The resurgance of Prog
Posted by: Stephen Bennett on 11 April 2005
I was in a little record shop in Diss on Saturday when they played something that caught my attention. It seemed to have elements of Floyd, Yes, and the Beach Boys amongst others, but seemed a modern production. I saw that it was vinyl that was being played (the shop stocks a lot of used records) so I assumed it was a '70s prog band I'd somehow missed.
However, it turned out to be a 12 inch one sided, single 12 minute song on a vinyl single from Pure Reason Revolution (http://www.womanrock.com/Pure%20Reason%20Revolution.htm and www.purereasonrevolution.com).
Checking up on the band it turns out that a) Steven Wilson (No-Man, Porcupine Tree) had been asked to produce them and b) they were on a major label. And c) they were getting rave reviews from the ‘normal’ press. This is the second high-profile prog I've heard in the last month (M83 was the other) – and PT are now on a major with Deadwing looking like it will chart in the UK.
Is there a change going on here? Are record companies feeling that the public are bored with identikit tunes and have realised that the people who still actually buy music and CDs are looking for something more?
Could this be the start of something?
However, it turned out to be a 12 inch one sided, single 12 minute song on a vinyl single from Pure Reason Revolution (http://www.womanrock.com/Pure%20Reason%20Revolution.htm and www.purereasonrevolution.com).
Checking up on the band it turns out that a) Steven Wilson (No-Man, Porcupine Tree) had been asked to produce them and b) they were on a major label. And c) they were getting rave reviews from the ‘normal’ press. This is the second high-profile prog I've heard in the last month (M83 was the other) – and PT are now on a major with Deadwing looking like it will chart in the UK.
Is there a change going on here? Are record companies feeling that the public are bored with identikit tunes and have realised that the people who still actually buy music and CDs are looking for something more?
Could this be the start of something?