Best of Progressive Rock 2021


Progressive rock is one of my great loves, from Yes (the old Yes) to Spock’s Beard to… today’s contenders, I listen to a lot of prog. And, if you’re here, you’re probably like me!


Number Five: The Ranch – Together to Get Here to Get Here Together


That album is good, and I mean, so good! First off, it’s not every day you get to talk about a band from Malta, that little island in the Mediterranean, and I guess it’s even rarer to talk about such an incredible one! With a perfect blend of prog rock and jazz fusion, … Read more

Best of Post-Rock 2021


Plug all the effect pedals at your local music store into one another and record an album with that, you’ll end up on my list.


Number Five: Voids – Who Needs the Words When There Are Stars Above?


Let’s start with an underground act: Voids, from Russia! Who Needs the Words […] was late to the party, coming out in late December, but it truly deserves to be on this list; vast, expansive, atmospheric, and a little heavy side makes for a great experience!


Number Four: Maybe She Will – No Feeling Is Final


UK’s Maybe She Will released a … Read more

Best of Nu Prog 2021


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 … Read more

Best of Jazzcore 2021


Jazzcore is one of these things that’s really, really good, but that doesn’t get a ton of attention, and doesn’t get a ton of releases either! It nonetheless covers a wide range of sounds, from the improvised to the purely written, from prog-adjacent to jazz-adjacent to… a lot of other things! It’s a great genre, and here’s my best picks for 2021.


Number Five: Skeletonized Quartet – Future Shock


Skeletonized has been around for some time, and they’ve been quite consistent with releases! Putting out a few releases every year at least! With Future Shock, you can hear their … Read more

Best of Jazz Fusion 2021


Fusion, in this case, is when multiple genres blend together to form something new. Jazz fusion, then, is traditionally jazz mixed with rock, but I’m more generous than that, and I’m including any sort of genre-crossing in this list!


Number Five: Cory Wong & Dirty Loops – Turbo


This might be more cheesy than a Swiss raclette, but I’ll be damned if I didn’t have a ton of fun listening to this collaboration! As always with Dirty Loops, you can expect to throw your instrument in the trash and consider finding yourself a new hobby, but in the end it’s … Read more