24 Apr 2024
UsernamePassword

Remember Me? | Join | Recover
Click here to sign in via social networking

Kev Rowland - Book Review: The Progressive Underground vol 1 - 3

27 Jan 2021 // A review by Peter-James Dries

It is an odd circumstance, to be in the position of reviewing reviews. Reviews are one person’s personal, subjective opinion. Alas, critiquing other’s opinions popularised philosophy, without which I would never have passed university. So, into Kev Rowland’s new book I shall delve.

Let us begin with clarity for the mis- and un- informed.

No, this review is not about that Kev Rowland, frontman for Dexys Midnight Runners. However, if that was your first thought, then you’re probably of the right age to appreciate what this Kev is dealing.

Genres away from the wrong Rowland’s Come on, Eileen, progressive rock is an experimental and arty niche market. More popular in decades forgotten, mainstream media pretends 'prog' doesn't exist in our modern times. Perhaps because you could fit three songs by cheaper bands into the radio slot it takes to fit one prog song's intro.

It’s the domain of bands like Pink Floyd, Porcupine Tree and Tool, to name the few that the lay-person may know. They’re bands that approach genre with such promiscuity they can no longer be defined by a single one. The bands that fall so far outside of normal genre nomenclature that they’re sound is usually referred to by their names; “Tool-ish”, “Pink Floydian”. A bastion for pseudo-intellectual stoners, pretentious neck-beards, and your dad; people for whom the normal verse-chorus-verse song structure is too passé.

This Kev Rowland is almost certifiably the biggest fan of the genre, were there such a certificate. Furthermore, they are the author of more progressive rock reviews than there are progressive rock bands. Well, bands that you’ve heard of at least.

Laying his fan card on the table, Rowland has brought all of these reviews together to create a veritable Encyclopaedia Progressivica in three volumes. An alphabetical subjective history of progressive rock, outside of chronological order naturally, because Prog makes its own rules, man. The Progressive Underground: the ultimate pan-progressive fanzine.

Before Wikipedia, even before personalised Geocities sites dedicated to our favourite bands, fanzines were a public service. Nowhere else could you find the favourite pasta dish of your favourite singer. While we could barely muster the effort to vivid and twink our favourite bands name into our pencil cases, these industrious individuals, armed with stationery, a fist-full of stamps, and a love for the music, were our sole source of information.

And as it does, the world has come full-circle.

With the advent of cheap home recording solutions the internet has almost reached its capacity hosting all of the new ‘bands’ that have emerged, all vying for your attention, all sharing their favourite food. Finding a raindrop in a desert is as difficult as finding one in a river. Lucky then, for people like Kev Rowland.

While not a complete compendium of every album ever released by any prog band, The Progressive Underground is the go-to resource for dabblers in scene, looking to sort the hits from the shit. Across the uncounted pages you will find all the information you will need to sojourn the underground network of releases the mainstream doesn’t care enough about to shun. With the prog-expert Kev at the wheel, you’ll have no issue sieving out the unlistenable from the enlightened.

You can find copies of the three volumes of The Progressive Underground all over the internet, but here it is on Amazon.

Rating: ( 5 / 5 )
 

Other Reviews By Peter-James Dries

Yann Le Dorré - Album Review: The Circus is Closed
19 Dec 2023 // by Peter-James Dries
“We are Sex Bob-Omb and we're here to make you think about death and get sad and stuff!” - Scott Pilgrim vs.
Read More...
Sanoi - Album Review: Echoes Of Home
25 Nov 2023 // by Peter-James Dries
Electronica offers no escapism for me. It’s more of what I already have.
Read More...
Throng - EP Review: Decoherence
20 Oct 2023 // by Peter-James Dries
You know that thing where the letter B has a personality, or words have textures and colours? That’s called synaesthesia.
Read More...
Fortress Europe - Album Review: Old World
10 Oct 2023 // by Peter-James Dries
Have you ever been torn between listening to Mozart or Periphery? Does Epica have too much of that darn singing for your tastes?
Read More...
Yurt Party - Album Review: Yurt Party
07 Sep 2023 // by Peter-James Dries
It sure isn't summer, and this is really not the Balkans, but Yurt Party’s new self-titled album refutes that. Back with another one of them Balkan rocking beats, Yurt Party’s debut is jazzy, erratic, and full of zest and energetic grooves, with flavour notes of ska, dub, and bergamot.
Read More...
day13n - Album Review: /7/13/7/
06 Aug 2023 // by Peter-James Dries
I’m too old for this world. We’ve devolved to the point where music is only as good as the soundtrack to your 10 second TikTok, and the thirty thousand copies recycling the idea.
Read More...
The New Existentialists - Single Review: Invocation
16 Jul 2023 // by Peter-James Dries
The New Existentialists, a doom metal band known for their dark and atmospheric soundscapes, have just… Wait a minute… No. The New Existentialists are really not a doom metal band, and they’re really not known for their dark soundscapes… They’re more known as stalwarts of a bygone era.
Read More...
Samuel Philip Cooper - Album Review: Journey to Sobriety
01 Jun 2023 // by Peter-James Dries
Samuel Philip Cooper sits on the brink of social media stardom, with videos of his belting out pop music piano covers from behind a pair of thick spectacles racking up views and likes on Insta. Little do any of the mindless doom scrollers swiping through his reels know, but percolating behind his eye brows is the very key to their very salvation.
Read More...
View All Articles By Peter-James Dries

NZ Top 10 Singles

  • TOO SWEET
    Hozier
  • BEAUTIFUL THINGS
    Benson Boone
  • LOSE CONTROL
    Teddy Swims
  • I LIKE THE WAY YOU KISS ME
    Artemas
  • SATURN
    SZA
  • STICK SEASON
    Noah Kahan
  • END OF BEGINNING
    Djo
  • LIKE THAT
    Future And Metro Boomin feat. Kendrick Lamar
  • ESPRESSO
    Sabrina Carpenter
  • WE CAN'T BE FRIENDS (WAIT FOR YOUR LOVE)
    Ariana Grande
View the Full NZ Top 40...
muzic.net.nz Logo
100% New Zealand Music
All content on this website is copyright to muzic.net.nz and other respective rights holders. Redistribution of any material presented here without permission is prohibited.
Report a ProblemReport A Problem