XTC?

Dean wrote: [QUOTE=Guy Guden] Cliff notes? Hmmm, the same vocabulary Pedro uses... how sweet.

Guy Guden wrote: The irony of artists and musicians, who created new sounds by breaking the rules, only now to be subjected to them.

Pardon me, humble folks.  But you know the subtext of this discussion is slightly bigger than should XTC be allowed the Grace of getting a mention here.  Where should they be filed?  Really, who cares?  Either the music

miamiscot wrote: Interesting discussion going on here. I just find XTC to be more "progressive" than most of the metal bands included on PA.

Edited by Dean - April 17 2016 at 15:16

I won't quote because I get a lot of code that needs cleaning up when I quote, but that makes sense, Dean.   

I will say that for me progressive (adjective) rock is not necessarily quite the same as Progressive Rock (noun). The latter is more of a style in and of itself, rather than an approach that seeks to if not break free from the rock tradition, free itself of the constraints of the rock tradition..

In progressive rock the music does not literally have to progress, but I tend to see it a progression away from the rock lexicon/ expectations of the rock genre (music that moved away from generic rock formulas by adopting the traits of other genres commonly). What also gets confusing is that modern Prog often emulates past Prog, so Progressive Rock may seem to have ceased to progress (retro Prog) from its roots. It is "Prog" generic. Most Prog today,I would think, is no less rock than it was in 70s, so there has not been a steady progression away from rock since its classic days, incidentally.

Anyway, to understand the meaning of the word progressive does not mean that one will understand the meaning of Progressive Rock or, of course, Progressive Jazz, but sheds more light on progressive music generally, I think.

Logan wrote: Progressive has a few definitions: moving forward, proceeding step-by-step, and in politics favouring rapid progress or social reform (OED). I think that progressive rock draws on all of those ideas. I like to think of it in part as rock music that breaks or deviates from canonical rock parameters, or is non-generic rock. It can be synonymous with experimental rock or with rock-fusion. Progressive jazz is defined as "an experimental, nonmelodic, and often free-flowing style of modern jazz, especially in the form of highly dissonant, rhythmically complex orchestral arrangements"

Edited by Dean - April 17 2016 at 12:34

moshkito wrote: Change, for me, almost means ... anything totally different, that does not have the same feel, or style as everything else. AGAIN, there are far too many bands listed in many places, that sound the same in every album, and people call them progressive, but a band like XTC that is very different in many albums ... does not get a proper listen, because most "songs" do not have any "recognizable" riffs and song construction, so we can call them "progressive" .

I think he's wrong. Most folks I know on here absolutely adore XTC, yet very few of them feel the band belongs on a prog site is all.


Edited by Guldbamsen - April 17 2016 at 03:26

Over time I've watched the discussions concerning XTC here, I've even become involved in them now and again, although I have no particularly strong views about their in- or exclusion.

But in general I have found the tone of these discussions strange. Let's face it, there are quite a number of weirder inclusions here, and I have the distinct impression that XTC's inclusion in particular is being blocked with a vehemence that almost seems personal.

Just my subjective impression, of course, but I can't help but wonder whether one or several people have some sort of personal gripe against them. Then again, I might be wrong.


Edited by npjnpj - April 16 2016 at 17:07

^ I certainly didn't want to denigrate your approach.  I think a radio show where you can tune in and hear music without any regard for genre or category is a great thing.  The best music broadcaster we've ever had in the UK, John Peel, had a show like that for more than 30 years. The only requirement for what he'd play was that it was new and exciting to him.  He turned me and countless others on to a lot of bands and artists we'd otherwise never have heard. He was much loved and he's much missed.