Discovering Australian Prog

Mike, you dog !   Wonderful to see you.

sl75 wrote: micky wrote: still bitter my fellow collab's didn't submit to my browbeating and decide to add this band. I'm equally bitter about Company Caine, Chetarca, Crossfire, Madder Lake, Blackfeather, Extradition... (McPhee not a huge favourite of mine, but I would agree that they belong here as at least proto-prog)

I'm not sure how many of those rejects are new or could be laid at the feet of the old team, but I remember there was a lovely man  from Austrailia that posted here years ago before disappearing. A real sweetheart whose name escapes me, Raff would know... she forgets nothing... but he threw scores and scores of Aussie bands at us to evaluate. Really good stuff too!! Some we added..some we didn't.

McPhee was symptomatic of the real difficult jobs the collabs have, but one IMO they can make harder on themselves by being judge jury and executioner on bands already judged by intellects more vast and immortal than their own. Larger public opinion.  It is considered a prog band,  or a least an Austrailian progressive rock band. Does it SOUND prog .. not one damn bit..  progressive... very lightly.However any search for Austrailian progressive rock will turn up that album.

The way I always saw it,  the site is not a playpen for favs or personal tastes. It does say on that nice site banner... the ultimate resource ...  the job was always to catalog and if one was to error.. it was to error on the side of being inclusionary.. rather than being exclusionary. This site had LONG ever stopped being a simple prog rock site. It had veered deeply into 'progressive' long before I helped corrupt it further.

I always thought the best way to see it was to Let the listeners discover and judge for themselves.

Really...  other than a few idiots and space cadets.. what is the worst that can happen..

oh my god.. i love this band... and love the music... or would.. except for isn't prog.

those people should  get swift kicks in the ass hahah.

Anyhow Keep up  the good fight and exposing the music and the bands. 

micky wrote: still bitter my fellow collab's didn't submit to my browbeating and decide to add this band. This album gets plays more than Genesis (early that is) for god's sake.

Resonaxis , church organ-led prog rock of the highest caliber. Check them out! 

Rednight wrote: I was only alluding to a remark reporters and the like used to make to the Beatles about their loss of an accent while singing. Good onya, your response though.

An astute observation! Now that you mention it I remember those comments about the Beatles too.  But listening now to some of the '70's Australian and Kiwi bands, a faux Peter Gabriel style seemed to be quite popular - no broad vowels there...

Rednight wrote: But when they sing, where does that accent go? I just couldn't help myself, mate!

What is this accent you speak of? I hear no accent!  We talk right proper here in Australia mate!



Oh hang on - there's always Peter Garrett and Midnight Oil to take those broad vowels to the wider world:
Midnight Oil - Beds are burning

And of course I believe that any mention of the Oils on a PA forum is on topic because in a previous life in the mid '70's most members of the Oils were in a prog cover band called Farm.  But I won't tell anyone if you don't...  A damn fine band anyway, regardless of their pedigree.

Aussie-Byrd-Brother wrote: Scott, sadly your Cybotron post reminded me if when I left behind their `Implosion' LP at a record fair once so many years ago....I had never heard them at the time, but expected nothing special, so I didn't buy it. Of course, I've never come across it since and would LOVE to get a copy! Dirt cheap it was too....

I've never seen an original pressing of 'Implosion', but Aztec have re-released it on CD, readily available from their website or any retailer that stocks Aztec's releases.
They've just put out 'Monster Planet' as well. I assume the rest of the Cybotron discography will eventually follow.

^^^Great suggestions here!

Is there any other symphonic / classic prog a la Sebastian Hardie / Windchase from Australia? I could go for some highly symphonic and/or melodic, classic style prog metal too. I know of Voyager and they'd be good if not for the stupid, out of place harsh vocals that they throw in there.


Edited by Altairius - June 07 2014 at 05:45

King Only wrote: I got that Cybotron "Colossus" album a few years ago. As others have said it's very influenced by Tangerine Dream. Some Australian bands I like: If you are into experimental ambient music then there are two amazing Australian artists - Alan Lamb and Paul Schutze (I think someone mentioned him earlier in the thread). I have several albums by both these guys and they are incredible.  An old new wave band from the eighties called Icehouse. If I remember correctly Guy Pratt was a member and he later when on to play with Pink Floyd. And also Brian Eno was on one of their albums so I guess there is some kind of prog connection. I think they toured with David Bowie as well. The Birthday Party (especially "Junkyard"). Dead Can Dance.  Some of Midnight Oil's songs were good too. Not really into them but weren't some of the members of SPK, Foetus and Severed Heads from Australia too? The Fairlight CMI was invented by an Australian company too and a lot of prog artists used it (Peter Gabriel, Kate Bush, Jean Michel Jarre etc).