[gardano]

Take a gander at (classical Indian) Raga. It's not harmonic-centered, but it's incredibly complex.

[arjunbanker]

If you like electronic music and are interested in exploring the raga form, would recommend checking Charanjit Singh's 1982 album "Synthesizing: Ten Ragas to a Disco Beat" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sB4RYBpwV0A)

[kefka]

Glad you mentioned this.. All I can say is Damn, that's awesome. I didn't realize some types of progressions and styles were Raga.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wra4p4zARw

[gardano]

I remember the story my composition teacher told…

He was at a raga concert, and admitted to feeling totally lost. As the piece progressed, about 30 minutes into the performance, everybody in the audience sighed a breath of satisfaction, and nodded and smiled to each other when the cycles had reached conclusion.

At that moment he realised that there was so much more to music than he realised, and that the audience was much more capable of concentration, too.

[visarga]

Yes, but can the same be said about cheap popular music?

[gardano]

That's a good question. In most cases, no.

I'd counter that Sidney Bechet or Muddy Waters 12-bar blues can be sophisticated without being complex