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<webMaster>max@progarchives.com (Maxime Roy)</webMaster>
<lastBuildDate>Thu, 21 Aug 2025 19:52:15 EST</lastBuildDate>
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<item><title>Prog Italia A-Z Playlist</title><description><![CDATA[Blog posted by Psychedelic Paul &mdash; In your Area, it's The Trip of a lunchtime around the wonderworld of Italian Prog, where I'll be featuring the "Big 3" and 22 more of our Prog Italia favourites over the coming months and years ahead, and that's just for starters. You can take that to the Banco!     Prog Italia A-Z Playlist  Antonius Rex Banco del Mutuo Soccorso Calliope Devil Doll Ezra Winston Formula 3 Goblin Homunculus Res Ibis Jacula Karmanoi Locanda Delle Fate Murple New Trolls Le Orme Premiata Forneria Marconi Quella Vecchia Locanda Reale Accademia di Musica Sensations' Fix The Trip Ubi Major Venegoni & Co. The Winstons Yleclipse Riccardo Zappa Psychedelic Paul2025-08-16 03:38:29]]></description><link>http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=135475&amp;FID=58</link><pubDate>Sat, 16 Aug 2025 08:54:34 EST</pubDate><guid>http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=135475&amp;FID=58</guid></item>
<item><title>A Journey Through My Music Obsessions</title><description><![CDATA[Blog posted by Logan &mdash; I've suggested to various others that they might try doing blogs, and have long wanted to do one myself.  This post is extemporaneous (blogs often are) and a blog by me will read much like babbling often (some might say anything I write reads like babbling). I don't want to think through this blog much in advance, I want it to be rather more spontaneous other than I have some general topic for each post (maybe an artist, maybe an album...). But at the same time, expect lots of edits to add more info (although those might be quite spontaneous). I might add in some things I posted elsewhere, like from my Sufjan Stevens appreciation thread -- I will try to focus this on the kinds of music in PA but also music that I believe reasonably relates to Prog....  I think it might be better than me doing a topic for every new music passion of mine. Ideally, I would like combine arts/media because I have long had an interest in the correlation between media (say literature, film, television, music, the theatre, as well as paintings, architecture etc.) but my focus here will be music (and maybe some music videos). I'm interested in culture, ideology, and have a background in sociology, but ultimately I'm really just another fan.  Not really deep one might say, I don't like to analyse music much, but I am passionate.  I like to feel music, to experience it more than think about it, I might say.  Here are some of my favourite band and artists now: Fishmans, Boards of Canada, Portishead, Sufjan Stevens, Swans, Weyes Blood, Beach House, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Stereolab, Art Zoyd, Pram, Broadcast, Julia Holter, Natural Snow Buildings, Vanishing Twin, Magma, Kate Bush, Robert Wyatt, David Bowie, Cos, Air, Ennio Morricone, Chelsea Wolfe, Anna von Hausswolff, Egisto Macchi, Serge Gainsbourg, The Residents, Dom, Can, Van der Graaf Generator, Tortoise...  I am very into Fishmans (added it to Crossover some time back) now and have written multiple reviews, and will write something on Fishmans in the next post. Not too long to start because I need to get down to work and am procrastinating as usual (it gets done in the end even if down to the wire...).  I had wanted to make an appreciation thread but I feel the appreciation from others would be lukewarm and the topic would just fade away almost as soon as I made it. ]]></description><link>http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=135016&amp;FID=58</link><pubDate>Mon, 2 Jun 2025 18:20:06 EST</pubDate><guid>http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=135016&amp;FID=58</guid></item>
<item><title>My PA negative review archive</title><description><![CDATA[Blog posted by Hrychu &mdash; For I strongly dislike the practice attaching a numerical score to my negative reviews, I've decided to pull the plunge and remove those reviews from the database, temporarily changing all the ratings to 5 stars. I'll request the mods to remove those ratings in a sec.  Anyhow, here are those reviews:  BEDFORD, DAVID - The Rime of the Ancient Mariner What a mess.  This album sounds like a recording of someone trying to pretend to be able to play the piano with no musical knowledge. The record starts off with promising organ chords, but then something goes wrong. You hear a bunch of unrelated piano parts on top of each other with notes interfering and not making sense at all. Then, there's this section with random percussion and synth effects. You thought the improv part of Moonchild was tedious? This is something along the lines of that but turned up to 11. And then the off-pianos played by a chimp return back into the spotlight.  In addition to that the cacophony is sprinkled with unfitting narration that has nothing to do with the music. Neither does the narration fit the annoying piano puke nor does this racket illustrate the narration, like a good score in a film or a rock opera. Generally speaking, the whole album is a mix of everything but the kitchen sink, where no element is really fitting.  This is a perfect example of music put into a blender and shattered, then put back together by an amoeba.  MACKAY, DUNCAN - Visa Duncan Mackay, a promising (UK born) piano wunderkind from South Africa, equipped with a collection of cutting edge polyphonic and mono synths, with the Hammond organ being his weapon of choice, set out to the world of the British Isles to unfold the wings of his musical career as a session keyboard player, and presumably escape the unyielding restrictive regime of apartheid. In 1977 Score, a full blown symphonic prog album featuring a philharmonic orchestra plus a phenomenal circle of guest performers (many of whom can now be considered legendary), like John Wetton, Andy McCullogh and Mel Collins, saw the light of day. A triumphant step up into a higher dimension from his previous effort, Chimera (1974, recorded in South Africa), which to be fair, I can safely describe as a second-rate Keith Emerson study piece that suffers from underwhelming lead vocals (provided by Mackay himself) and quite anemic production. Score was in my view a magnificent piece of art which blended Mackay's eclectic array of influences with the real deal progressive rock energy, that by 1977 was starting to eat its own tail in the UK and slowly being retooled into more accessible and radio-friendly formats by the once upper echelon bands like Yes, Genesis, ELP, and even smaller acts like Gentle Giant. I think Score, despite being one of the last great British progressive rock efforts, was definitely one of the best (a swan song of sorts).  With the essence of the dawn of the new decade around the corner, in 1980, Duncan Mackay decided to jump into the rapidly rising electronic music bandwagon, while unfortunately also jumping the shark and released... Visa.  It's a ruthlessly, shockingly "dollar bin keyboard" sounding work, but not in a cool jazzy funky way, like those Rompler/Workstation demo tunes or Demoscene/Keygen music. No, this is much much more uninspired and tasteless. Vangelis and JMJ got it right, but Mackay's album, even if technically at around the same level, lacked the emotional (human) aspect. Imagine the bottom barrel of DOS/Adlib video game music, the kinda stuff that's usually done by amateur "composers" as an afterthought for a shovelware game that has a deadline approaching, but somehow even more yucky. &#129326; But, to be fair, the one thing about Visa that really makes it a pain to sit thru is the repetitive, cookie cutter writing, a true sign of an artistic burnout.  I can't imagine what Duncan Mackay was thinking when he was ready to release this stinker. xD Perhaps he had too much faith in the emerging sound synthesis technology and drum machines, and thought it was good for the already low standards of the musical direction he had chosen or, I dunno, at least passable? Except.... he was dead wrong. What a mess! Visa sounds like a product that hasn't been finished, that also aged poorly.  The only tolerable song on this record, that doesn't make me cringe from embarrassment, is the penultimate track Night Flight, with its only saving grace being the fact it reminds me of Alexander Brandon's soundtrack to the 90's shoot em up Tyrian.  LEITMOTIV - Entangled I'd say the music is really well done. The guitar playing is impressive, the keyboard work complements it nicely and the drumming is solid. The bass playing doesn't stand out in a negative way either. Compositionally the album is also very good, even if some parts may feel a bit drawn out and repetitive (filler ish) almost as if the songwriter(s) needed more ideas despite not being able to come up with enough parts. Overall, it's very nice. Kinda jazzy, but with some rockin' touches, a good balance between imaginative and atmospheric. I'd give the musical side of Entangled a thumbs up.  There is one thing that kills my enjoyment of this album. It's the vocals. TBH I can tolerate the accentuating on the wrong syllable, the off pronunciation, the constant uncomfortable wailing, the vocalist randomly breaking into spoken word and the incredibly strained vocal tone. But... the vocals are off pitch! Yes. The vocals are out of tune. Ouch! And that alone makes them unbearable. They ruin the album, I'm afraid. So, sorry folks, I can't really rate this album any higher because of this glaring flaw.  RILEY, TERRY - A Rainbow In Curved Air A Rainbow in Curved Air by Terry Riley is, to me, frankly, a great example of an album, the universal critical glorification of which was shaped purely by the fact that it is "an important album" and not really its contents. Critics (especially the Progarchives ones) rave about its innovativeness and significance in the evolution of progressive or electronic music... and I'm like: ok? So, is it a good album after all?  The answer is: No. Not at all.  The album's fatal flaw IMO is the fact that its compositional side is simply not very captivating. If you throw away all the circumstances in which it was recorded, it's essentially a session of organ noodling that goes nowhere. The challenges Riley faced in '69 to design soundscapes never before heard on tape, don't instantly make it a masterpiece.  In conclusion, probably the most critically overpraised album ever made without a real reason other than the fact it was a technological marvel, at least for its era. Huge disappointment.  Hrychu2025-03-29 11:30:53]]></description><link>http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=134713&amp;FID=58</link><pubDate>Sat, 29 Mar 2025 17:29:13 EST</pubDate><guid>http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=134713&amp;FID=58</guid></item>
<item><title>The Mosh Pit</title><description><![CDATA[Blog posted by moshkito &mdash; Hi, An area for me to write various things and thoughts. And thanks for reading   moshkito2025-03-20 18:54:20]]></description><link>http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=134511&amp;FID=58</link><pubDate>Tue, 25 Feb 2025 09:30:26 EST</pubDate><guid>http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=134511&amp;FID=58</guid></item>
<item><title>The Write-Off Genre's Revival</title><description><![CDATA[Blog posted by Starshiper &mdash; The Write-Off Genre's Revival  Since the early part of the second decade (i.e., post-2010), there has been a remarkable resurgence of interest in the sub-genre known as progressive rock (often shortened to prog-rock) that once thrived in the late '60s and the entire '70s, had a flutter in the middle of post-punk and new wave hysteria in the first half of the 80s, then stagnated, and thought to be clinically dead.   The large number of new bands is evidence of the write-off genre's revival. There are so many new acts! And they are so good. Modern progressive bands and solo artists draw inspiration from the past while maintaining a contemporary sound, and the result of it is often phenomenal.  Music manufacturing has become easier because of streaming platforms, which allow anyone to upload an album. Additionally, "amateurs" create albums in the comfort of their homes thanks to technology, but the quality of those recordings is often excellent, encouraging more inventive use of sound and structure. This increase in music production activities has drawn a lot of new people into the prog-rock counterculture.  The younger generations, particularly the millennials and Gen Z, tend to relish the retro side of listening to old school prog-rock due to the convenience of streaming services and social media. This has aroused interest in the complex music and themes of the genre, leading to progressive rock composition and performance by musicians of this age. Progressive rock festivals have been conducive to the growth of the audience around this type of music, facilitating artists interaction and creativity. The awards are also important, such as, for instance, the Prog Report Awards.  Thematically, a number of contemporary bands that play progressive rock music deal with existential, philosophycal and fantasy topics as well as with issues that are pressing in today's world. Their topics include ecological disasters, the new fear of nuclear holocaust, or the rise of far-right populists in societies that have until then been considered democratic paragons.  Nowadays, there are so many splendid modern prog bands that it is impossible to deny the genre's renaissance. For instance, Rosalie Cunningham. She has garnered attention for her complex arrangements, virtuosic musicianship, and evoking the 1970s while also appealing to fans of contemporary music. Critics and fans agree: Cunningham's new album is a masterpiece that does not lag behind great albums from the golden era. Her skill to blend complex melodies with thought-provoking lyrics not only flashes her gift but also makes her an exemplary representative of this resurgent genre.   Rosalie Cunningham ]]></description><link>http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=133845&amp;FID=58</link><pubDate>Sun, 10 Nov 2024 10:05:19 EST</pubDate><guid>http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=133845&amp;FID=58</guid></item>
<item><title>The 1970s: counterculture, music, peace &amp; struggle</title><description><![CDATA[Blog posted by jamesbaldwin &mdash; This is my new blog about the Seventies in Italy but, for extension, in Europe and in the West. This is the golden age of prog and, in Italy, it coincided with the years of the student movement and of the armed struggle. The prog bands themselves, for the most part (PFM, Banco, Area and later Stormy Six are only the most famous), belonged to what was called, generically, the 'Movement'.&nbsp; In Italy the Seventies begin with the end of 1969, when (12th december) four bombs exploded in Rome and in Milan. In Milan one of these bomb made a massacre called "La strage di Piazza Fontana". That massacre prepared gli "Anni di Piombo", the Years of Lead (or the years of the armed struggle). But before Piazza Fontana there was the student movement in 1967-68 in all of Europe. Which songs dominated the Italian charts in 1968?One was this one:&nbsp; [TUBE]5HP1DdiqaEs[/TUBE]  &nbsp;&nbsp;   jamesbaldwin2024-11-03 09:16:30]]></description><link>http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=133810&amp;FID=58</link><pubDate>Sun, 3 Nov 2024 07:31:20 EST</pubDate><guid>http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=133810&amp;FID=58</guid></item>
<item><title>The Acid Trash Jamboree - YouTube Review Channel</title><description><![CDATA[Blog posted by AcidTrash &mdash; Hello! A few of you here may be interested in my relatively recently established YouTube channel, The Acid Trash Jamboree, a place&nbsp;where I show and review all manner of offbeat, obscure, weird and wonderful music from my personal collection (as well as films, if they're your thing too).Types of music covered: psychedelic/space/progressive rock, acid/freak folk, harsh noise, industrial, power electronics, drone, black/death/doom/heavy metal, free jazz/improv, fusion, outsider, dark ambient, neofolk, avant-garde, dungeon synth, Krautrock/Kosmische, lo-fi, post-punk, psych pop, freakbeat, American Primitive etc etc... Feel free to check out the archive here... The Acid Trash Jamboree - YouTube I've already covered quite a lot of stuff since the end of last year, though just to give a quick flavour of the channel, here are the links to some of the more prog-oriented episodes I've done lately...  Episode 33 - Prog &amp; Psych Picks! Quella Vecchia Locanda / The Red Crayola / Requiem / Buffy Sainte-MarieWatch here:https://youtu.be/49XJI8zWCs0  Episode 35 - Prog &amp; Psych Picks! Sandrose / Shanti / Shiver / ShylockWatch here:https://youtu.be/i3u0hOoM4XQ  Episode 37 - Prog &amp; Psych Picks! Pete Sinfield / Soup / Space Farm / SpringWatch here:https://youtu.be/f6sv2Wvg4e8 Hope there's something of interest in there for at least a few of you- I look forward to sharing future episodes as and when they're posted! Cheers!]]></description><link>http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=133170&amp;FID=58</link><pubDate>Sun, 30 Jun 2024 08:32:24 EST</pubDate><guid>http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=133170&amp;FID=58</guid></item>
<item><title>From The Wilde Flowers to Whitney Houston</title><description><![CDATA[Blog posted by almartinez &mdash; From The Wilde Flowers to Whitney: What was the relationship of Whitney Houston to the Canterbury Scene? By ]]>&#65533;<![CDATA[ngel L. Mart]]>&#65533;<![CDATA[nez In 1999, Whitney Houston hit the charts via "My Love is Your Love," the title track of her album released the previous year. Written and produced by Wyclef Jean and Jerry Duplessis (musician/co-producer and producer of The Fugees respectively), the song was a radical departure from her previous single releases. "My Love is Your Love" was not an uncharacteristic song title for Houston. Everything else about the composition was. It is an aural Venn diagram of bass-driven minimalism, dark neo-psychedelia, and a post-apocalyptic lyrical landscape of poverty and war, all seemingly sifted through Lee "Scratch" Perry's studio with an orchestration worthy of Charles Stepney. As to the latter, the string arrangement borders on otherworldly. And the apocalyptic part broke heavily through all the understatement: If I wake up in World War III&nbsp;I see destruction and povertyAnd I feel like I want to go home&nbsp;It's okay if you're coming with me For such a song as "My Love is YourLove," a good female voice fitting for a low-key vibe, let alone Houston's, would have been sufficient to augment its haunting quality. With her voice, it not only became a rich addition to her repertoire, it became an echo to a lesser-known part of her roots. Seventeen years previous, Houston was a guest lead vocalist on One Down, the 1982 album by Material, a New York-based no wave band (at the time transitioning toward soul and funk in its experimental mix) that featured a revolving lineup of musical guests led by bassist-producer Bill Laswell. Her heartbreaking voice appeared on "Memories," a minor-key ballad written by Hugh Hopper, who composed it during his days with The Wilde Flowers and its successor, Soft Machine. Another intriguing guest&nbsp; weaved between Houston's verses: a stirring tenor saxophone solo by special guest and free jazz legend Archie Shepp (Attica Blues). In other words, to those familiar with UK prog-rock, Houston emerged in the Downtown Manhattan scene interpreting a song from the Canterbury Scene. As an aside, it is worth to note, coincidence or not, that the song was written by a bassist and recorded by a band led by another bassist! Canterbury in the 1960s and early 1970s entered the rock lexicon with music that was foremost characterized as "whimsical,"&nbsp; that is, a mixture of psychedelia and jazz fusion with offbeat lyrics.&nbsp; The Wilde Flowers were at the heart of the sound Their role in the formation of Soft Machine - and Gong - shows how a pop and R&amp;B singer was linked - doubly - to this legacy. Also interesting is how Houston, daughter of gospel singer Cissy Houston, began her career singing in a church in Newark, New Jersey, while Canterbury is better known outside the avant-garde world for being the seat of another.&nbsp; The choice of Hopper's "Memories" for Houston's voice is telling, given the second part of her Canterbury connection. Material was formed by the nucleus of New York Gong, the NYC offshoot of Gong, both founded by former Wilde Flowers and (early) Soft Machine guitarist Daevid Allen. Whoever incorporated "Memories" into the Material catalog was perhaps Allen himself or a serious student of the Canterbury Scene. The curious part of this story, though, is that "Memories" as The Wilde Flowers recorded it would not be released officially until more than a decade after Material's version. To hear it would not have been a memory. Allen recorded it for his 1971 album Banana Moon, with Soft Machine's Robert Wyatt on lead vocals. Wyatt, in turn, recorded his own version in 1974 as the B-side of his take (ironically, a similarly unexpected remake) of The Monkees' "I'm a Believer." Further,&nbsp; his voice appears on both The Wilde Flowers track and another recording done by Soft Machine, similarly unreleased for decades.&nbsp; With consideration to the transition from New York Gong, in its original incarnation as a short-lived addition to the Gong universe, to Material, it is remarkable by itself that Houston was amid the no wave stalwarts' vast network that ranged musically from experimental rock to free jazz to funk.&nbsp; Houston's musical journey can as well serve as proof, even tangentially, that Phil Collins' ventures in blue-eyed soul are not the collective head-scratcher (or bait for unfavorable remarks) that they may have seemed..&nbsp; Had Houston chosen to pursue avant-garde or progressive soul further, and not had Clive Davis as a mentor or signed with Arista, her career trajectory might have resembled more that of her One Down album-mate Nona Hendryx (formerly of Labelle). "My Love is Your Love" may have come to be in any case. The rhythm duo Sly &amp; Robbie may have been probable partners if not at least influences on the reggae fusion that is at the core of the Jean-Duplessis composition. Elsewhere, Hendryx may have been a collaborator. Or maybe even Buckethead.&nbsp;     almartinez2024-03-10 22:28:27]]></description><link>http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=132679&amp;FID=58</link><pubDate>Sat, 9 Mar 2024 15:30:17 EST</pubDate><guid>http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=132679&amp;FID=58</guid></item>
<item><title>Newer prog music</title><description><![CDATA[Blog posted by Grumpyprogfan &mdash; I would like to share some newer prog bands/artists that need more exposure. Here is Rubber Tea "Go". Comments are appreciated and feel free to post more music.   [tube]K18P3bU1GWI?si=1SKNxUpZiL7PCGjy[/tube]Grumpyprogfan2024-03-05 10:32:43]]></description><link>http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=132669&amp;FID=58</link><pubDate>Tue, 5 Mar 2024 08:36:59 EST</pubDate><guid>http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=132669&amp;FID=58</guid></item>
<item><title>New Blog!</title><description><![CDATA[Blog posted by Zappastolethetowels &mdash;  Hey Guys, In my daily foray into the discography of Frank Zappa, I have just reviewed the record Waka Jawaka today!Please check it out - the link will be attached.   https://open.substack.com/pub/alexsprogjourney/p/waka-jawaka-by-frank-zappa?r=2yyeb6&amp;utm_campaign=post&amp;utm_medium=web&amp;showWelcomeOnShare=true The more notable releases by more notable artists will be featured on this page (PA Blogs)  A]]></description><link>http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=132625&amp;FID=58</link><pubDate>Fri, 23 Feb 2024 12:47:30 EST</pubDate><guid>http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=132625&amp;FID=58</guid></item>


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