Progressive Indie?

siLLy puPPy wrote: Gordy wrote: ^Sufjan is currently undergoing evaluation in Prog Folk with two Yes votes. 🙂 Speaking of "progressive indie", we still need to hear your thoughts on AUA, Mike. Well personally i find nothing progressive about him. Art rock / art folk isn't progressive. I've not seen one other source that indicates he's progressive and i've heard most of his albums personally and don't find him even remotely progressive.

MPAR - Modern Progressive Art Rock
https://rateyourmusic.com/list/SoundscapeMN/favorite-modern-progressive-art-rock-albums-200-1/

Saperlipopette! wrote: siLLy puPPy wrote: Gordy wrote: ^Sufjan is currently undergoing evaluation in Prog Folk with two Yes votes. 🙂 Speaking of "progressive indie", we still need to hear your thoughts on AUA, Mike. Well personally i find nothing progressive about him. Art rock / art folk isn't progressive. I've not seen one other source that indicates he's progressive and i've heard most of his albums personally and don't find him even remotely progressive. The way I see it Sufjan Stevens is a progressive artist in the truest sense of the word. But of course he isn't "Prog" as such. Sufjan would have fitted nicely in Art Rock when that was a sub genre here. It's replacement Crossover is a better fit than Prog Folk imo. Here's a source that indicates he is progressive. Genre descriptions on some of his albums on RYM: Illinois, Age of Adz, The Ascension: Progressive Pop Aporia, Meditations, Lamentations, Revelations, Celebrations, Incantations: Progressive Electronic All Delighted People EP (but an hour long album): Progressive Rock, Progressive Pop This song is closer to Gentle Giant than your average indie band really.

I'm not sure whether I think Sufjan Stevens should be on PA, but he sounds more prog than Indie to me. But this may just be because the Indie genre label is such a mess, I mean, the term "Indie" originally refers to what kind of record label somebody is signed up to, which has no implications for the music whatsoever. According to that logic all prog is indie that isn't on major labels, and that's a lot. What has Sufjan Stevens in common with R.E.M.? Nothing at all. 

Edited by Lewian - February 10 2024 at 06:16

Lewian wrote: I'm not sure whether I think Sufjan Stevens should be on PA, but he sounds more prog than Indie to me. But this may just be because the Indie genre label is such a mess, I mean, the term "Indie" originally refers to what kind of record label somebody is signed up to, which has no implications for the music whatsoever. According to that logic all prog is indie that isn't on major labels, and that's a lot. What has Sufjan Stevens in common with R.E.M.? Nothing at all.

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Awesoreno wrote: Yeah, I, too, consider "art rock" to be a wider umbrella that encompasses progressive rock. Prog is a form of art rock.

Not in Europe, and especially not in the 1970s. Progressive rock was strongly connected to counterculture or underground music in its heyday in the early 1970s, whereas art rock was mainstream rock with an artistic approach.

This is what https://www.allmusic.com says about Van der Graaf Generator:

I prophesy disaster wrote: This is what https://www.allmusic.com says about Van der Graaf Generator:   ********** Van der Graaf Generator   Art rock unit led by Peter Hammill, distinguished for a dynamic range rivaled only by King Crimson and for their surprising influence on British punk.   Active 1960s - 2020s   Formed 1967 in Manchester, England   Genre Pop/Rock   Styles Art Rock, Experimental, Prog-Rock   Group Members Guy Evans, Peter Hammill, Hugh Banton, Nic Potter, David Jackson, Chas Dickie, Chris Judge Smith, Graham Smith, Keith Ellis, Nick Pearn   **********   Note the use of both "Art Rock" and "Prog-Rock" (which I highlighted) to describe this group.

It's OK. We live in a globalised world of multiplied tags now. "All Music" site staff combined tags don't surprise me at all. However, in the seventies, when progressive rock was a current genre, it wasn't the case; then there was one tag for one band. Hence, hardly anybody in Europe labelled Van der Graaf Generator as art rock, i.e., the same as 10cc or Supertramp were labelled back then. Because art rock meant pop-rock with an artistic attitude. But pop-rock also meant non-progressive.

Edited by ProgExpo - February 11 2024 at 02:19