Prog V3.0 Discussion Thread

I heard English Electric Part 1 when it came out and was appaled at the brass balls nerve they had, lifting big chunks of Genesis songs and tweaking them slightly while the vocalist sings a Wikipedia page over the top, then it grew on me and I really started to like it.

i sorta felt the same way about the second Feelies album and the Velvet Underground (and Pavement and the Fall (and Interpol and Joy Division)) but i got over that. for sure there's a major cheesiness to some Big Big Train songs which can be a huge turnoff but when they're on they do legit neo-Genesis better than Elbow does

This new Regal Worm record sounds pretty great on first listen.

https://regalworm.bandcamp.com/

ex-member posts here on the reg too.

― MaresNest, Friday, 27 July 2018 19:29 (one week ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

;)

Oh, do you think I'm referring to myself LJ? Goodness no! I fucking WISH I was in Guapo circa 2000.

"I really quite liked the Big Big Train record from a couple of years back, but I was totally amazed at the very blatant, wholesale lifting of certain very well known themes by Genesis and nobody in the press or on the net called it, which I thought was weird/interesting."

I can't get into a single thing this band has done. like flower kings before them. it just sounds generic and dull to me.

also their name is dumb

I tried to get into Big Big Train a while back but the albums I got were their earlier ones before they'd really gotten hyped up. What's a good starting point, or should I just not bother?

Flower Kings are another group I tried to get into...I mean, they sounded like a dream come true, with double-disc albums every year, tons of epics, and a bunch of musicians whose names I recognized even without knowing the band. And then I heard 'em, and...yeah. I actually think they do okay when they go more pop, but when it comes to the proggier stuff they write themselves into corners over and over again. And that voice! Christ. I had one called "Stardust We Are" that was kinda nice. It's 2 hours long.

for me all of these bands fall down when the compositions aren't interesting enough. Porcupine Tree was great because Wilson is an excellent songwriter. It's not enough to follow prog templates if you can't write an interesting melody or aren't doing something really interesting and experimental.

What's a good starting point

my favorite three are grimspound, folklore, and the second brightest star. all way better than anything i've heard by flower kings (even roine's album with jon anderson), on par with vintage kaipa

yea that's the long and short of it. FKs definitely have a few memorable tunes but they usually tend to be the more novelty-oriented stuff that draws from "Harold the Barrel" or "Benny the Bouncer". BBT on the other hand, I listened to the one album I've got nearly a dozen times and I remember like, two small vocal melodies. it was Gathering Speed, dunno how representative that is of their other work. I assume they got better.

those three i listed are all new-ish

alright I'll check 'em out. some people are absolutely nuts about the band so I figure I owe it another try

the only bands like that I really have time for are Glass Hammer and The Tangent. GH is the first "Christian prog" group I've ever heard of, which is actually kind of neat since they take a lot of influence from church music and the like. They definitely try to make their music sound as "big" as possible which is neat. The Tangent have a lot of the same issues as the FKs (Roine Stolt was a member for a while) but I think Tillison is a much more interesting songwriter. plus his lyrics are way better.

i've never taken to the tangent but i haven't heard much, either. there are moments in glass hammer as good as classic yes imho. also don't wanna overhype big big train; if you dig the strawbs' vibe you might hear something in them too

the only bands like that I really have time for are Glass Hammer and The Tangent. GH is the first "Christian prog" group I've ever heard of, which is actually kind of neat since they take a lot of influence from church music and the like. They definitely try to make their music sound as "big" as possible which is neat. The Tangent have a lot of the same issues as the FKs (Roine Stolt was a member for a while) but I think Tillison is a much more interesting songwriter. plus his lyrics are way better.

― frogbs

wait you've heard of glass hammer but not, like, kansas?

was gonna say yes but it turns out I was thinking of Camel

I do have one Kansas album though.

I need to get Frost's third album someday. I thought they might have more so I'm slightly relieved.

you should, it rules. the opening track has a pretty unique reference point - "Synchronicity I" by the Police. really wish there were more bands like that out there.

Have just discovered Major Parkinson. Based on their latest album, wow

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvMPkt_ZFss

^^^Ten-minute song called Baseball that can fairly be described as early Cardiacs and Sleepytime Gorilla Museum fighting over who gets to cosplay Muse

i don't know that i've ever heard muse but i do like it!

grohl grows up?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=e05H80-k0mY

https://www.loudersound.com/news/voivod-the-wake-is-one-of-the-most-intricate-albums-weve-ever-done

“It’s definitely one of the most intricate albums we’ve done. The songs are pretty long, very complicated and have lots of prog rock moments and a bit of psychedelia. Of course the punk/thrash metal signature is still there."

y'all the new bubu record is the bomb, and i don't even really _like_ the first bubu record

https://bubuprog.bandcamp.com/album/bubu

I had a fear the EP Bubu released was ghoing to be some kind of anomaly, really pleased they have a new one out. I do like their first album too though!

It took me years to get into Voivod and still haven't heard anything they've done after '97 but this new one sounds cool

folks,

folks,

it's nearly Thumpermonkey time

https://thumpermonkey.bandcamp.com/album/make-me-young-etc

dauntingly kickass opening track previewing

look, it has a video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4GKEoaq6ig

nice. friday neo-canterburyexpialodocious

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKOjOqbHpY4

i was wondering to myself when the new guerilla toss record was coming out. turns out it's today! i liked "gt ultra" but i think they've hit a new high on this one.

another Glass Hammer album coming soon, this time focusing on a time traveler who started a prog band in the 80's and tried to go back to the golden age of prog, a de-facto sequel to their 2000 record Chronomotree. gotta say that concept is quite fitting for a band like this.

the time traveler himself appears to have materialized

http://www.progressiveears.org/forum/showthread.php/22697-Glass-Hammer-Chronomonaut-Tapes-Tom-is-back-or-at-least-he-was

good call on that bubu album. i had no clue. new guerilla toss slays. magic is easy indeed. the edge of the ice cube . . .

new Vennart album worth a mention here too

Seen a poster for a band called Free Salamander Exhibit. Was intrigued by the "rock in opposition" tag.

Sounds quite funny.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wo4mftLYgHo
Some of the other tracks have metal in them.

I think they're a band made up of former Sleepytime Gorilla Museum members - a band worth checking out if you haven't

yeah, free salamander exhibit is nils' new(ish) "metal" band. i saw them on a triple bill earlier this year with faun fables and cheer-accident. they're pretty good, of course a fine live show, really into the druid thing, but i don't know, they don't grab me the way sgm did. lately i'm definitely more into faun fables.

this is dope (note: not the vintage british band)

https://thedruidofficial.bandcamp.com/album/the-seven-scrolls

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxzLU7UvkrE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZm2QIIo-JE

bob drake has a new one !!!

https://bobdrake.bandcamp.com/album/lisola-dei-lupi

Anyone a fan of Beardfish? Overlooked these dudes the first three or four times but I'm listening to Destined Solitaire right now and it's pretty much everything I want out of a 'retro' prog record. Their lead singer is charismatic and actually quite funny which is quite rare in this genre. Great voice too.

Let's shout out Sterbus on this thread too - https://sterbus.bandcamp.com/ new record is rather lovely guitarry Prog Pop

:)

i'm waiting for the Thumpermonkey to come out properly so I can advertise its title track to all ILX's progheads - some of the best prog of this century so far

I'm currently in the process of selling off a mega CD collection for someone on Ebay, large amounts of which is contemporary prog. It's been an eye-opener! Here's the prog-related acts I've encountered to date I'd never even heard of, there are massive worlds of this stuff filled with people like Billy Sherwood and Christian Bruin who release uncountable numbers of records:

Believe – Brasse – Blind Owl – Cliffhanger – Canamii – Casino – Cosmograf - Comedy Of Errors - Combination Head – Chris - Alex Carpani – Cairo – Collage - Different Trains – Discus – Edith - Egdon Heath – Fonya - Fatal Fusion - Final Conflict - Fission Trip - For Absent Friends – Galleon – Jeremy - A.C.T. - Ad Infinitum - Adventure - Alpha III - Ancient Vision – Aragon – Ayreon – Circa – Conception – Cyan - Cryptic Vision - Crystal Maze - Different Light - Echo Park - Dr Coenobite – Karfagen – Maestoso - Steve Adams - Lands End – Legend - Shadow Merchant – Phaesis – Overdrive – Abraxas – Arion – Atlantis - Chimpan A - Jack Foster III – Harvest - The Winter Tree - Nice Beaver – Eurhybia – Fields - Sean Filkins - Flamborough Head – Glacier – Jupiter - K2 – Morild – Tunefish – Wyzards - Leap Day - Solar Project - Tempus Fugit - This Oceanic Feeling – Synesthesia - Sky Architect - Perona Non Grata - Persephone's Dream – Darling – Silhouette – Satellite - Unbroken Spirit - Tea For The Wicked - Nad Sylvan – Shakary – Tantalus - Moria Falls - Josh & Co Limited – Sahara - Ergo Sum - Dave Bainbridge - Cloud Atlas – Cavalli / Cocchi / Lanzetti / Roversi – Darius - Tea In The Sahara - Fabio Liberatori - Alfonso Vidales – Octopehra - Violeta De Outone - Seasons Of Time - Light Damage - Fossil Evolution - Hasse Froberg - Red Sand – Eyesburg - Fish On Friday - Rikard Sjöblom - Tiger Moth Tales - The D Project

i like violeta de outono

most of the rest of it i've heard of isn't my cup of tea

frogbs, care to recommend a destined solitaire jam?

title track is pretty good. here's a live version - its great if you can get past the fact that they look and sound like Jack Black fronting a prog band

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

A good quarter of Tenacious D is kind of prog tbf

THE ASTEROID HAS LANDED

https://thumpermonkey.bandcamp.com/album/make-me-young-etc

The title-track is one of the most breathtaking prog compositions of the century so far in my extremely cool opinion

Oh I said that already. That must mean it's super-true

is the title-track as good as "woadscrivened"?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4goBiAGYyQ

thanks frogbs for that beardfish. super-dope. could care less what "good" musicians look like tbqh!

Woadscrivened was a stunner but this is even more ambitious imo