Sume (Greenland) for heavy or psych or Prog Folk
Printed From: Progarchives.com
Category: Progressive Music Lounges
Forum Name: Suggest New Bands and Artists
Forum Description: Suggest, create polls, and classify new bands you would like included on Prog Archives
URL: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=120822
Printed Date: November 26 2024 at 02:44
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 11.01 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: Sume (Greenland) for heavy or psych or Prog Folk
Posted By: Sean Trane
Subject: Sume (Greenland) for heavy or psych or Prog Folk
Date Posted: August 27 2019 at 04:01
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For those of you who rember, I use to laugh out loud about "eskimo prog", as I thought it didn't exist Well, actually it does: Sume did three albums in the 70's https://rateyourmusic.com/artist/sume Malik Høegh (12-string acoustic guitar, electric guitar, vocals), Per
Berthelsen (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, vocals), Hans Fleischer
(drums, 1972-77), Erik Hammeken (guitar, bass, 1972-77), Emil Larsen
(bass, vocals), Sakio Nielsen (organ), Karl Sivertsen (acoustic guitar,
electric guitar, vocals), Nikolaj Steenstrup (Mellotron, percussion) the albums: ------------- let's just stay above the moral melee prefer the sink to the gutter keep our sand-castle virtues content to be a doer as well as a thinker, prefer lifting our pen rather than un-sheath our sword |
Replies:
Posted By: Sean Trane
Date Posted: August 27 2019 at 04:08
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They've got a fourth album from their reunion in the 90's |
Posted By: Hrychu
Date Posted: October 26 2024 at 09:09
Bumping this thread because I'm listening to Sumé's 1977 self titled album right now and I think it would be cool to have a progarchives entry from Greenland. At last. ------------- “On the day of my creation, I fell in love with education. And overcoming all frustration, a teacher I became.” — Ernest Vong |
Posted By: Cristi
Date Posted: October 26 2024 at 09:13
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Videos are unavailable for me. |
Posted By: Hrychu
Date Posted: October 26 2024 at 09:19
------------- “On the day of my creation, I fell in love with education. And overcoming all frustration, a teacher I became.” — Ernest Vong |
Cristi wrote:Posted By: Hrychu
Date Posted: October 26 2024 at 09:33
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BTW, here's something prog rock fans might find interesting. The song Sikorngaa, in addition to the rock'n Hammond organ, features some tasty cleverly hidden background Mellotron strings near the end. Also, that album was co-produced by https://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=8177" rel="nofollow - Stig Kreutzfeldt of Ache . That's another "prog connection".  ------------- “On the day of my creation, I fell in love with education. And overcoming all frustration, a teacher I became.” — Ernest Vong |
Posted By: Bj-1
Date Posted: October 26 2024 at 10:00
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Found a vinyl rip of their second album "Inuit Nunaat" from 1974 on Youtube: I really like it so far, not much prog going on until the fourth track, but it is a pleasant album  ------------- RIO/AVANT/ZEUHL - The best thing you can get with yer pants on! |
Posted By: Hrychu
Date Posted: October 26 2024 at 10:07
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Their final album (Sumé from 1977) is the one that resembles "progressive rock" the most. ------------- “On the day of my creation, I fell in love with education. And overcoming all frustration, a teacher I became.” — Ernest Vong |
Posted By: yam yam
Date Posted: October 26 2024 at 10:35
| ^ That one is available on https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8mhnx7" rel="nofollow - Dailymotion . |
Posted By: Cosmiclawnmower
Date Posted: October 26 2024 at 14:05
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Got 3 of their lps on vinyl and absolutely love them; always felt their mix of folk, rock and psych with a political/historical bent should put them in some category here... I can't really categorize them so wherever the powers that be think the best fit!? ------------- |
Posted By: yam yam
Date Posted: October 26 2024 at 15:26
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The band is on https://www.proggnosis.com/Artist/7018" rel="nofollow - Proggnosis , with the style stated simply as 'Early Progressive', though only the second album from 1974 has been added to that database. We therefore need to evaluate them, since we intend to be "the most complete and powerful progressive rock resource".  I've added the band to https://awesomeprog.com/artists/24880" rel="nofollow - Awesome Prog , but there are no supported streaming links available. The albums are on Dailymotion though: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8ku5g8" rel="nofollow - Sumut (1973), https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8md1k0" rel="nofollow -
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Posted By: Cosmiclawnmower
Date Posted: October 26 2024 at 15:55
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I definitely hear more Folk and Psych elements than heavy prog. They certainly had a political edge; the cultural, spiritual and historical importance of the Innuit, the Danish rule over Greenland etc. These are the 'heavier' elements but with the predominance of 12 string guitar, organ, some electric guitar but often treated.. definitely more in the folk-Psych 'court' stylistically in my view (for what its worth) ------------- |
Posted By: Hrychu
Date Posted: October 27 2024 at 04:42
------------- “On the day of my creation, I fell in love with education. And overcoming all frustration, a teacher I became.” — Ernest Vong |
Posted By: yam yam
Date Posted: October 27 2024 at 08:52
| ^ That makes sense. It says on the sleeve (in Danish): "Recorded at: Sweet Silence Studio June / July 1976", and on the disc itself we have: "Made in Denmark ℗ 1977 ULO-1-B". The thing that made me uncertain was that their guitarist Per Berthelsen said in an extensive interview he did for 'It's Psychedelic Baby' magazine in May of this year: "Our third album, 'ULO 1,' released in 1976 in Greenland by ULO, was a significant milestone for us." Maybe it was released locally in Greenland in 1976 first, and then Worldwide in 1977? |
Posted By: Hrychu
Date Posted: October 27 2024 at 10:02
On the other hand, record mastering and pressing back in the day was a much quicker process, so the record could technically be finalized and even pre-distributed by the end of 1976. ------------- “On the day of my creation, I fell in love with education. And overcoming all frustration, a teacher I became.” — Ernest Vong |
Posted By: Hrychu
Date Posted: November 09 2024 at 07:54
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So, any updates, guys? ------------- “On the day of my creation, I fell in love with education. And overcoming all frustration, a teacher I became.” — Ernest Vong |
Posted By: Cristi
Date Posted: November 09 2024 at 07:59
It's not even been decided which team should look into this band. Unless this is done soon, this will linger aimlessly. (This always happens with "this genre or this genre" suggestions)
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Posted By: Hrychu
Date Posted: November 09 2024 at 08:11
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I'd say: throw it into the "Crossover Prog" pool for now. And see what happens. ------------- “On the day of my creation, I fell in love with education. And overcoming all frustration, a teacher I became.” — Ernest Vong |
Posted By: Cristi
Date Posted: November 09 2024 at 08:14
I haven't had the time to listen to thew band yet, I will ask David (yam yam) if crossover is a good fit.
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Posted By: yam yam
Date Posted: November 09 2024 at 09:28
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^ I added Sumé (or Sume - I'm not really sure which is correct) to Awesome Prog and posted the suggestion in the PSIKE team thread as a starting point a fortnight ago - with the promise of providing a biography if the band was accepted in any sub. There has been no response from that team as yet though. Psych/space would definitely be the most suitable sub for this band imho. I don't personally think that their output could be considered as Heavy Prog, and of course if PSIKE don't want them then there's always 'Leftover Prog' lol! I think that the band definitely belongs here somewhere.
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Posted By: siLLy puPPy
Date Posted: November 09 2024 at 17:56
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Self-titled album SUME from 1976 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ol_gSzsYZvM&list=OLAK5uy_kc0Nj1E_OPegC_djdFXfN40zZWN8r51I0&ab_channel=Sume-Topic" rel="nofollow - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ol_gSzsYZvM&list=OLAK5uy_kc0Nj1E_OPegC_djdFXfN40zZWN8r51I0&ab_channel=Sume-Topic -------------  https://rateyourmusic.com/~siLLy_puPPy |
Posted By: yam yam
Date Posted: November 09 2024 at 20:53
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^ Thanks for this link. All three Sumé albums are available in that YouTube channel, plus an 18-track compilation album released in 1988. These playlists weren't available a fortnight ago, so it looks like this rather obscure band from the seventies, from a country not really noted for having any links to prog, has suddenly become a focus of attention. They're all on https://open.spotify.com/artist/6sHU2iEhnHMiT4jdwqKK7b/discography" rel="nofollow - Spotify now too, and certainly weren't when I last checked. The other psych/folk band that arose in Greenland a few years after Sumé folded - led by ex-Sumé guitarist Kâle (or Karl) Sivertsen and called Ulo (not connected in any way with the record label of that name) - has also had its own dedicated YouTube channel set up over the past week or so. They released just one album of music in a similar vein to that of Sumé called 'Sinnattoraangama Takusarpagit' in 1981. Anyhow, the evaluation of Sumé has now begun in Psych/Space, with one quite definitive 'no' vote cast so far, so it's not looking very promising for them lol!
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Posted By: siLLy puPPy
Date Posted: November 09 2024 at 21:27
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Honestly i don't hear any prog in them. I voted no ------------- https://rateyourmusic.com/~siLLy_puPPy |
Posted By: Sean Trane
Date Posted: November 10 2024 at 00:29
I had suggested in the thread title five years ago that it should either be Psych or Heavy TBH, I lost sight of this thread, but I still support it. ------------- let's just stay above the moral melee prefer the sink to the gutter keep our sand-castle virtues content to be a doer as well as a thinker, prefer lifting our pen rather than un-sheath our sword |
Posted By: Cristi
Date Posted: November 10 2024 at 00:32
This band has been in suggestion hell because it's undecided who should look into them. I think the PSIKE team is looking into them right now. We'll see what will happen.
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Posted By: yam yam
Date Posted: November 10 2024 at 06:50
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I just replied to a private message I received about Sumé, and I'm going to copy what I wrote in that reply here: Yes, it's a difficult one.
I guess the band isn't really progressive when compared to bands from other countries who played this type of music in the early to mid seventies, but Greenland was playing 'catch up' at the time and in his review on RYM of the sole album of the band Ulo, which the ex-Sumé guitarist Kâle (or Karl) Sivertsen started up a few years after Sumé disbanded, a collaborator who has researched the topic of Greenlandic music in some depth says this: "As far as the rock and pop scene goes, it didn’t get started until 1973 when the band Sumé released their debut 'Sumut' which was a semi-progressive folk rock album that paved the way for a few others to follow". A review of the Sumé debut album 'Sumut' itself on RYM says this: "This album is stuck between the pop of the early-to-mid 60s, with twee sounds and everything very happy, and the prog rock and hard rock that had been emerging in the later end of the 60s". Another review of that album on RYM says this (translated from the French language): "There is no Greenlandic equivalent to Genesis, King Crimson or Van der Graaf Generator... I know, it's terrible news, but that's how it is. In fact, apart from Pivfît nutât , Erĸasûteĸarneĸet and maybe Erĸigsineĸ sapĩnarama and Imigagssaĸ , which are fairly acceptable tracks compared to the rest of the world's progressive production, the rest of this first album by our Beatles of the ice floes is of extremely limited interest and musically it's still very, very folk..." However, the history books tell the story of how the first rock album in Greenlandic was a prog album that was purchased by one third of the entire country, and another review of that debut album on RYM says this: "In terms of accomplishment, Sume can only be compared to the Beatles (albeit on a regional, instead of world level). They perfectly captured the spirit of their people, and then propelled their people onto someplace new, someplace that was always lurking, but never yet expressed. They achieved what every (artistically relevant) band dreams about. And they made it seem so easy!" Finally, in a fourth review of the album on RYM we get this: "There's very little music that sounds exactly like this, so if novelty is what you're looking for (which is probably true if you're reading this), then give it a shot. But give it a couple spins first, allow it to sink in, and you'll find there's much more than novelty here." Mixed opinions there, but the band seems to be quite widely tagged as progressive, they're included on the other major prog database site out there (Proggnosis), and they were certainly musical pioneers of the time in a country which currently doesn't have an entry on PA. Taking this into account, I personally think they do belong here if we truly intend to be 'the most complete and powerful progressive rock resource', despite the reservations expressed by several of our SCs about the progressiveness of their music. Maybe we need to create a new cool sub genre of 'Eskimo Prog' and just shove them in there lol!  |
Posted By: siLLy puPPy
Date Posted: November 10 2024 at 09:03
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^ well they were formed in Denmark NOT
Greenland. Also Greenland is NOT a country but rather a territory of
Denmark like the Faroe Islands which DOES have real prog. Sorry but i'm the most liberal voter of inclusiveness but there is ZERO prog in their sound I don't think they even warrant a prog related tag The band is on RYM so everyone can go there to find them! ------------- https://rateyourmusic.com/~siLLy_puPPy |
Posted By: Hrychu
Date Posted: November 10 2024 at 09:05
------------- “On the day of my creation, I fell in love with education. And overcoming all frustration, a teacher I became.” — Ernest Vong |
Posted By: siLLy puPPy
Date Posted: November 10 2024 at 09:26
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Sume didn't write a song like "Bohemian Rhapsody" or make an album like "Queen II." Sume didn't create inventive collaborations with Brian Eno like David Bowie. Sume didn't write inventive compositions that were unorthodox like Black Sabbath. Sume basically wrote folk rock music with lyrics in the Inuit language. I do like the self-titled album and find it quite pleasant but prog it ain't. ------------- https://rateyourmusic.com/~siLLy_puPPy |
Posted By: Hrychu
Date Posted: November 10 2024 at 09:47
------------- “On the day of my creation, I fell in love with education. And overcoming all frustration, a teacher I became.” — Ernest Vong |
Posted By: siLLy puPPy
Date Posted: November 10 2024 at 09:57
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^ i would actually prefer this site ditched the prog related category altogether myself IF Sume was to be on this site at all then prog related is the only possible place i could imagine it Cultural relevance has NOTHING to do with progressive :D This site is annoying and glitchy. To be honest the site probably won't be around much longer without an upgrade so new bands are becoming less relevant. ------------- https://rateyourmusic.com/~siLLy_puPPy |
Posted By: Hrychu
Date Posted: November 10 2024 at 11:18
------------- “On the day of my creation, I fell in love with education. And overcoming all frustration, a teacher I became.” — Ernest Vong |
Posted By: octopus-4
Date Posted: November 10 2024 at 11:32
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Why didn't I think to a poll instead of a thread this morning? Prog Related is another divisive argument, also because the kind of "relationship" is not clearly defined. One of the site rules says that in order to be considered "prog" an artist must have at least one full prog release. So why is Vangelis in prog related and Lucio Battisti, currently on the home page, in RPI? Answer: because it mainly depends on who is in the evaluation teams at the time. Anyway, one of my collector's goals is to have at least one album from every remote site of the world, and Greenland is currently missing from my collection even if not formally a Nation. I'll look for Sume ------------- I stand with Roger Waters, I stand with Joan Baez, I stand with Victor Jara, I stand with Woody Guthrie. Music is revolution |
Posted By: yam yam
Date Posted: November 10 2024 at 11:56
In October 2014 a documentary based around the band was released called Sumé: Mumisitsinerup nipaa (Sumé: The Sound of a Revolution), directed by Inuk Silis Høegh, and providing a retrospective view of Sumé's rise to fame, thus further solidifying their stature as icons of Greenlandic rock: https://www.thesoundofarevolution.com/" rel="nofollow - https://www.thesoundofarevolution.com/ . Some clips from the film can be watched here: https://www.youtube.com/@thesoundofarevolution8204/videos" rel="nofollow - https://www.youtube.com/@thesoundofarevolution8204/videos . Prog or not, there's no doubting the impact that these guys had in Greenland back in those early days. I guess they're just not destined to be granted a place on PA.
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Posted By: siLLy puPPy
Date Posted: November 10 2024 at 12:29
Good luck with finding some from the Pitcairn Islands! I had to contact an artist there and order from her personally because it's impossible to find any samples on line :) ------------- https://rateyourmusic.com/~siLLy_puPPy |
Posted By: octopus-4
Date Posted: November 10 2024 at 13:51
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Still easier than from North Korea, I guess ------------- I stand with Roger Waters, I stand with Joan Baez, I stand with Victor Jara, I stand with Woody Guthrie. Music is revolution |
Posted By: Hrychu
Date Posted: November 10 2024 at 14:23
------------- “On the day of my creation, I fell in love with education. And overcoming all frustration, a teacher I became.” — Ernest Vong |
Posted By: siLLy puPPy
Date Posted: November 10 2024 at 15:07
Nope! I have reviewed an album (actually only have a few Caribbean Islands to go) from every nation and territory on RYM. North Korea it's fairly easy to get the Korean Revolutionary Opera perfromance by Mansudae Art Troupe. For Somalia modern acts like Dur-Dur Band are quite popular in world music crowds. The hardest music to find is from Pacific Islands like Nauru, Tuvulu, Kiribati and Pitcairn Islands. I guess for PA's sake if Sume is added then Greenland would be appropriate since they were all from Greenland going to college in Denmark and then went back. ------------- https://rateyourmusic.com/~siLLy_puPPy |
Posted By: Sean Trane
Date Posted: November 11 2024 at 02:27
close enough for comfort, for me. And Ungava was also very much an Inuit/Quebec band You're right that they (Sume) are not a full-blown prog band in that they would fit in RIO/Avant. But I hear much more prog than in Oingo Boingo or a few other acts included If it's an issue, I'll take it to analyze t(hem at Prog Folk ------------- let's just stay above the moral melee prefer the sink to the gutter keep our sand-castle virtues content to be a doer as well as a thinker, prefer lifting our pen rather than un-sheath our sword |
Posted By: siLLy puPPy
Date Posted: November 11 2024 at 05:34
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^ well that may be the case but Oingo Boingo and a gazillion other artists shouldn't be here at all As much as i love Steely Dan, Oingo Boingo, Sparks etc, i would purge them in a hearbeat from a prog site if i could :) Sorry i'm just not convinced. Why don't you consider them at prog folk since they are primarily a folk band? ------------- https://rateyourmusic.com/~siLLy_puPPy |
Posted By: mellotronwave
Date Posted: November 11 2024 at 06:33
^green land washing 
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Posted By: Sean Trane
Date Posted: November 11 2024 at 07:12
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^^^ As long as it isn't Greenland bashing 
we all male mistakes and indeed SD doesn't belong IMHO sparks as well/ Hell I had Dead Can Dance entered in PA 
That's what I was getting at in my previous post
------------- let's just stay above the moral melee prefer the sink to the gutter keep our sand-castle virtues content to be a doer as well as a thinker, prefer lifting our pen rather than un-sheath our sword |
Posted By: siLLy puPPy
Date Posted: November 11 2024 at 07:24
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I dunno. There are so many REAL prog bands that still aren't on this site. Why do we care about bands like Sume? If they weren't from Greenland nobody would even consider them. Sounds like you all just want a band from Greenland so bad you're willing to compromise progginess for novelty. ------------- https://rateyourmusic.com/~siLLy_puPPy |
Posted By: Hrychu
Date Posted: November 11 2024 at 07:59
------------- “On the day of my creation, I fell in love with education. And overcoming all frustration, a teacher I became.” — Ernest Vong |
Posted By: Sean Trane
Date Posted: November 11 2024 at 08:04
I'm willing to put Sume under Denmark (just like a Faroë band would be), so that's not my driving force. RYM lists them as Danish. Nope, when I hear their later 70'smusic, I hear the typical early 70's soundscapes. I'd even say that I hear something of Culpeper Orchard or BRI or Midnight Sun. ------------- let's just stay above the moral melee prefer the sink to the gutter keep our sand-castle virtues content to be a doer as well as a thinker, prefer lifting our pen rather than un-sheath our sword |
Posted By: siLLy puPPy
Date Posted: November 11 2024 at 09:55
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^ 70s soundscapes don’t mean progressive Sume is definitely psychedelic but that is not synonymous with progressive either I’d say advocate for prog related if you’re set on getting them added ------------- https://rateyourmusic.com/~siLLy_puPPy |
Posted By: siLLy puPPy
Date Posted: November 11 2024 at 09:58
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BTW Culpepper Orchard’s first album is definitely progressive with time signature deviations but their following albums are pretty much pure folk so if it wasn’t for their debut wouldn’t be here either Even Sume’s so-called most progressive album isn’t progressive at all ------------- https://rateyourmusic.com/~siLLy_puPPy |
Posted By: octopus-4
Date Posted: November 12 2024 at 05:12
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I guess TYR would prefer to be listed as Far Oer instead of Denmark ------------- I stand with Roger Waters, I stand with Joan Baez, I stand with Victor Jara, I stand with Woody Guthrie. Music is revolution |
Posted By: Hrychu
Date Posted: November 12 2024 at 06:13
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I think the reason some PA Collaborators want to list Sumé as Danish band as opposed to a Greenlandic one might as well be simply not to perpetuate the 'novelty factor'. ------------- “On the day of my creation, I fell in love with education. And overcoming all frustration, a teacher I became.” — Ernest Vong |
Posted By: siLLy puPPy
Date Posted: November 12 2024 at 08:33
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^ we're not so strict here. Even though Nektar never lived in England they are still listed as UK band here. If they do get added i'm ok with Greenland because that's where they spent their days as a band
------------- https://rateyourmusic.com/~siLLy_puPPy |
Posted By: Cristi
Date Posted: November 12 2024 at 08:38
That can be edited, give us the correct information.
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Posted By: siLLy puPPy
Date Posted: November 12 2024 at 09:34
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^ Nektar was a bunch of English ex-pats who left the UK and moved to Germany where they formed and remained I've suggested changing their nationality to Germany and surprisingly received pushback Although i still think they should be listed under Germany it's not worth the time to pursue really ------------- https://rateyourmusic.com/~siLLy_puPPy |
Posted By: kenethlevine
Date Posted: November 15 2024 at 12:24
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I am voting No for Sume. Just hard pop rock with some folk, psych and prog influences. Not to say I don't like it. Both the first and 3rd album which I listened to are good quality rock, but, like many in that time period, their association to prog was circumstantial. I suspect if they sang in English fewer people would consider it prog. Re prog related, I think that's not appropriate. By my understanding, that's more for artists from back in the day with more widespread critical or commercial success who had an influence on prog or were prog adjacent. For example, Shawn Phillips was added in the last few years. It could also be applied to the solo works of artists from prog bands who kept some of that prog thing going. I don't see Sume qualifying. |