New Zealand progressive scene

New Zealand prog-rock bands I know:

THE CLEVES : http://www.milesago.com/artists/cleves.htm, http://www.sergent.com.au/music/clevedonaires.html

THINK: www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=5979

DRAGON: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_(band)


That's all I know. All of them from 70s anyway.



Edited by ozzy_tom - April 12 2011 at 01:50

Yeah, the prog scene in New Zealand is painfully limited, but there have been some wonderful artists including:

Split Enz - the debut Mental Notes is pure art rock with some symphonic touches. Ragnarok a psych/space artist from the 70s, very much alive in the same scene as early Dragon before they moved to Australia and sold out. Think are also pretty neat, although not as accomplished as the aforementioned artists. In a more modern era, Jakob provide some minimalist yet dynamic post rock. Ironically, Jakob are far better known overseas than here. You know Look To Windward, a very young and promising new Auckland based band. Of course there are other artists as well, a number of smaller scenes exist in places like Auckland and Wellington, the latter having a decent underground music base, mostly in indie stuff, but you do get the occaisonal classic prog emulators.

I fear however artists with prog ambitions get lost in the system, or remain unknown.

Have just noted that An Emerald City, which had it's genesis in  Auckland, New Zealand, has been added to PA under Psychedelic/Space Rock. Their new album "The Fourth" is heady stuff and will require more than one listen to reap the rewards. So great to see several Kiwi bands in the archives with more being discovered and added frequently. . 

Interestingly the majority of the bands named are from before my time in the 70's (Split Enz, Dragon, Ragnarok, Think, Butler and The Cleves). And also a few modern bands (Jakob and Look To Windward) yet nothing in between.

reubenpb wrote: if anyone is interested in checking out An Emerald City, they have one EP and two albums. All of it can be checked out here http:anemeraldcity.bandcamp.com and here are our music videos Seizuretron http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ac_B2wS1_4E&feature=related Ulica Bolslaw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EW6sMfbrNk Qing Song http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qmtbtu-oTIg&feature=related

Hi Reuben! Congratulations for your band!

Great thread! Last time I was in New Zealand, on my last day there I went music shopping and a couple of these names I recognize. Problem was I had run out of NZ$ and it was Sunday and I could not find a place to exchange US$...all I had was my corporate credit card....I don't think my company would have approved those purchases!!

http://soundcloud.com/dashboard

Here's a couple of new numbers if anyone fancies a listen.

Restarting up this thread. Because I joined. And people need to notice that fact.

of course split enz are a good example.
i can include like others ragnarok which are a good band. 

Just a bit of trivia on Dragon. They are listed in PA for their early stuff in the 70s. They then move to Oz in mid 70s to become one of the most commercially successful bands in Oz/NZ rock/pop history. Many top 10 singles. They try to break into the US...change their name to Hunter (after the brothers Hunter; Todd and Marc). They don't break into the US. 

Edited by BarryGlibb - December 15 2012 at 00:32