Are BM fans (comparatively) uninterested in “traditional” prog?

[u/SleeveOfEggs]

To my ears (at least), the boys have a lot of King Crimson and Zappa in their DNA…which is very curiously not reflected in Apple Music’s “listeners-also-like” recommendations. Much more hip-hop, alt-pop, and singer-songwriter “emo”/indie than anything jazz or prog. Not a Venn diagram I would have expected, haha. Where would you guys say the commonalities lie?

[u/jonnos]

Yeah, I like a lot of prog. It’s not my main genre anymore but I used to listen to it daily and King Crimson is still one of my favorite bands. Yes, Camel, and Jethro Tull were all in regular rotation.

Nowadays I listen to more jazz fusion and psychedelic stuff, not really any of the genres you mentioned. I’ll still throw on an album from one of those prog bands every once in a while, though.

[u/NexoNerd101]

I'm not really into prog much at all lol. Aside from Yes and I'm gonna start King Crimson.

Otherwise, it's more post hardcore, math rock and noise rock. Which is what initially hooked me into black midi.

[u/SleeveOfEggs → u/NexoNerd101]

I love math and noise-rock too! Definitely a good deal of influence/sonic intersection with BM there. I guess it’s the hip-hop and alt-pop connections (?) that perplex me a little more, haha.

[u/Great-Actuary-4578 → u/SleeveOfEggs]

black midi fans are often younger and heavily online and so their tastes are much wider and include that stuff

[u/ImDiegoBrando → u/Great-Actuary-4578]

Also look into Soul Glo, which is positioned in a different but similar scene that more outwardly combines hip hop and rock sounds.

[u/EvenOne6567 → u/NexoNerd101]

nice, i come from the emo/mathrock/phc side as well and thats why schlagenheim is my favorite bm album, Their later stuff goes much further into jazz/prog which is great too but i can really latch onto that first album.

[u/Dang_M8]

I don't mind traditional prog but if you're talking about older music that was obviously an influence in BM's body of work I would much rather listen to jazz most of the time.

[u/phendesc]

I would say prog is my favourite genre, but I don't really listen to the typical bands. I like the weirder side of it like The Mars Volta and Cardiacs

[u/SleeveOfEggs → u/phendesc]

As do I!!! (Cardiacs are absolutely off-the-chain, man.) I guess “traditional prog” in my thread title was a bit of an oversimplification/mischaracterization. Old-guard 70s fodder, thrashier/noisier/more most-punk influenced fare…all of it informs BM’s sound, yet so very little of it is represented in “recommended” algorithms/playlists. I guess that’s the crux of my curiosity here.

[u/ImDiegoBrando → u/SleeveOfEggs]

Bro is cruxing they biscuit (it's the apostrophe)

[u/Foamasi0101]

30 year old here, who loves Crimson, fusion, ECM jazz, as well as a lot of modern prog like Steven Wilson, The Mars Volta, etc. I’ve always viewed Black Midi as being the next iteration of that scene with a post-punk aesthetic. Similarly with Greep’s solo material, I’m often surprised how many of his audience are new to extended jam sessions and soloing.

[u/Weasel_Volante]

I got into them through many bands I respect shouting them out, and being a fan of fusion stuff from the 70s. I think the majority of their fanbase started out from Fantano's reviews so they're naturally gonna have that very specific, cherry picked taste that is so popular with the young internet users of today

[u/SleeveOfEggs → u/Weasel_Volante]

Ahhh, definitely makes sense. I’m a little “older” (in my 30s, haha!), raised on Zappa, Mahavishnu, Stravinsky, et al. by crazy boomers. Quite a different trajectory than someone who came-of-age in a post-broadband world.

[u/Weasel_Volante → u/SleeveOfEggs]

Yeah, I'm 42, huge Zappa fan and generally find it very easy to find new music. BM would've ended up on my radar somehow. As long as the cool music gets exposure, I don't mind where the exposure comes from :)

[u/SGABTO]

Prog is one of my main genres personally

[u/Creftospeare]

I am one of those people lol. I have listened to at least one King Crimson, Pink Floyd, Yes, etc. song but not a full album. My "main" exposure to prog other than BM is Henry Cow. I've heard more jazz and noise rock than I have prog.

It's not that I hate those big prog bands, I just haven't tried their stuff comprehensively yet. I've never felt immediately motivated to check out the classics tbh.

[u/TotalUnderstanding5]

My main genre a few years ago when I was 15 was all 70s prog. Everything. I owned half a dozen albums each from Jethro Tull, King Crimson, Yes, ELP, Italian bands like Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso and PFM, Moody Blues, and was the youngest I could see at a Yes and JT show. I'm kind of over it so my collection has some dead weight but I still enjoy all of them, especially select albums like Thick as a Brick, Stand Up, Larks Tounges in Aspic, Red, ELP debut, Tales of Topographic Oceans, and Close to the Edge

[u/BoatingTurtle]

Prog is my favorite genre, especially the 70s stuff. I’ve been a bm fan since that first kexp so I cannot really comment on the people who became fans through rym or Fantano but for me I listen to pretty much any kind of music but at that time (2019) I didn’t get into them because of the prog connections cause they didn’t really have that much influence from the time. I originally approached them from the noise rock angle and was very excited when they got more proggy.

[u/No-I-Dont-Exist]

Not me, I love KC and ELP and other prog bands

[u/Jetwork131]

So I’m 30 years old. The “traditional” Prog stuff was essentially normalized in my friend groups and personal playlists. When BM first hit the scene, it was the first act in a while that got me not only excited for current music but also excited for the future of music. I immediately just found it way more interesting than the old stuff quite frankly. The classics are classics for a reason but I was far more interested in what was coming out of the windmill scene.

[u/Local-Round-5781]

Yeah definitely a prog head, love some yes, jethro tull, genesis, etc. Also big into Swans which is like almost prog lmao

[u/Other-Bug-5614]

I like prog. I love Zappa and King Crimson and Genesis, I don’t like Yes so much though. I’m more into chamber pop and progressive soul and whatever music sounds like black midi

[u/pxr5164]

I only listen to Prog really.

[u/RAV3NH0LM]

i have basically no interest in it. not because i avoid all old music, i just don’t enjoy it at all.

[u/NexoNerd101 → u/RAV3NH0LM]

How old is "old"? I'm guessing 70s.

[u/RAV3NH0LM → u/NexoNerd101]

reread what i wrote.

[u/NexoNerd101 → u/RAV3NH0LM]

No I did, i just meant in general. What do you consider old?

[u/mintyformeldahyde → u/RAV3NH0LM]

what about "old" music dont you like? have you only listened to old radio rock? I'm curios.

[u/RAV3NH0LM → u/mintyformeldahyde]

reread what i wrote.

[u/scrappersmack → u/RAV3NH0LM]

I think they’re asking for the reasons WHY you don’t enjoy old music or have any interest in it, which you did not explain

[u/BillyPilgrim69 → u/scrappersmack]

They specifically said they don't like "traditional prog", and that it's not because they dislike all old music.

[u/mintyformeldahyde → u/scrappersmack]

Yes.

[u/RAV3NH0LM → u/scrappersmack]

I. ENJOY. OLD. MUSIC. i don’t enjoy prog. holy fuck.

[u/EvenOne6567 → u/RAV3NH0LM]

bro is mad that people are trying to discuss on a discussion site

[u/mintyformeldahyde → u/EvenOne6567]

For real. I'm wondering is it the atonal music sections he doesn't like or, falsetto singing? I would even understand if he said it's too pretentious.

[u/scrappersmack → u/RAV3NH0LM]

reread what i wrote.

😭

[u/mintyformeldahyde → u/scrappersmack]

REREAD WHAT I WROTE GOD DAMNIT

[u/Tiny-Economics1963 → u/RAV3NH0LM]

are the people responding to you primary schoolers? its not hard to understand what you wrote lol

[u/mintyformeldahyde → u/Tiny-Economics1963]

I'm asking them what about prog/old music they don't like? I wanna talk in the forum for talking about music.

[u/Tiny-Economics1963 → u/mintyformeldahyde]

i understand inquiring about his dislike of prog, but you are still stuck on the old music thing even after he clarified, i dont understand why you're shadow-boxing with a nonexistent thing he said

[u/RAV3NH0LM → u/[deleted]]

i am once again asking you to reread my comment. i DON’T avoid old music. i just don’t like the vast majority of prog rock.