Odds & Ends: September 1, 2025

Band: Jordsjø & Breidablik | Album: Kontraster | Genre: Progressive rock, Progressive folk, Krautrock | Bandcamp

Norwegian bands Jordsjø and Breidablik team up on this album to each deliver one epic apiece, fittingly titled “Kontraster” (“Contrasts”). Jordsjø’s composition is some of their best music in a long time, featuring a thrilling mix of classic prog that filters the influences of Genesis and King Crimson through their Norse folk-tinged lens. This work is balanced against many pretty acoustic moments that feel like they’re rooted in scenic fjords, but still with a foot in the modern prog-rock movement. Breidablik’s offering is much more electronic. Tangerine Dream, Vangelis, and other early prog-electronic acts are their obvious inspiration. Hints of their homeland still peek through, though. Airy flutes and twinkling guitars shine against the backing of looping synths.

Score: 91/100

Band: King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard | Album: Phantom Island | Genre: Progressive pop | Bandcamp

King Gizzard’s latest album is a bit borderline for this site, but I enjoyed it overall. On this release, the band has incorporated a full orchestra into their music, and it’s a successful experiment. The lush soundscapes complement and elevate the band’s smart, Southern-inflected art rock, and it pushes the album from “fine” to “pretty good.” Their previous record didn’t really resonate with me; this is in a similar vein, but the freshness of all the strings and winds helps the band better realize their ideas.

Score: 78/100

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Album Review: The Mars Volta – Lucro sucio; Los ojos del vacio

Band: The Mars Volta | Album: Lucro sucio; Los ojos del vacio | Genre: Art rock | Year: 2025

From: El Paso, USA | Label: Clouds Hill

Bandcamp

I was not super jazzed about this album in the period leading up to its release. The Mars Volta’s 2022 self-titled was not a good record. I savaged it as being underbaked, half-assed, and overall un-Voltaic. Supposedly, the acoustic re-recording of that album from 2023 is better, but I haven’t listened to it. I thought the underlying songwriting was weak enough that an aesthetic reshaping couldn’t save it.

TMV’s new album is Lucro sucio; Los ojos del vacio (Dirty Luck; the Eyes of Emptiness). It’s 18 songs long, so that daunted me a bit at first glance. But the total runtime is under 50 minutes, so it’s not as bad as I initially feared. I was dreading the prospect of something with the sound of their self-titled coupled with the length of Frances the Mute.

I’m happy to report my fears were largely misplaced. Lucro sucio is a huge improvement over The Mars Volta. The songs are relatively short, but they don’t suffer from the same underdeveloped qualities of their reunion record. Songs flow together smoothly, giving this a sense of cohesion the last album sorely lacked.

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Best of 2024: Top 50 Prog Albums Part 1: 50-26

It’s time for The Elite Extremophile’s Top 50 Prog Albums of 2024! This is the first half of the list, and you can find the second half here.

As a reminder, the music on this list covers December 2023 to November 2024. I spend much of December compiling and editing this list, so I push releases from that month into the following year’s list.

This is also a one-man operation, in regard to reviewing. (Many thanks to my proofreaders/editors, Kelci and Dan.) I’m sure there’s plenty of great music out there I simply didn’t get to. I’ve also got my own biases against certain styles and trends.

2024 wound up being an alright year for the sort of stuff I cover here. It felt like it started off somewhat slow, but in the end, it wasn’t too challenging for me to find 50 records worthy of being highlighted.

Now, onto the list!

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Best of 2024: Cool Songs

Welcome to the first installment of The Elite Extremophile’s Best of 2024. Today we’re starting off with Cool Songs, to be followed by the Top EPs tomorrow and the Top Albums on Wednesday and Thursday.

Before we get to it, let me give my usual Best-Of disclaimers. This is a one-man operation, in regard to writing the reviews. My proofreaders Kelci and Dan are very helpful, but I’m sure there was plenty of great music I just simply couldn’t get around to. I’ve also got my own personal biases against certain styles and trends.

And as a reminder, these year-end lists cover music released between December 2023 and November 2024. I spend much of December compiling and editing these lists, so I don’t bother searching for new music released in December until the new year.

This segment is meant to show off great tracks that do not appear on my other year-end lists. If a release makes my best EPs or best albums list, it is disqualified from appearing in this particular segment.

Without further ado, let’s get to it!

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Odds & Ends: November 4, 2024

Band: Arcane Atlas | Album: Constellation Plus | Genre: Progressive rock, Art rock | Bandcamp

Arcane Atlas plays a relatively light and relaxing variety of prog. Expansive atmospheres and lush textures have a calming effect, and there are some really enchanting passages here. ‘90s Rush and ‘90s Yes are the most obvious influences to my ear. This album’s instrumental moments are its best. This duo does a great job at establishing a mood and toying around with drama. Not everything here is a winner (“Sample”, in particular, was a tough listen for me), but this band’s occasional veers into soft rock are forgivable in the end. If you’re looking for something intelligent but soothing, Constellation Plus is a good choice.

Score: 76/100

Band: Bent Knee | Album: Twenty Pills Without Water | Genre: Art rock | Bandcamp

This is a welcome return to form for Bent Knee after their unimpressive last outing. Smart pop hooks are mixed in amidst creative and surprising arrangements. The textures are lush, and the vocals are strong, as usual. Parts of this record can veer into less-distinctive sorta-art-poppy-type stuff every now and then, but overall, Bent Knee does a great job at weaving together accessible and inventive elements.

Score: 79/100

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Album Review: Leprous – Melodies of Atonement

Band: Leprous | Album: Melodies of Atonement | Genre: Art rock | Year: 2024

From: Notodden, Norway | Label: InsideOut Music

Bandcamp

Leprous have returned three years after their last release. I’ve been pretty blunt in my disappointment with Aphelion, Pitfalls, and Malina. (Malina came out before I started this site, but I’ve mentioned it.) They went from being an inventive, dynamic metal act with some creative songwriting to a rather bland art-rock act that leaned way too heavily on sudden quiet-loud contrasts. Bilateral is one of my favorite albums of all time, so the last decade or so has been rather disappointing.

Vocalist and primary songwriter Einar Solberg said he wanted to strip away the orchestral elements that have been prominent on their last few records for this release, and that experiment largely pays dividends. Melodies of Atonement is Leprous’s best album since The Congregation, though I wouldn’t quite call this “good” as a whole. They’re on the right path, however!

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Album Review: Chief Bromden – In/tense Logic

Band: Chief Bromden | Album: In/tense Logic | Genre: Art rock, Post-punk | Year: 2024

From: Czechia | Label: Full Moon Forum

For fans of: Atsuko Chiba, The Mars Volta, RX Bandits

Bandcamp

Chief Bromden is a Czech post-punk act that integrates a lot of progressive rock into their music. They’ve got inventive, unorthodox structures, and their instrumental passages are exciting and masterfully played. I liked their debut album Slunovrat a lot, so I was excited to hear their follow-up. In/tense Logic comes about four years after their debut (and two years after their Noise Forever EP, which I simply just never got around to).

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Odds & Ends: May 6, 2024

Band: Caverns Measureless | Album: Caverns Measureless | Genre: Progressive folk | Bandcamp

Scottish one-man experimental act Caverns Measureless plays a creepy, unsettling, and adventurous variety of folk-rock on their self-titled sophomore album. Acoustic guitar and mandolin plink alongside violin and flutes, while the occasional brash stab of electric guitar sends the atmosphere careening in another direction. The compositions are wiry and fluid, often changing path suddenly. All the songs here are complex, creative, and moody.

Score: 76/100

Band: Hizbut Jámm | Album: Hizbut Jámm | Genre: Psychedelic folk | Bandcamp

Hizbut Jámm is an interesting quartet. It consists of two Poles on guitar and drums, a Senegalese musician on guitar and vocals, and a Burkinabe musician playing the kora–a type of lute from West Africa. The lyrics are sung in Wolof and French, and West African melodies and scales are woven into the music. But this fusion also draws heavily from the tradition of Euro-American psychedelia. Textures are lush and dreamy, and the overall mood is hypnotic. Hizbut Jámm is an entrancing listen, and it’s a rewarding experience both as passive background music and as the subject of more active listening.

Score: 83/100

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Album Review: L’Ombra – Soli

Band: L’Ombra | Album: Soli | Genre: Progressive rock, Art rock | Year: 2024

From: Chambéry, France | Label: Independent

For fans of: Harmonium, The Strawbs

Bandcamp

Back in 2019, L’Ombra’s debut EP took the top spot on my inaugural Top EPs list. Their music was relatively accessible, but it still featured plenty of artsy, inventive playing and arrangements. One of the things I liked most about it was how it used language. The five songs were in Italian, French, and English. The Italian and French songs had influences that drew from the classic eras of Italian and French progressive rock.

Five years later, they’ve come back with their debut full-length album, Soli. It stays in a similar overall vein as their self-titled EP, but the obvious linguistic-musical dynamics are less pronounced here. The Italian bits aren’t as reminiscent of classic Italian prog, and the French bits don’t necessarily feel all that French. The overall tenor is jazzy and rather relaxed, and it winds up being pretty solid.

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Odds & Ends: February 4, 2024

Band: Everything Oscillating | Album: The Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are | Genre: Progressive rock | Bandcamp

Everything Oscillating is an instrumental act that focuses on flashy, technical shredding. Two of the three members are the guitarist and bassist for the Seattle-based band Moon Letters, whom I’ve covered a couple times. EO does a great job threading the needle of balancing flashy instrumental antics and engaging songwriting. The best moments here call to mind classic bombastic ‘90s and early ‘00s prog bands like Liquid Tension Experiment and Transatlantic, with a bit more of a classic heavy metal influence. Jazz and Latin flavors are included naturally, and the (abbreviated) instrumental cover of “Achilles’ Last Stand” is done well, too. (I feel like I could write a short essay on my love for the original version of that song, and EO absolutely does it justice here. It’s right up there with “Carouselambra”, “In the Light”, and “The Rain Song” among my favorite Led Zeppelin cuts. (I know, shocker, my favorite Zeppelin songs are all among the band’s longest.))

Score: 79/100

Artist: Peter Gabriel | Album: i/o | Genre: Art pop | Bandcamp

Peter Gabriel’s first new album in 20 years is enjoyable. It’s decent, fairly arty pop with some good melodies and interesting ideas. His vocal performance is strong, and the production is clean, crisp, and professional. Compositionally, though, it doesn’t stand out. Post-rock flavors weave themselves into Gabriel’s usual somewhat-spacey writing style. It’s competent but not particularly memorable. i/o comes in two different mixes: the so-called “bright-side” and “dark-side” mixes. These two mixes are not meaningfully different. Yes, if you listen to each song’s bright and dark version, you can tell them apart, but the differences between the two are insubstantial, surface-level, and borderline-gimmicky. Publications (especially prog-focused ones) that included this on their best-of 2023 lists make me question if they just reflexively put every release from major ‘70s players on their year-end lists, regardless of quality. (In fact, I know several included Yes’s abysmal The Quest on their 2021 lists, so I suppose they do.) If you want some keyboard-forward art-pop to put on in the background, i/o will work, but this album doesn’t leave a lasting impression.

Score: 63/100

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