2014 Picks

^I can't watch JooToob clips for some reason, but I'd been meaning to check them out. I'm mentally prepared for a wild ride.

Oh my word

Dave the Guillaume Perret has arrived a few days ago and I've been listening to it quite a lot, very good stuff!!

The whole album is streaming but I got my copy before I knew that...

BrufordFreak wrote: My list has changed a bit: Was: Ut Gret - Ancestors’ Tale Agora - Ichinen Humana Prog - Fiori Frutti Farfalle Aalto - Ikaro Kant Freud Kafka - No tengas miedo  Factor Burzaco - 3 Now (100 new albums from 2014 later): Syd Arthur Sound Mirrors Kant Freud Kafka No tengas miedo Seven Impale City of the Sun Pingvinorkestern Push Electric Orange Volume 10 Humana Prog Fiori, frutti, farfalle Aalto Ikaro Ut Gret Ancestor's Tale Phi Now The Waves of Sound Remain Homínido Estirpe Lítica

We seem to have similar tastes. However, Ut Gret still leads my Best of 2014 list. That album made my jaw drop to the floor right from the first listen - which is quite rare in my case. Kudos for mentioning Seven Impale's excellent debut, Aalto's very intriguing Ikaro, Pingvinkorkesteri (who amply deserve to be added to the DB), and Factor Burzaco. I will post my own list when I have a bit more time.

^ Only heard L' enigma from those and this album is amazing

Seems a problem I'm having has a lot to do with vocals and lyrics. I enjoy the arrangements on Syd Arthur and Poil, but the vocalists (and their lyrics), whether technically skilled or not, don't have as strong an identity as the rest of the band. They just feel like they were thrown on top, and, as a result, I find it hard to connect with on a deeper level than surface enjoyment. It feels like they have tight arrangements and whatnot, but I feel the same about a lot of pop music. I've connected with a few things, but, for the most part, I feel like an outsider when listening to modern prog. Either I feel out of place in it, or it feels out of place to me. I respect what I've heard this year, but, thus far, only two prog albums have really made any kind of an impact on me. Still haven't bought a few that I'm interested in (saving a bit of money for an amp right now), so I'm holding out some hope for those.

Guldbamsen wrote: BrufordFreak wrote: My list has changed a bit: Was: Ut Gret - Ancestors’ Tale Agora - Ichinen Humana Prog - Fiori Frutti Farfalle Aalto - Ikaro Kant Freud Kafka - No tengas miedo  Factor Burzaco - 3 Now (100 new albums from 2014 later): Syd Arthur Sound Mirrors Kant Freud Kafka No tengas miedo Seven Impale City of the Sun Pingvinorkestern Push Electric Orange Volume 10 Humana Prog Fiori, frutti, farfalle Aalto Ikaro Ut Gret Ancestor's Tale Phi Now The Waves of Sound Remain Homínido Estirpe Lítica Very nice albums those two. The Syd Arthur one keeps winning me over with every new spin. I'm not sure the prog crowd is used to such 'coherence' in the song-writing department though, which is why many probably write them off as another psych Indie group, which i don't agree with at all.  Volume 10 though is such a monster that I have to prepare mentally before diving in....but man when I do, it's like tumbling down a weird Indian dream with those hypnotising psychedelic tribal forces. I might change my rating to a 5 at some point, but this is one of those instances where I know it'll take years before I really unravel all there is to it.

Polymorphia wrote: Seems a problem I'm having has a lot to do with vocals and lyrics. I enjoy the arrangements on Syd Arthur and Poil, but the vocalists (and their lyrics), whether technically skilled or not, don't have as strong an identity as the rest of the band. They just feel like they were thrown on top, and, as a result, I find it hard to connect with on a deeper level than surface enjoyment. It feels like they have tight arrangements and whatnot, but I feel the same about a lot of pop music. I've connected with a few things, but, for the most part, I feel like an outsider when listening to modern prog. Either I feel out of place in it, or it feels out of place to me. I respect what I've heard this year, but, thus far, only two prog albums have really made any kind of an impact on me. Still haven't bought a few that I'm interested in (saving a bit of money for an amp right now), so I'm holding out some hope for those.

Edited by Guldbamsen - October 30 2014 at 08:24

You're nutso....in a good way. You're just not invited to my birthday party, if you don't like the vocals in Syd Arthur. Simple really, and I told my mom (something).