly inspired by Yann Tiersen who I also really like. Perhaps you've heard the Amelie soundtrack. If not, it's excellent.
I like everything black sky giant has done. And just look at this sweet album cover: https://blackskygiant.bandcamp.com/album/planet-terror
(The opening track has some light vocal samples, but there's no lyrics or vocal parts in their stuff generally)
Edit: you can also click on the "instrumental" tag on that page and go exploring.
I've been enjoying Los Bitchos
I'd recommend Solo by RiveR idk about the rest of their songs though I've only listened to Solo.
Deadhorse! (We Can Create Our Own World specifically, they might have lyrics in other albums, can't confirm)
DJ Krush for some instrumental hip hop/trip hop.
The French 79 has some lyrics but is primarily electronic melodies
Lindsey Stirling? Not sure if this is up your alley, but, her music is pretty great.
Also, Two Cellos, and the Piano guys.
Its, not classical. It's all instrumental music, no singing.
Lindsey Stirling: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHjpOzsQ9YI
Two Cellos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uT3SBzmDxGk
Oh, and as a bonus- more of their songs then not, are pretty damn good. I can listen to them non-stop through an entire workday.
The Flying Luttenbachers
When I'm working, I listen to Lydian Collective and Tennyson (some of his tracks don't have vocals). You might enjoy them as well!
I like listening to foreign language music when I don't want to be distracted by vocals.
A few more for you that I don't think I've seen mentioned: Kalaido Tycho Worakls The Cinematic Orchestra
Jade Cicada, Tipper, Spoonbill.
I like Monster Rally a lot, they use a bunch of old tropical sounding music samples and put beats on it. Very good for relaxing and vibing.
Well, I happen to quite like upbeat, 8-bit-style music, but here's concrete artists nonetheless:
Permanently Deleted
I like to listen to the genres Synthwave and Dark Ambiance. Spotify is pretty good to find new music in that regard. Since you asked for artist recommendations and not genres:
Judge Bitch – their Album Horse Blood is pretty good.
Perturbator – sounds like you're driving on some rainy highway at night to your cyberpunk destination
There's also Instrumental Nu Metal, for example:
Andromeda – start with their song Synthesis
MASTER BOOT RECORD – it's just riffs and booms, usually no vocals
A. Yarmak – has some nice metal remixes, for example Hydrogen from the game Hotline Miami
Then there's Dubstep and Breakbeat, for example:
The Prodigy – uses samples heavily, but also has a few tracks without spoken words
Lindsey Stirling – Dubstep and violin, interesting combination.
videogame OST […] either really well known or fall into the orchestral and/or “epic music score” I’m not looking for
Well, there are tons of videogames and many of them don't have an orchestral/epic soundtrack, and even more of them are not very well known. I think you're limiting yourself here.
Peter Gundry, Adrian von Ziegler
Adam Young, the guy behind Owl City has made albums under different names, including his own. One of the bands is Port Blue; he made an almost purely instrumental (only vocals are the first few seconds of the second track) album called The Airship. It feels rather experimental, but I use it to calm down. The other works are under his own name: Apollo 11, Project Excelsior, and Voyager 1.
All are well made and they tell a story through the instrumental music. Would recommend.
If I'm looking to maximize my relaxation, then it's hard to go wrong with Sleepy Fish. Chill beats all the way.
If you want acoustic guitar playing that you probably never experienced before, then check out Alan Gogoll. Love his stuff. Always nice to listen to. His song Mulberry Mouse is a favorite of mine.
Aether also has a few instrumental albums. Eshajori is a very melancholic feeling album. Gives me a lonely, empty feeling, but I love it all the same.
In a completely different direction, but you could check out The Glitch Mob. Definitely electronic, but I wouldn't say EDM.
That's all I have on my phone at the moment. Hopefully these are good starts.
vexento
Shai Maestro Trio.
Haven't been listening to him lately, but Estas Tonne.
Big Smoke Brass is really fun if you like kinda upbeat acoustic instrumental music
La Femme has some amazing non-vocal music (altho a good portion has French/Spanish vocals)
If u like Jazz, check out the album The Bright Mississippi
Guillaume David knocks it out of the park with every game they OST.
Check out John Matthias & Jay Auborn’s album Ghost Notes it’s really great.