Classical music has gone from unlistenable to unchanging to sonic wallpaper. But it sure is relaxing. Conlon Nancarrow. Anna Meredith. Phillip Glass. Anna Thorvaldsdottir. Danny Kaye. White Christmas.

Roger CortonTo quote from your last e-mail “Music is purposely dull these days and has been for the past forty years. Speaking of ‘dull’, are you feeling re-energized?

JCHNice lead-in. I’m getting back there. Being sick is so boring. And as I wrote, that pretty much describes serious music for the past forty years. It’s the aural (a-u-r-a-l) equivalent of Ambien®.

RCOuch. Ironically, in our last rant, you railed against trying to do classical music in a populist way. It seems like you’re never satisfied.

JCHYou just figured that out? Here’s a question: when someone says “Modern Classical Music”, what are the first sounds that come into yer mind?

RCI don’t know exactly, but I can picture myself covering my ears.

JCHExactly! You’re imagining dissonance. Somewhat punishing to listen to. Like […]

In which we discuss ‘covers’ and what kinds of Prog does JC absolutely hate? Liquid Tension Experiment’s cover of Gershwin’s Rhapsody In Blue. Performance vs. real Music. ELP’s Toccata vs. Pictures At An Exhibition.

Roger CortonYou sent me this video clip of Liquid Tension Experiment’s cover of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody In Blue. I’ve seen it. I’m sure most of the fans have seen it. Or if they haven’t they’re familiar with both the players in LTE and the original Rhapsody In Blue.

JCHThis is a large part of what drives me nuts about ‘prog’…

RCOK, so before you get all fired up, let’s be clear from the start that this is not really a ‘discussion’ so much as full rant mode.

JCHHopefully not. Well, maybe. OK, damn it to hell… YEAH! (laughs).

RCAt least you’re honest about it now. That shows some personal growth. But before going into any details, I want to understand why oh […]

JC’s Not Ten Progressive Rock list. These are albums that nobody would mistake for progressive rock; records where another genre tried to stretch out and incorporate other styles just like ‘prog’ and did so in a masterful way. They are each very influential within their genre and should be on every progressive rock listener’s radar.

Roger CortonYet another list? Brother, we’re going from extreme no-fun opera to all lists, all the time. What’s up?.

JCHWell first of all, who doesn’t love a TRILOGY! And second of all, these are records that were, for me, what progressive rock was trying to do: start from point a, incorporate point b and end up with something completely different.

RCCompletely different like Monty Python?

JCHCompletely different like the difference between a fruit cake, where you can see all the individual bits, technically a ‘colloid’, and a compound, something genuinely new.

RCThat’s hard. One of the most tired clichés in my opinion has to do with ‘bringing […]