Rediscovering Prog

11 Apr 2020

My music listening has been up over the past few weeks. I've been gravitating towards instrumental music that falls somewhere in the spectrum between prog rock and jazz. The common denominator is that all the bands I've been listening to have great chops and feature excellent guitarists.

Polyphia | Nasty (feat. Jason Richardson)

Probably my new favorite, Polyphia has a unique sound and some of the more creative guitar work I've heard in awhile. Aside from the guest solos the guitar tones are refreshingly clean with a bit of crunch and effects mixed in here and there. There's also some nice whammy work that lends a hip-hop vibe to some of the tracks. Their latest album is New Levels New Devils.

Covet "glimmer" (official video)

I'm bummed I didn't know about Covet and Yvette Young when I lived out in San Jose, CA. Covet is a trio with a kind of mellow jazz vibe. There's plenty of creative guitar playing and lots of clean guitar tones. Effloresce is their latest release.

Plini + Adam "Nolly" Getgood – "BLUE ANGEL"

Plini and Adam "Nolly" Getgood make playing the guitar look deceptively easy in this video. Super chops and interesting tunes. I've been enjoying all of Plini's albums with Sunhead being the latest.

Thank You Scientist - Chromology

Rounding out the list is a tune with a bebop vibe from Thank You Scientist called Chromology from their latest album, Terraformer. Prog guitar meets tasteful horn parts with some violin thrown in for extra fun. One of the few cases of a band with a violin that doesn't remind me of Kansas. Thank You Scientist has more of a Mahavishnu Orchestra feel albeit with a much more accessible sound.

I've also been digging Chon's latest, also called Chon, as well as Who Bit the Moon by David Maxim Micic.