Avant-pop refers to music that employs conventional pop idioms - such as engaging melodies and harmonies and accessible hooks - and changes things up by putting an exotic, unpredictable spin on things. This can be accomplished through the addition of unexpected and unconventional instrumentation, tape effects and electronics, unusual song structures, studio trickery, stylistic curveballs, or any other wacky innovation an artist can dream up. When done right, this approach creates a pleasing and exciting tension between the catchy and the dissonant, between the familiar and the strange.

The first real instances of avant-pop can probably be found in the Beatles and the Beach Boys' warring experimental opuses of the late 1960s. Brian Eno and David Bowie's mid 1970s albums could also fall into this category. More contemporary examples include Björk, Radiohead, Beck, Animal Collective, Gang Gang Dance, Battles, Cornelius, Time of Orchids, Ava Luna, Dirty Projectors, Deerhoof and Chairlift.