Prog me confused

I grew up on AOR in the '70s and '80s and thus my early musical tastes were set accordingly.  Several prog artists factored heavily among my favorites, most notably Yes, Rush and Pink Floyd.  Since then my musical interests have shifted and diversified.  Most notably, around 1990 my ears discovered 'music other than rock' and since that time my primary interests have been aimed squarely elsewhere, (predominantly Electronic, Experimental, Ambient, Noise, Drone, et al).

For a good long time I listened to very little music that might be considered 'rock', (though quite a lot that might be considered 'prog'; more on that in a minute).  Pink Floyd and Rush are perhaps the only bands of my youth that have received regular play throughout all my years.  Everything else gets a very rare spin in a fit of nostalgia, to varying degrees of reception.  Even Yes, who I did and still do hold with great fondness, sounds incredibly dated to my ears these days.  There is no other band that stirs within me such a strong sense of nostalgia, for good or bad.

Nonetheless, I have found myself listening to quite a bit of prog-y stuff of late.  Yes, Rush, Floyd, of course.  Krautrock and Berlin School as well, which I discovered via my interests in Electronic & Experimental musics, (I had little awareness of TD or Klaus Schulze when I was a young rocker).  And the occasional, rare, 'new & current' band like Zombi.  Which segues to my chosen subject title above......

Looking through the many, many artists included at PA, I am bemused and confused to see a number of artists who have piqued my ears, though I never would have called them prog.  Coil is a good example that perhaps fits with a shoehorn and a lot of force.  But then there's Andrew Chalk listed.  And Oophoi.  And Tim Hecker.  Tim Hecker?  One of my favorite artists over the past 10 years, but prog?  Hecker is almost the very antithesis of prog.  Hecker's songs float on the ears like a standing wave.  Each album has very clearly defined musical cues that are stated early then repeated to the end.  Hecker albums simply do not 'progress'.  That's not to say they are dull or otherwise not aurally rich.  Indeed they are, but that richness is manifest in the layering of textures and the density of the sound itself.  If Hecker, (or Chalk or Oophoi, etc) fits the expanded definition of prog, I can imagine a huuugge bounty of artists who do as well(*).

Then there are the puzzling omissions.  As curious as I find the inclusion of Coil(**), I find it more puzzling that Nurse With Wound isn't included.  Controlled Bleeding surely fits within the wider scope.  And though the folks at WATMM would box my ears for saying so, I'd define Autechre as exemplifying the definition of 'progressive', even far beyond that of many acknowledged prog rock acts. 

Curiously, I have found it very difficult to connect with prog rock acts who were not seared into my psyche in my youth.  ELP and Genesis were naff to my ears then and naff to me now.  And almost always when I hear a current band emulating classic prog rock, I find myself bored stiff.  Just the other day I gave the lauded winner of the 2018 PA poll a go: All Traps On Earth _A Drop of Light_.  YAAAWWWWNNNN.  It is a tedious, noodly, masturbatory exhibition of talent over style.  Strip away the thin veneer of modern metal and you're left with yet another '70's prog rock wannabe bands.  It really is rare for me to discover genuinely interesting prog rock bands who are pointed forward, not backward.  Even Zombi, who I do like, has their sound firmly rooted in the past.

Anyway, that's me.  A lurker and general admirer, albeit a confused one.

*

If Hecker, Then Loscil

If Chalk & Colin Potter, then several other contemporary members of the UK drone scene, notably Ora, Monos, Mirror, Darren Tate, Paul Bradley, etc.

...

**

I assume the inclusion of Throbbing Gristle is an inside joke.

It is genuinely not my intent to submit a bunch of vaguely prog related bands on PA, and I do realize is If>Then justifications are indeed very thin.  Unquestionably, Loscil would not fit the definition of a Prog band to most anyone's ears.  Yet Tim Hecker is much more akin to Loscil than anything I can think of as prog, which was kind of my point.  In or out, the vagaries of what truly defines 'progressive' music are quite abstract and elusive, which in turn opens the door to a very wide interpretation.  Most people >know< what a classic prog rock band sounds like, but defining that on paper does lead to a potentially very wide net.  And thus Throbbing Gristle in the archives, which I do find amusing to no end. 

NWW would fit the definition of Experimental Prog, even Prog Rock at times.  I should suggest them(him).

Controlled Bleeding would be a bit of shoehorn fit, but not as much as Coil.

Ora is perhaps the closet Andrew Chalk came to sounding prog-ish, though on those wispy, vague outer boundaries of what defines prog.

Hey tailings and welcome! You'll find many who's been on comparable musical journeys as yourself on these boards. These days I visit PA mostly for all the related music included here that's hardly "prog" in a strict sense.

I guess you got a genre called Prog Rock which has its recognizable approach, sound and "set of rules". Sort of advanced and lengthy rock tunes that builds, progresses and stretches in a certain way and has its roots in the UK bands that pioneered this approach to rock ca. 1969-1971. This is why prog can be retro. Then there's Progressive Rock which is closer in philosophy to the originators as they try to bring something new to the table, but as a result sound nothing like "prog". But of course there's quite a few bands and artists included that's still a bit of a head scratcher. But having them here makes PA a more interesting place for me so I'm glad.