Best of Nu Prog 2021 - CTEBCM: Can This Even Be Called Music?

Let’s move on to nu prog, a genre that is somewhat obsessed with solo musicians and their guitars. Here are the album that I enjoyed the most out of 2021!

Number Five: Dzũng – Dzanca

On Dzanca, Vietnamese guitarist Dzung brings us eleven songs inspired by traditional Vietnamese folk songs. This gives the album a very distinctive feeling and sound, and I’m glad to hear these traditional songs, however transformed!

Number Four: Bodhi – Koans

Bodhi has been at it for some time now, and Koans is there to remind us why: melodies that stick in your mind, guitar licks that strike the imagination, and progressions that are sensible and challenging. One of the best albums of the year!

Number Three: Syncatto – A Place to Breathe

Syncatto is largely known for including flamenco-style guitar techniques to his music, and A Place to Breathe is a good example of that. It’s subtle, not so obvious as to question the genre of the compositions, but just enough to give it some taste and individuality.

Number Two: Jack & Owane – Chapter One: Shredemption

Owane and Jack are both renowned musicians making amazing music. Hell, Owane released another EP this year that I struggled not to include in this list! However, I favoured the collaborative effort he made with colleague Jack Gardiner. Chapter One: Shredemption is a delightful album filled with humour, taste, and unrestricted talent. You’ll have a lot of fun listening to this one!

Number One: Von Citizen – Outlier

This has got to be one of my proudest discoveries of the year. Chinese nu prog band Von Citizen released a truly astonishing debut album with Outlier, an album that would spin multiple times whenever I wanted that special blend of respectable musicianship, jazz-borrowed harmonies, and accessibility. It’s still a puzzle to me why this band and album hasn’t exploded in the prog music communities, and hopefully I can reach a few new ears with this post.