Prog in Norway: What's in the water?
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Printed Date: April 04 2025 at 03:44
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Topic: Prog in Norway: What's in the water?
Posted By: BrufordFreak
Subject: Prog in Norway: What's in the water?
Date Posted: May 18 2022 at 18:38
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How is it that a country with a population of 5.379 million (with a population density of 15 people per square kilometer) have such a thriving, high quality, proggy music scene? What's in the water? Will somebody please explain? ------------- Drew Fisher https://progisaliveandwell.blogspot.com/ |
Replies:
Posted By: Jaketejas
Date Posted: May 18 2022 at 19:19
| I think the productivity happens when the sun is just doing circles in the sky. I was there one time. Woke up at 3 am. Looked out the window. Bright and sunny outside and one guy was busy painting his fence. Another was working on his car. I closed the thick black curtains and went back to sleep. |
Posted By: nick_h_nz
Date Posted: May 19 2022 at 01:10
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I think it is more that people outside Norway are simply just taking note of it. I’m willing to bet there are many countries around the world making as much great music as Norway, but it is simply not being shouted about. I don’t want to be the negative nelly here, and I don’t want to take away from all the great music from Norway, but I don’t think it is as unusual as people are making out. Even on the Fennoscandian peninsula alone, Finland and Sweden have as much great music as Norway. Sweden has been recognised previously, and now Norway is getting its turn to shine. But all three have great musical history and heritage, and all three have a booming modern prog scene. That said, I love so much Norwegian prog (from the classic through to today). 🇳🇴 ------------- https://tinyurl.com/nickhnz-tpa" rel="nofollow - Reviewer for The Progressive Aspect |
Posted By: Nogbad_The_Bad
Date Posted: May 19 2022 at 05:44
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Their jazz scene is damn fine too. ------------- Ian Host of the Post-Avant Jazzcore Happy Hour on Progrock.com https://podcasts.progrock.com/post-avant-jazzcore-happy-hour/ |
Posted By: nick_h_nz
Date Posted: May 19 2022 at 05:52
Absolutely. They have a fantastic jazz scene! ------------- https://tinyurl.com/nickhnz-tpa" rel="nofollow - Reviewer for The Progressive Aspect |
Nogbad_The_Bad wrote:Posted By: SteveG
Date Posted: May 19 2022 at 08:14
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Vikings have always loved prog. It goes back to the days of those great Nordic sagas. ------------- This message was brought to you by a proud supporter of the Deep State. |
Posted By: BrufordFreak
Date Posted: May 19 2022 at 10:51
  Brilliant, Steve! Absolutely brilliant!------------- Drew Fisher https://progisaliveandwell.blogspot.com/ |
Posted By: BrufordFreak
Date Posted: May 19 2022 at 10:54
I'm not so sure, Nick: The number of high quality albums from Norwegian bands that I've been collecting over the past 15 years seems disproportionate to those coming out of other countries--especially when I look at my End of Year Top Albums lists. I'll have to do some more thinking and spelunking about this, … ------------- Drew Fisher https://progisaliveandwell.blogspot.com/ |
Posted By: nick_h_nz
Date Posted: May 19 2022 at 11:03
The key word is “seems”. And obviously it is subjective. But there is a difference between what is getting (media) attention, and what is out there. I honestly don’t believe that there are any more high quality albums from Norwegian bands than from other countries. Bands from that country are simply getting more attention at the moment. But I am happy to agree to disagree. I have definitely noticed more attention being given to Norwegian bands and albums lately. But when you say the past 15 years, I suspect I have more albums I think are great from (eg) Finland, than from Norway. ------------- https://tinyurl.com/nickhnz-tpa" rel="nofollow - Reviewer for The Progressive Aspect |
Posted By: omphaloskepsis
Date Posted: May 19 2022 at 11:07
| Last week, I checked PA's top albums from the last five years. 2017 till Now. I planned on backfilling albums I missed. The top five albums gave me pause, because four out of the five were Norwegian. The fifth was Swedish. |
Posted By: Nogbad_The_Bad
Date Posted: May 19 2022 at 11:36
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Not the case for me, 3% of my collection from 2000 onwards have been Norwegian dominated by elephant9, Jaga Jazzist, Hedvig Mollestad & Panzerpappa. If I ignore UK & USA then the top countries for me are France, Germany, Belgium, Canada, Sweden & Italy before I get to Norway. If I rank them in albums per 1MM population they are a much more respectable 2nd behind the UK UK - 9.5 albums per 1MM population Norway - 9 Belgium - 6 Sweden - 5.6 France - 3.3 USA - 1.9 Canada - 1.8 Germany - 1.1 Italy - 0.8 ------------- Ian Host of the Post-Avant Jazzcore Happy Hour on Progrock.com https://podcasts.progrock.com/post-avant-jazzcore-happy-hour/ |
Posted By: cstack3
Date Posted: May 19 2022 at 13:07
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My guess is that, thanks to their generous health care system and high quality of life, musicians aren't constantly scrambling for life's necessities as we are in the States. I'd love to visit sometime! ------------- I am not a Robot, I'm a FREE MAN!! |
Posted By: BrufordFreak
Date Posted: May 19 2022 at 17:21
Man, I've got albums from the four bands/artists you listed but also Wobbler, Motorpsycho, Shamblemaths, Funin, Stillehavet, Weserbergland, White Willow, Tirill, Caligonaut, Soup, Leprous, Green Carnation, Gazpacho, Seven Impale, Arcturus, Enslaved, Jordsjø, Ulver, In the Woods, Ihsahn, Airbag, Bjørn Riis, Major Parkinson, Kvazar, The Windmill, Needlepoint, Arabs in Aspic, Magic Pie, The Samuel Jackson Five, Circus Maximus, Kaukasus, Giant Sky, The Opium Cartel, Moleskin, Ivar Bjørnson & Einar Selvik, Himmellegeme, and they all have at least one album in my Year End Top Albums lists! ------------- Drew Fisher https://progisaliveandwell.blogspot.com/ |
Posted By: projeKct
Date Posted: May 19 2022 at 18:43
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I think you're right. There is something about Norway. I listen to many great bands from there: Caligonaut, Circles End, Dobbeltgjenger, Gazpacho, Giant Sky, Jaga Jazzist, Jordsjø, Krokofant, Leprous, Magic Pie, Major Parkinson, Nils Petter Molvær, Motorpsycho, The Opium Cartel, Retroheads, Todd Terje, Tirill, Tusmørke, White Willow, Wobbler. If you're looking for an explanation, maybe you can look where there is NOT many prog bands? For example, take a country with similar population figures: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Togo" rel="nofollow - Togo .
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Posted By: nick_h_nz
Date Posted: May 20 2022 at 00:14
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Personally, although it was never the main point of the OP, population density is completely irrelevant, as a lower population density can suggest a population is more spread out than a higher one. For example, Australia has a population density of approximately 3, while New Zealand is more like 15. (These are from memory of when I was at school, so are no doubt now changed, but their accuracy doesn’t change the point.) But, Australia has a large part of the country where next to no one lives, and their population is in more dense clumps than that of New Zealand. If you are going to use population statistics for wondering why there is so much music coming out from a country, then looking on a per capita basis is probably better than looking by density. Not that it is a particularly good way of looking at it, either, but it does work a little better, I am definitely not suggesting every country has as much music coming out of it as Norway, so it will be easy to find countries which are not. I just think that Norway seems to be getting more attention, so it seems like there is considerably more coming out from there than other countries, when this really doesn’t seem to be the case, so much as more of their bands getting more attention. Writing lists of what you have doesn’t change this. I can write lists, too.n The other thing is, of course, that once one starts to dive into the output of one country, it becomes easier to find more, and more, and more, and more, from that country. Norway has a great number of high quality music, it’s true. But it’s not alone or special in that, and it’s number isn’t considerably more than many other countries with a great number of high quality music. (Ignoring the subjectivity as to what at high quality music is, as I am using that only because it was used by the OP). ------------- https://tinyurl.com/nickhnz-tpa" rel="nofollow - Reviewer for The Progressive Aspect |
Posted By: Manuel
Date Posted: May 21 2022 at 08:26
| I think their culture is very conducive for prog to take a hold and flourish. |
Posted By: BrufordFreak
Date Posted: May 21 2022 at 10:16
Good points, Nick, and of course we're all looking around the elephants in the world: 1) Norwegians speak/command English embarrassingly well and can, therefore, promote themselves better in the more consumerist Anglo-world and 2) Norwegians probably have a higher than average per capita income with which to invest money into musical equipment, studio time, album production and promotion, etc. Prog is, after all, a privilege available to the privileged. ------------- Drew Fisher https://progisaliveandwell.blogspot.com/ |
Posted By: projeKct
Date Posted: May 21 2022 at 16:10
Actually, those were also my points...
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Posted By: Mormegil
Date Posted: May 24 2022 at 06:10
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Whatever it is, we DO appreciate it! ------------- Welcome to the middle of the film. |
Posted By: Cristi
Date Posted: May 24 2022 at 06:44
That's right.  I don't see the point of this thread.
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Posted By: Grumpyprogfan
Date Posted: May 24 2022 at 06:47
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Posted By: BrufordFreak
Date Posted: May 24 2022 at 07:14
Exactly! Thank you, Grumpy! Norway is, after all, the world's leading source for heavy water, right? Also for deep well storage of radioactive waste? But, seriously, Cristi, I've been curious about the causes for occurrences of prog (or even "musical") "hot spots" for a long time and it seems that Norway has become one of these--even, in my observation, usurping the place of Sweden as Scandinavia's leading source for top notch prog. So, I just put it out there to the PA community in case any of you thinkers or statisticians have any theories or facts to back (or refute, as Nick has been doing) my supposition. ------------- Drew Fisher https://progisaliveandwell.blogspot.com/ |
Posted By: Mellotron Storm
Date Posted: May 28 2022 at 17:33
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Norway is a wealthy nation with 20% of it's money coming from gas and oil production. They've committed to giving 1% to the arts which is absolutely huge. Would have been something like under 2 billion in the mid 10's. In Canada here the government had a policy that radio stations had to play a certain quota of Canadian music. That was in the seventies and annoying for me at the time but it was so good for Canadian bands and music here giving them a voice, a platform to be heard. ------------- "The wind is slowly tearing her apart" "Sad Rain" ANEKDOTEN |
Posted By: BrufordFreak
Date Posted: May 28 2022 at 22:41
Thanks for that, John! That helps! As a 1970-74 devotee of CKLW, I know and applaud the policy of Canadian radio to promote their own. The arts are important! ------------- Drew Fisher https://progisaliveandwell.blogspot.com/ |
Posted By: tszirmay
Date Posted: June 01 2022 at 19:39
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You Norwegian prog fans are going to drool over this one! Soft Ffog , self-titled . You can find it on bandcamp. Listen to the last track 'Dhalsim' and then go searching for your jaw, teeth, and exploded brain matter. Ohhhhhhh my! You can thank me when you detox..... ------------- I never post anything anywhere without doing more than basic research, often in depth. |
Posted By: RockHound
Date Posted: June 03 2022 at 10:03
| Mix heavy water, Norwegian oil, and Viking blood, and the only possible outcome is pure magic. I had a wonderful time in Norway a few years ago, and their culture seems like a perfect breeding ground for adventurous and eclectic music. I remember a booth at a market in Oslo that had about 20 varieties of lox-I was totally inspired. |
Posted By: Jacob Schoolcraft
Date Posted: June 09 2022 at 17:29
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In the early 2000s I was communicating with some musicians from Norway . At that time I was discouraged regarding my accomplishments in music because living in New Jersey was not encouraging and particularly when it came to Progressive Rock. Although Progfest in New Jersey was supported and exciting the hope for a Prog community putting together events began dwindling away as time progressed. One particular musician in Norway emailed me and wrote..."You should move to Norway because Progressive Rock is a way of life here" More people generally interested in that style of music. Did Norway have billboards with an advertisement that Bruce Springsteen was going to be in town? In the end I decided to remain a recluse and work on music. I just block out imposing business deals or offers that revolve around someone else's agenda. According to musicians in Norway I wouldn't even have to deal with such realities if I lived there instead. |
Posted By: BrufordFreak
Date Posted: June 10 2022 at 09:24
Thanks for this, John! This is exactly the kind of response I was hoping for: information from an insider's point of view/experience. Thinking of Progressive Rock music as "a way of life" in Norway is exactly what I was suspecting--or, at least, a little bit more of that kind of opinion/perspective. Thanks so much! ------------- Drew Fisher https://progisaliveandwell.blogspot.com/ |
Posted By: BrufordFreak
Date Posted: June 10 2022 at 09:26
Thanks, Jack! I'm quite envious of your trip! It sounds wonderful! Norway is quickly climbing up my list of "Bucket List" places to visit! ------------- Drew Fisher https://progisaliveandwell.blogspot.com/ |
Posted By: Juan K
Date Posted: June 16 2022 at 08:24
This advice is from a neighbour (ex neighbour now) that has been working and living there for years now: Come visit Norway in July ! Or at least it's a good advice to someone (like me) that lives in a place where never snows and in wintertime the temperature doesn't go below 0º (Celsius, NOT Fahrenheit)
------------- Let nothing bleed into nothing |
Posted By: BrufordFreak
Date Posted: April 01 2025 at 05:55
------------- Drew Fisher https://progisaliveandwell.blogspot.com/ |
Posted By: Hrychu
Date Posted: April 01 2025 at 06:35
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Posted By: Logan
Date Posted: April 01 2025 at 14:44
Noting that sadly Nick has not logged in in over two years (January of 2023) but maybe he still visits now and then. Of course those questions can be considered by others too. I really miss Nick, he was one of my favourite people at PA, and I hope he is well. One thing is that if you get one or a few few recognised, renowned artists then a scene can be built up and expanded from that. And those guys from one band that is making a name for itself might work with other musicians who then get into playing that kind of music, and then others get involved playing with those other guys, more are inspired and so on. And Scandinavia does have a rich tradition of music and art to draw on. I don't know much about Wisconsin, but maybe they have other scenes which are blooming, like in country music, bluegrass. That said, even if they had some local Prog acts which gained success, I don't think Wisconsin would be as culturally distinct as Norway (and Norway has its own language) and so as a local thing I think it might be less recognised around the world for its particular scene (and culture). The Wisconsin Sound/ Scene could have more ring to it, by the way. Had various bands in Norway been inspired by US style country-rock and became popular there, and those inspired more and more, then maybe one might ask, "What's in the water there, why is that music so popular there?" The answer might be the spat out juice of chewing tobacco (I could be very off-base, but I associate that with country). On another art note: I have found Norway (and Sweden, and Denmark) fantastic for TV and film. I really want to visit Norway, and visit my relatives in Sweden. ------------- "Questions are a burden to others; answers a prison for oneself" (The Prisoner, 1967). |
Posted By: omphaloskepsis
Date Posted: April 01 2025 at 15:06
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What is not in Norwegian water? As of 2000, Norway reported that Norway does not fluorinate water. |