Artists like Jandek

Don Van Vliet, known by his stage name Captain Beefheart, was an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and visual artist. Conducting a rotating ensemble known as the Magic Band, he recorded 13 studio albums between 1967 and 1982. His music blended elements of blues, free jazz, rock, and avant-garde composition with idiosyncratic rhythms, absurdist wordplay, and Vliet's gravelly singing voice with a wide vocal range.

Angels of Light was an American neofolk band that was formed circa 1998 by singer-songwriter and musician Michael Gira after he disbanded Swans, the group he had founded in 1982. The band has marked a distinctly different style for Gira since he left Swans, most noticeably being musically more melodic and less brutal than his previous efforts and with emphasis on acoustic instruments and folk and country influences.

Timothy Charles Buckley III was an American musician. He began his career based in folk rock, but subsequently experimented with genres such as psychedelia, jazz, the avant-garde, and funk.

Jason Andrew Molina was an American musician, singer and songwriter. Raised in northern Ohio, he came to prominence performing and recording as Songs: Ohia, both in solo projects and with a rotating cast of musicians in the late 1990s. Beginning in 2003, he garnered a further indie following for his releases with the band Magnolia Electric Co.

Joseph Will Oldham is an American singer-songwriter and actor. From 1993 to 1997, he performed and recorded in collaboration with dozens of other musicians under variations of Palace. After briefly publishing music under his own name, in 1998 he adopted Bonnie "Prince" Billy as the name for most of his work.

Gary Wilson is an American experimental musician and performance artist best known for his 1977 album You Think You Really Know Me. Shortly after the release of the album, he promptly retired from recording and kept performing until 1983. He slowly gained a strong cult following during the 1980s and 1990s, and in the early 2000s became active again. As of 2025, he has released seventeen full-length albums.

Mount Eerie is the musical project of American songwriter and producer Phil Elverum. Elverum is the principal member of the band, but has collaborated with many other musicians on his records and in live performances. Most of Mount Eerie's releases have been issued on Elverum's label P.W. Elverum & Sun, Ltd., and feature highly detailed packaging with his own artwork.

Charles Arthur Russell Jr. was an American cellist, composer, producer, singer, and musician from Iowa, whose work spanned a disparate range of styles. After studying contemporary composition and Indian classical music in California, Russell relocated to New York City in the mid-1970s, where he became involved in Lower Manhattan's avant-garde community and later the city's burgeoning disco scene. His eclectic music was often marked by adventurous production choices and his soft tenor vocals.

The Shaggs were an American rock band formed in Fremont, New Hampshire, in 1965. They comprised the sisters Dorothy "Dot" Wiggin, Betty Wiggin, Helen Wiggin (drums) and, later, Rachel Wiggin. The Shaggs wrote seemingly simple and bizarre songs using untuned guitars, erratic rhythms, wandering melodies and rudimentary lyrics. Their only album, Philosophy of the World (1969), has been described as both among the worst of all time and as a work of unintentional brilliance.

Judith Lynne Sill was an American singer-songwriter and composer. She was influenced by Bach, and wrote lyrics drawing on Christian themes of rapture and redemption.

Six Organs of Admittance is the primary musical project of American guitarist Ben Chasny. Chasny's music is largely guitar-based and is often considered new folk; however, it includes obvious influences, marked by the use of drones, chimes, and eclectic percussive elements. He records albums for Drag City and Holy Mountain, among other labels.

Joseph Will Oldham is an American singer-songwriter and actor. From 1993 to 1997, he performed and recorded in collaboration with dozens of other musicians under variations of Palace. After briefly publishing music under his own name, in 1998 he adopted Bonnie "Prince" Billy as the name for most of his work.

Charles Milles Manson was an American criminal, cult leader, and musician who was the founder of the Manson Family. He gained notoriety for ordering the Tate–LaBianca murders, where his followers murdered nine people around Los Angeles in 1969.

Macfarlane Gregory Anthony Mackey, known professionally as Tony McKay and Exuma, was a Bahamian musician, artist, playwright, and author best known for his music that blends folk, rock, carnival, junkanoo, calypso, reggae, and African music stylings.

Richard Michael Dawson is an English progressive folk singer-songwriter from Newcastle upon Tyne. He writes narrative-based folk songs with experimental structures, and has received acclaim for his storytelling capabilities, emotional depth and sense of humour. Alongside his solo career, Dawson is also a member of the experimental pop band Hen Ogledd, and he has released electronic music under the name Eye Balls.