The endless prog list: how many bands do you know?

From King Crimson to Burial: the list that divides music lovers

How many cult pogre rock and electronic bands can you recognize on a list that runs from King Crimson to Burial? The question sounds simple, but it hides a battle over what it means to have good musical taste. The list in question mentions everything from prog classics like Yes and Genesis to contemporary acts like Nils Frahm and Aphex Twin. Some claim that citing bands like Cressida, Beggars Opera or Univers Zero is a sign of having spent your adolescence in second-hand record shops, and that this background is an archive, not a fad. Others see it as an exercise for the chosen few, a "geek fest for scholars" with keyboards that sound like calculators and an unjustified air of superiority. The criticism extends to American 70s prog, accused of pure know-it-all syndrome: impossible arrangements that add no emotion.

The contrast with commercial music is inevitable. The list is set against Rosalía's "malamente", as if a culture of twenty-minute tracks with more tempo changes than an office worker's contract were superior to the three-minute song. That's where the political comments appear: the same people who don't buy the list are the ones who claim unemployment is at 8% or that Spain is a role model. The final put-down is dry irony: ten well-made tracks are enough for me, the rest is like the president's speech, lots of talk, little substance.

The question is not whether you know Cartoon or Happy the Man. The question is why musical knowledge becomes a badge of identity that separates those who "know" from those who don't. The answer probably has more to do with the need to belong than with the music itself.