Most bands can’t even stick around for ten years, much less niche music festivals. Yet, the Sonic Circuits Festival of Experimental Music is back for its tenth year and still drawing renowned acts from places like Italy, Japan and Austria as well as from right here in D.C. “Experimental music” is such a loose, wide-reaching term that can encompass anything from jazz improv to hissing screeching electronica and often anything in between. There may be audience participation, there may be unlikely musical instruments and toys and there will almost certainly be a need for earplugs for at least one act per night.

Parsing through forty-two acts that pride themselves on pushing the aural envelope can be a rough undertaking, so DCist contributor Catherine McCarthy and I have done the heavy lifting. Below you can find our picks for each night of the festival, as well as a brief description of each act. That way, if “no-jazz meets punk rock” sounds more palatable and interesting than “turntable abuse,” (or vice versa) you’ll know which venues to hit and which to avoid.