Prog Lounge Topics - Progarchives.com

Who does this ?

Thu, 9 Feb 2012 22:04:55 EST

Topic started by sturoc — Posted a while back but figure there are some fresh minds out there now. It was June 1977 when I recorded this off of WNEW FM 102.7 in NYC I missed any info about the track or the artist. With one of the most haunting middle sections and a killer guitar solo at the end, I have been searchin for along time So would anybody have any clue here ? http://youtu.be/GoYWB8NBevI thought perhaps the solo sounds very much like John Goodsall ( Brand X -Atomic Rooster ) sturoc2012-02-09 22:05:56

Is obscure, difficult prog deeper or more ...

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 23:13:19 EST

Topic started by paganinio — Is obscure, difficult prog deeper or more rewarding than pleasant, accessible one? When I think obscure, difficult prog, I think Van der Graaf Generator, Zeuhl, Can's Tago Mago, Lark's Tongue and the like. Often stuff that I can't even spell without looking at their correct spelling. I never got into any obscure prog releases. So I'm wondering, if one day I did get into them, would I feel that they're deeper or more rewarding than easy-to-get-into prog works? Examples of the latter: Porcupine Tree - Fear of a Blank Planet, Opeth - Still Life, King Crimson - Epitaph, Pink Floyd - Echoes.

Modern prog without influence from the 70's

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 17:59:19 EST

Topic started by The_Jester — I don't know if this thing exists: symphonic prog (or eclectic prog, or folk prog, or even crossover, etc.) after the 70's with no influence of it.

Todays Swedish scene vs. the 70's Italian scene

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 13:52:52 EST

Topic started by Prog_Traveller — Ok, so which scene(the Italian scene of the seventies or the current Swedish scene)do you think was more popular or more vibrant? Just wondering. I'd say they are equal. No one seems to come close these days to the current Swedish scene. Are Moon Safari, ANglagard, Beardfish,The Flower Kings, etc more popular or influential than Area, PFM, Banco, Le Orme etc? Not sure. These days more people are probably discovering the Swedish scene.

Story of your first prog album

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 15:19:59 EST

Topic started by progprogprog — I hadn't been listening to any kind of music for roughly one year(17-18).I was in my classmate's suite, lying on the bed.I heard "Si on avait besoin dune cinqueeme siason-Harmonium" from her speaker, the song( I think it was "histoires sans paroles" ) pretty surprised me. I asked about the music, and she said it's a classic progressive rock album from 1975. After that I started reading about that era of music. And the wonderful journey began. Which album was your first true prog album?(If you remember) progprogprog2012-01-11 19:23:45

How prog is viewed by the academy

Thu, 5 Jan 2012 14:02:15 EST

Topic started by desistindo — Im not a musician and dont have classical music formation , but i have joined some music classes as listener in the local University and i was pleased to know that even that the scholastic people and professor of erudite music arent quite fan of progressive rock (or any kind of rock actually), they still reserve a considerably respect for some prog artists, such as Frank Zappa, Henry Cow and others RIO/Avant stuff. Of course, its not a question of identify "oh this is prog and is respected" when the academia probably dont calls it prog, but i think the main point here is that if you call something "rock" then it wont be see in a academic music course (maybe as folk). But if you just take out the eletric instruments then the academics can be consider seriously. Its just in my region, or in your countries the situacion is similar?

Genre Obsession!

Thu, 5 Jan 2012 11:16:54 EST

Topic started by progprogprog — I don't know if the subject had been created before, excuse me if so. Generally this post is more of a confession to be honest. Since I joined this forum I found myself very concerned about prog varieties.old prog , new prog, classic prog, new wave, 70s, ... and you know what?, I'm really sick of it.If I was a musician or producer, then this obsession was a little bit reasonable, but for someone like me who is just an audience, this kinda approach just cause confusion.Paying attention to genres will help having better choices when you wanna buy an album, but with this whole internet stuff and sites like PA and Youtube, you can hear bands sample songs and decide whether you like it or not. Progressive rock music(specially old ones) are very uncommon in my area, and I think thats made me such a fanatic person about prog. progprogprog2012-01-05 12:20:19

Losing interest in prog

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 13:56:38 EST

Topic started by BaldFriede — I must say I lose interest in prog. It just does not interest me anymore what new albums come out, with the odd exception. Jazz and classical music are much more interesting, in my opinion.. There is so much music to discover which expands my mind more than prog; why, completely exploring the works of Johann Sebastian Bach lone seems to be a task that would take a lifetime but would be much more fulfilling than wasting my time with so-called "new" prog albums which are more or less just an endless repetition of what has already been said. What's more: I hate the way albums are being produced these days; they all sound extremely sterile. Each instrument clearly separated from the other. Some audio freaks may rejoice about that, but that is not what music sounds like when it is being played live. The instruments all mingle then; there are multiple reverberations and fractions of sound, and this is what makes music sound "alive"; so much nicer for my ears. I know many of you will disagree and come up with examples of what I absolutely "have" to hear. And I know equally well that I will listen to it, shrug and say "so what?"

DIY Re-mixing within a prog context

Tue, 27 Dec 2011 07:24:55 EST

Topic started by jude111 — Bear with me, I haven't fully thought out what I want ot say, or how to say it... It occurred to me that there must be others out there doing what I'm doing: taking pre-existing songs and "improving" them, or altering them. Within modern music, the standard "approved" method of remixing is taking a song and adding a beat, or cutting it up, or mixing different musics together, a la DJ Shadow and hip-hop artists. You know, Massive Attack sampling a Wayne Shorter solo; or take Burial; his remixes takes others' songs (e.g. Thom Yorke, Block Party), and turns them into Burial songs. If he can do that, why can't I? or you? And why do I have to add a dance beat? Who decides what is appropriate, and what is ethically wrong? If I own an mp3, can't I alter it any way that I want? As much as I love the above mentioned stuff, I'm into doing something different. For example, I took 2 very long Maudlin of the Well tracks, took out the meandering intrumental bits (you might love it; I was bored by it and didn't want it in there) and combined the 2 into what I consider to be a hell of a masterpiece. Or take that Negative Zone album. I loved it, except for one thing: the vocals. Didn't want them. So I got rid of them, and created one long instrumental mix. For good measure, I mixed in some of the voices Floyd used on DSOTM. Same thing with some tracks by 70s German progsters Novalis. Love the sound of the band, can't take the vocals. Got rid of them. Or take THE DIVISION BELL. Not prog enough for my liking. So I took the intro to PorcTree's "The Sky Moves Sideways," used it as an intro which segues into "What Do You Want from Me," and that song segues into "Moonloop." The individual bits, I loved. I turned them into one long prog song that ranks among my favorites. Or Marillion's "The Space." It would be one of my favorite songs in the world, if it wasn't for that annoying end. You know what I'm talking about. "Everybody in the world feels the same" or whatever it is. Got rid of it. It's perfect now. Some of my mixes are pretty bizarre on paper, but work amazingly well: Tangerine Dream's "Cloudburst Flight" into Van Morrison's "Almost Independence Day," as though they were meant to be together. Now I'm no studio wizard by any means. All of this is accomplished by my Acoustica MP3 Audio Mixer, which I downloaded. I'd like to get an Apple and really start going to town on the music I love. And hey, I'm middle-aged and no techie; a guitarist with some band experience but zero mixing experience. So one can only imagine what younger people are doing. Are others out there doing this stuff? Sharing it? Discussing it? Coming up with ideas? How do you feel about it? I can't be the only one doing this? Is it one of those embarrassing, don't ask don't tell things, out of some fear of the feds or of tampering with artworks? (But like I said, that whole area is becoming greyer and grayer with the advent of hiphop and other electronic genres.)...

Growls in progressive rock music

Sun, 25 Dec 2011 23:58:05 EST

Topic started by Ambient Hurricanes — In my time visiting this site before joining, I read quite a bit of discussion about "growl"-style vocals. Most of it was made up of undefended claims, either about how those who dislike growls are close-minded, or about how someone just couldn't stand the growls in a particular song. I'm starting this thread to foster intelligent discussion about the merits (or de-merits) of the use of growls in progressive rock music. Myself, I used to be anti-growl but eventually decided to tolerate them for the sake of the music behind them, and I've found myself sometimes actually enjoying the growls now. Personally, however, I still think that growls are best used sparingly, as more of an effect than an actual vocal style. An example of this would be Dream Theater's "Black Clouds and Silver Linings," where growls are not the main vocal style but are inserted into various songs to accentuate the emotional content. Even though, on this particular album, the execution of this idea was absolutely terrible, I think the premise is a good one. What about you?