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Black midi are at it again
proggery abounds
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05-13-2022 03:30 PM
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Thanks Christian for digging up this thread and making me aware of Black Midi. I just got knocked sideways by this.
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Holy shit!
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A spot of dues paying - didn’t know they’d done this
Last edited by Christian Miller; 05-14-2022 at 05:38 AM.
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A friend introduced me to Jeff Wayne’s War Of The Worlds when I was 13 or 14. That got me into rock, and I think it’s fair to say prog adjacent at least. Anyway, it sounded terrific to this sci-fi nerd.
Three years later another friend got me into Rush via 2112. I remember a teacher at the time telling us we were daft for liking that pretentious shit and should instead listen to a good honest rock band like AC/DC. I was a Rush fan for years, but finally came around to his opinion.
Shared a flat with a friend who was into Floyd and Gabriel-era Genesis. I didn’t mind the Floyd (he mostly played Brick In The Wall) but couldn’t stand Genesis.
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Time for some Anna Meredith
from this and Black Midi I conclude that King Crimson have had the biggest influence on todays music of the prog bands. Completely scientific of course.
I’m probably repeating myself but i would say in the realm of people playing music and bands (such as it is these days) that prog is not the dirty word it was twenty or thirty years ago. I remember Radiohead were able to simultaneously claim that they were influenced by early Genesis and also that they didn’t like them (the mellotrons you see.) I’m not sure how much this was in good faith and how much it was trying to be cool but I do find it very funny and very very Radiohead.
lots of thing that used to be uncool - Fleetwood Mac, Dire straits, 80s Phil Collins drum sounds - have been rehabilitated. So why not prog? Does anyone even bother reading the music press now?
In fact I don’t think most musicians think of prog being a thing any more, they might just randomly encounter Gentle Giant or something on Spotify and they are naturally eclectic which points in that direction. So while they might not be writing songs about Greek mythology or taking 5m synth solos, but I would say the prog ethos is very much in place. In fact I’m half expecting a new punk backlash soon lol.Last edited by Christian Miller; 07-24-2022 at 04:11 AM.
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In other news my wife has randomly decided to check out the Floyd back catalogue for the first time which she is enjoying and I’m enjoying revisiting those records, haven’t listened to them for decades
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These days, my wife and I revisit on spotify Krautrock classics like old Anyone's Daughter, Eloy and Grobschnitt
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yeah, but we are cheerfully basic
Originally Posted by vinlander
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I was listening to Premiata Forneria Marconi some years before their current guitarist was born.
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There has always been a fondness for instrumental virtuosity whether in classical or jazz. It wasn’t so celebrated in the last few decades after punk and grunge and new wave had come and gone.
I find it in fairly non-prog places, like bluegrass. I heard Molly Tuttle recently and will be seeing Billy Strings. Billy is bluegrass to his bones, but he’s also jam- and prog-adjacent. And all the musicians who play with them are experts as well.
I am hoping to see Hiromi in San Francisco in September. She’s a young phenomenal piano player who studied with Chick Corea.
And there’s always Jon Scofield, Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks to carry the guitar hero tradition into the 2020’s.
I listen to new and old King Crimson, but truth be told I’m just not into the complex structures of “old school” prog these days. I listen to the newer prog groups and they just don’t catch my interest. Though arguably one could call artists like Radiohead and Wilco and Beck “prog”, but I prefer not to label eclectic artists like them.
The reason I think KC is so influential is their attitude of reckless experimentation. And yes instrumental virtuosity, but in the service of a certain sound.
My dream is that Fripp will reform KC with the most of the current lineup and Adrian Belew, and maybe even bring back Bruford for a few songs or shows. Maybe tour with Peter Gabriel. I can see that then die and go to heaven.
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I saw Hiromi’s Sonic Bloom at Glastonbury one year and it was total prog
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I mean, what about bloody Punch Brothers? I went to see them three years ago and it was the most ridiculous display of musicanship I’ve seen in my life. Originally Posted by Doctor Jeff
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Is this prog, or does prog require clean singing? The vocal chops are impressive IMO
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I'd lost track of Punch Brothers. Bad thing to do. Once again, thanks for posting that Christian.
Not my cuppa, but Meredith was worth checking out. Enya on speed (that was another track) LOL.Last edited by Peter C; 07-26-2022 at 06:50 AM.
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Unless Billy Strings is playing solo… Originally Posted by Christian Miller
Just kidding. Chris Thile is unbelievable, as are his band mates. Saw them about a decade ago.
Here’s Chris and Billy and Bela Fleck. The cool thing about all these musicians, is that they are not afraid to go out of their boundaries. There’s no bluegrass or folk or rock or prog or classical, just good music.
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haha I get it, heavy synth pop vibes sometimes (but with much more wayward harmony) and a bit of Ibiza club classics, late 90s vibes. Originally Posted by Peter C
She’s pretty diverse stylistically, she has done the straight up contemporary classical thing for example. I think she’s more interested in form in some ways and the stylistic elements are just a grab bag of stuff. I mean this one sounds like sort of prog indie rock I really like her writing for guitar. It’s very hard sometimes but still idiomatic although it’s probably largely down to her guitarist - the guy who plays for her is a raging virtuoso; it’s fun watching him nail these spidery positions and tapping licks and things on live videos that are obviously keyboard things adapted to guitar but she obviously really likes the instrument and kind of gets it.
Last edited by Christian Miller; 07-31-2022 at 01:01 PM.
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Just for reference, here’s a commission she wrote for large orchestral and choral forces; it’s interesting that it’s recognisably the work of the same composer even while being a much more traditionally ‘classical’ work; if you think the opening is a bit too bracing carry on with it for a couple of minutes. Again, stylistically diverse, reminds me a little of John Adams.
And that brings us to American minimalism? Where does that fit in the prog story? late 60s classical composers moving away from atonality and traditional performance and performing electro acoustic bands and groups, Phillip Glass etc. Anna clearly fits within that tradition. Curved Air of course are named after a Terry Riley composition, and there’s a lot minimalist textures in things like Tubular Bells. Some early Genesis textures with the 12 strings and is on have that sort of feel too, albeit with a side helping of Mists of Albion.
But then minimalism also overlaps with the NYC art and punk rock scene, Velvet Underground, Sonic Youth and so on.Last edited by Christian Miller; 07-31-2022 at 01:30 PM.
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Nowhere. No elves. Originally Posted by Christian Miller
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Is this the criterion? Originally Posted by Litterick
(struggles to think of a counter example)
OK 80s KC, not prog then (it’s just Adrian Belew getting mugged.)
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A few years back, when europe was divided in two, there was this polish band named SBB. They played at Roskilde Festival in 1978 but I knew them from a trip to Poland a few years earlier. They played extremely loud I suppose they wanted to be heard all the way to Poland :-) I have a few of their records and listened to them a lot back then. I am sure they were influential on their side of the wall.
SBB (band) - Wikipedia
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Anna is very special! Going to one of her concerts unprepared (as in never having heard of her previously) was quite an experience. Very intense on stage and the whole band is really good. Much more challenging to the audience than many others. No elves, of course, but I fail to remember any elves in music in recent times. Originally Posted by Christian Miller
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
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Originally Posted by Christian Miller
No. Henry Cow were elfless, and they had Marxism.
I do not see a link between minimalism and prog. Minimalism was a reaction against atonalism, while prog was a move away from simplicity towards complexity.
But yes, '80s KC adopted minimalist ideas, just as '70s prog had adopted romanticism. Prog always depended on what we used to call serious music.
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Hmmm. Ed Sheeran? Originally Posted by xavierbarcelo
But no, not many elves
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