New Subgenre: Rock Andaluz

Since we have here a Rock Progressivo Italiano subgenre despite its similarities with Symphonic Prog, I would like to propose Rock Andalúz as a new subgenre for similar reasons.
"Rock Andalúz" is a Spanish musical and artistical movement from the province of Andalusia as a consequence of the recently born Andalúz nationalism of the mid 70's with the purpose of producing popular music(rock) with Andalusian folk influences.
The genre was started by Gonzalo Garciapelayo who founded the Gong label (as a tribute to the Canterbury Scene band) which produced the first album of the genre: "El Patio" by Triana (1975).
The "Rock Andalúz" is characterized by the mixture of symphonic prog (inspired by british bands such as ELP, Yes and Camel) with Andalusian folk, which includes the tango, rumba, bulería and arabic music + jazz rock/fusion in some occasions. Common instruments present in the genre are keyboards, electric guitars, electric bass, various percussion instruments, flamenco guitar, claps, castanets, arabic vocalizations, among many others.
Among the most representative bands of the genre we have:
*Triana (the founders of the genre - mainstream Rock Andaluz)
*Imán, Califato Independiente (Rock Andaluz with jazz and electronic influences)
*Guadalquivir (Rock Andaluz with jazzy tendencies)
*CAI (mainstream Rock Andaluz)
*Alameda (mainstream Rock Andaluz)
*Mezquita (Rock Andaluz with experimental tendencies)
*Granada (mainstream Rock Andaluz)
*Medina Azahara (Rock Andaluz with metal elements)


Edited by ProgressiveAttic - December 15 2009 at 08:12

Yes, because the next step will be more geografical sub-genres one after another...

wouldn't Mars Volta be included ? thus  the start of one common denominator that makes up but one part of a band's sound while the rest offers so much variety that the "andaluz" part merely spells out the one shared aspect. 

Ivan_Melgar_M wrote: I was part of this discussions, at least the latest two times    Geografic based genres are wrong, the only exception is Rock Progresivo Italiano.   In the case of the Andaluz bands, some are mainly Symphonic, others are Jazzo riented and there's even one that is probably being moved to Prog Related. Triana for example is a 100% Symphonic band with Flamenco elements, but their central sound is in Symphonic.   This has been dicussed at least 5 times I remember and rejected all of them.   Cheers   Iván

Even some of the RPI bands don't really fit in well with the other RPI bands, my main example being Area.

I support Rock Andaluz as a separate subgenre :)

Oh well. Both kraut and RPI have far stronger credentials than Rock Andaloon as far as I'm concerned.

there have been a few serious discussions about RPI's validity as a separate genre. And, just as often, we have people offer up groups like Area as being an example of why RPI is not a very apt description for a genre.

If one would pick & choose amongst groups in any genre, one will find some that are at the edge of the genre, and could be arguably be settled in another genre. Indeed, if and when there is a sufficient case or arguement for doing so, PA has shown itself very open-minded to doing so. Emphasis on a sufficient case being presented, not just "'cause I think so".

Krautrock also has its' own "sound". And just like RPI, not all bands from Germany are slotted into Krautrock because of their country of origin.

Are there some commonalities in some nations' musical scene ? Yes. Are there enough to justify more Country based genres ? No. Andaluz has been debated to death. And the end result is the same - the Andaluz part is stretched thinly when it comes to identifying a sufficient number of artists that could constitute a separate genre of Prog Andaluz. The downfall comes when reviewing this list of artists and finding too much variety to appose a description.

You can't have ten different sub prog andaluz sections containing 3-4 bands each.

Sooooo , if anyone really wants to pursue the matter, here is my advice - 1) assemble a list of bands that would make up the genre; 2) review the list very closely to ensure it is not comprised of bands clearly identifiable under other established PA genres (i.e. Area is in JR/Fusion not RPI for a good reason); 3) ask yourself if the andaluz influence is the dominant & most important component to the bands sound (see # 2); 4) prepare yourself for the probability that there are not enough artists with enough common elements in their music to truly constitute a separate genre; 5) ask for other examples of national musical traditions that do not, nor will not make up a separate genre (France's chansonnier, American Pop, Quebec traditional folk, along with europeen & other regional folk traditions).

Finally, feel free to continue the discussion. But only if you have something new to offer. Repeating the same old arguements won't succeed any more than they have in the past.

SO, let's see the list. Not a dozen .

Not this old chestnut again!

I propose the tech/extreme/black/depressive/doom genre.
In fact why not propose another 1000000 genres while we are at it.

Petrovsk Mizinski wrote: I propose the tech/extreme/black/depressive/doom genre. In fact why not propose another 1000000 genres while we are at it.

Hey, don't you have some goofy grindcore noise to take off the market for us? Now, let people who like real music get to talkin' about stuff that matters, got it?

Anyway, there is a definite stylistic similarity between many of the groups suggested by ProgressiveAttic. Its enough of a difference to mark them apart from progressive artists from other regions and with different approaches to music.