Wednesday, July 9, 2025

Prog Is Alive radio show update

A 2025 update on my radio show, "Prog Is Alive!" which has been airing on WDRT Driftless Community Radio in Viroqua, Wisconsin, weekly at 10:00 PM every Sunday evening without break since 2015: 487 episodes (so far)!

Due to my family's relocation to the east side of the state (of Wisconsin) in May of 2019, my formerly-live broadcast had to move to a pre-recorded format. Thanks to Mead Public Library and John Tully's single-handed efforts to resuscitate Mead Public Radio, I have been able to pre-record my weekly episodes from a studio inside the Library (in the basement, of course) and then send them by email to the radio station in my former area of residence (Vernon County). With new operating and storage systems, Prog Is Alive has been available for syndication since the Autumn of 2023 and has, at various times, been picked up for broadcast on six other different radio stations in the United States, with four of these continuing to pick and choose my archived episodes for weekly broadcast. These include KXCJ in Cave Junction (7:00-9:00 PM Fridays), Oregon, WHPW in Harpswell (1:00-3:00 PM Saturdays), Maine, KROV in Oroville, California, WOOL in Bellows Falls, Vermont (11:00 PM to 1:00 AM Mondays-Tuesdays), as well as WSHS Mead Community Radio in Sheboygan, Wisconson (Mondays 5:00-7:00 PM). 

Though radio is not as popular as it once was, there are hotspots. And, hopefully, more stations will experiment with including episodes of Prog Is Alive in their programming!

Thanks for your interest and support!


Tuesday, July 1, 2025

2025's Best Prog Epics and Mesmerics

  I've only listened to about __ albums from 2025. These are my favorite songs of over nine minutes in length from 2025 studio releases:


Masterpieces:

1. "Twin Peaks" (13:49) - SOLSTICE - (30/30) = 10.0

2. "Lullaby for a Broken Dream" (16:17) - DOMINIC SANDERSON - (29.5/30) = 9.83
3. "The Great Divide" (13:13) - JOHN HOLDEN - (24.5/25) = 9.8
4. "From the Weeping Cradle" (12:00) - DOMINIC SANDERSON(24.5/25) = 9.8
5. "Frippada Andaluza (La mar limpia)" (10:04) - MALABRIEGA - (19.5/20) = 9.75

"The Shadow Man Incident" (19:32) - DREAM THEATER - (38/40) = 9.5
"Digital Coma" (17:19) - ATOMIC TIME - (33/35) = 9.43
"Billiards of Pit" (21:54) - WIPPY BONSTACK - (42.375/45) = 9.417
"Storm Warning" (9:41) - JOHN HOLDEN - (18.75/20) = 9.375
"Demain à l'aube" (13:39) - GÉRALD MASSOIS - (28/30) = 9.333
"Doomstar" (15:58) - DOCTORS OF SPACE - (28/30) = 9.333
"All the Light That Shines" (13:31) - CEA SERIN - (28/30) = 9.333
"Voie Aérienne" (24:22) - PAREIDOLON - (46.5/50) - 9.3

"Faithless Folly" (10:27) - DOMINIC SANDERSON - (18.5/20) = 9.25
"Dead Asleep" (11:06) - DREAM THEATER - (18.5/20) = 9.25
"Waving at the Sky" (12:18) - AVKRVST - (23/25) = 9.20
"No More Bombs (only Bongs!)" (12:54) - DOCTORS OF SPACE - (23/25) = 9.2
"Hamburg's Heaviest Pebble" (15:48) - TOM PENAGUIN - (27.5/30) = 9.1667
"Where None Shall Follow" (12:09) - CEA SERIN - (22.875/25) = 9.125
"Future Perfect World" (9:38) - PATTERN-SEEKING ANIMALS - (18.25/20) = 9.125
"Where the Lack of Logic Lies" (11:21) - FLUCTUS QUADRATUM - (18.25/20) = 9.125
"P.S. Far er død" (12:40) - DANEFAE - (22.75/25) = 9.10
"Cyclical Night" (12:35) - ATOMIC TIME - (22.75/25) = 9.1
"Voice of God" (16:53) - ATOMIC TIME - (31.75/35) = 9.07
"And We're Left Wondering Why" (9:17) - THE EMERALD DAWN - (18.125/20) = 9.0625



Other Great Epics and Mesmerics:
"Kontraster" (20:14) - BRIEDABLIK - (36/40)) = 9.0
"Long Piece No. 1 Five Years Later" (16:33) - TOM PENAGUIN - (27/30) = 9.0 
"Last Letter Home" (Fig. 4) (14:45) - HOOFFOOT - (27/30) = 9.0
"Une colline sans nom" (14:32) - GÉRALD MASSOIS - (27/30) = 9.0
"Long Piece No. 1" (12:20) - TOM PENAGUIN - (22.5/25) = 9.0
"Another Holy Grail" (12:20) - PATTERN-SEEKING ANIMALS - (22.5/25) = 9.0
"Phantom Limb" (Fig. 1) (11:17) - HOOFFOOT - (18/20) = 9.0
"La bataille de l'Ebre Pt. 2" (10:41) - GÉRALD MASSOIS - (18/20) = 9.0
"Astral Zenith" (10:20) - THE LAB EXPERIENCE - (18/20) = 9.0
"Art and Craft" (9:17) - JOHN HOLDEN - (18/20) = 9.0
"Earthrise" (9:16) - AMBIENT DEN - (18/20) = 9.0
"Brujería" (9:13) - EKZILO - (18/20) = 9.0
"Camel" (9:11) - SOFT FFOG - (18/20) = 9.0
"The Book Of Hours Part IV" (9:03) - AGROPELTER - (18/20) = 9.0

"The Unknown Door" (22:33) - IQ - (40.333/45) = 8.963
"Transmutation"(22:53) - KARMAKANIC - (40.25/45) = 8.944
"When The Insane Go Marching In" (Fig. 2) (11:42) - HOOFFOOT - (17.875/20) = 8.9375
"Oh Jimi" (10:19) - SOFT FFOG (17.875/20) = 8.9375
"Night Terror" (9:55) - DREAM THEATER - (17.875/20) = 8.9375
"The Cell" (16:02) - MOONSHINE BLAST - (26.375/30) = 8.9167
"When the Wretched and the Brave Align" (11:13) - CEA SERIN - (22.25/20) = 8.9
"The Book Of Hours Parts I-IV" (33:19) - AGROPELTER - (57.75/65) = 8.885
"De Tre Gratier" (12:27) - LARS FREDRIK FRØISLIE - (22.125/25) = 8.885
"Violeta's Dream" (23:44) - ATOMIC TIME - (39.75/45) = 8.83
"The Overview" (18:27) - STEVEN WILSON - (35.5/40) = 8.875
"De Rerum Natura" (9:03) - CELESTE - (17.5/20) = 8.875
"Dunas" (9:09) - EKZILO - (17.5/20) = 8.875
"Patibulum" (9:10) - EKZILO - (17.5/20) = 8.875
"Medusas Flåte" (9:08) - LARS FREDRIK FRØISLIE - (17.75/20) = 8.875
"Objects Outlive Us" (23:19) - STEVEN WILSON - (44.25/50) = 8.85
"End of the Road" (10:22) - KARMAKANIC - (17.6667/20) = 8.8333
"The Last Voice" (18:35) - RED SAND - (35.25/40) = 8.8125
"The Book Of Hours Part I" (11:07) - AGROPELTER - (17.625/20) = 8.8125
"The Rose on the Ruin" (10:22) - CEA SERIN - (17.625/20) = 8.8125
"Natale 1914" (10:13) - LIMITE ACQUE SICURE - (17.625/20) = 8.8125
"Red Forest" - ENIGMATIC SOUND MACHINES - (17.625/20) = 8.8125
"D.o.o.m. (Mortuarii Octavarii Obscuri Declamatio)" (13:00) - DAAL - (22/25) = 8.8
"A Grief That Does Not Speak" (12:35) - JAMIE PARKER - (22/25) = 8.8


Also Considered:
"Waking In The Land Of Giants" (14:47) - JAMIE PARKER - (26.375/30) = 8.791667
"Evolution" (18:50) - EKZILO - (35/40) = 8.75
"The Radient" (17:39) - JAMIE PARKER - (30.625/35) = 8.75
"Under Changing Skies" (16:50) - THE EMERALD DAWN -  (30.625/35) = 8.75
"Direlight" (13:01) - FLUCTUS QUADRATUM - (21.875/25) = 8.75
"Jakten På Det Kalydonske Villsvin" (10:09) - LARS FREDRIK FRØISLIE - (17.5/20) = 8.75
"Lucifer, Bringer of Light" (10:49) - MOTORPSYCHO - (17.5/20) = 8.75
"A Storm is Brewing" (10:27) - DJABE & STEVE HACKETT - (17.5/20) = 8.75
"Wisdom of the Aging Fathers: Three Regards to Reason" (10:08) - CEA SERIN - (17.5/20) = 8.75
"Blue" (14:46) - ATOMIC TIME - (26.125/30) = 8.71
"Chickshit Burger Boy" (12:46) - DOCTORS OF SPACE - (21.75/25) = 8.7
"Until the Dark Responds" (12:39) - CEA SERIN - (21.75/25) = 8.7
"Neotzar (The Second Coming)" (21:07) - MOTORPSYCHO - (34.75/40) = 8.6875
"Kontraster" (19:51) - JORDSJØ - (34.75/40) = 8.6875
"Balthazaar" (11:40) - MOTORPSYCHO - (17.375/20) = 8.6875
"We Are The Young" (9:53) - COSMOGRAF - (17.375/20) = 8.6875
"Nubendi Traditi" (13:37) - LUCIANO MARGORANI - (26/30) = 8.667
"Terraforming" - AMBIENT DEN - (26/30) = 8.667
"Sliding Trees" (9:18) - DJABE & STEVE HACKETT - (17.125/20) = 8.5625
"Far from Here" (12:44) - IQ - (21/25) = 8.4
"Moon and Cloud Dancing" (12:01) - CELESTE - (21/25) = 8.4
"While Oceans Die" (13:57) - THE EMERALD DAWN - (25/30) = 8.333


As-yet unrated:
"Garden of Eden" (9:40) - EYE 2 EYE - (/20)
"Meadows of Silence" (12:03) - EYE 2 EYE - (/25)
"Lost Horizon ( Ghosts Endgame)" (22:45) - EYE 2 EYE - (/45)
"Time Has No Place" (16:37) - ECHOLYN - (/30) 
"Water in Our Hands, Pts. 1-4" (28:51) - ECHOLYN - (/60)
"Have Some Tea" (11:36) - THE AURORA PROJECT - (/20)
"Freedom of Thought" (9:09) - THE AURORA PROJECT - (/20)


Great but too short:
"How I Caught The Moon" (8:31) - JAMIE PARKER - (19.5/20) = 9.75
"Focus" (8:40) - SOFT FFOG - (19/20) = 9.5
"Істини / Truths" (8:57) - OBIYMY DOSCHU - (18.75/20) = 9.375
"Pocus" (8:30) - SOFT FFOG - (18.75/20) = 9.375
"A Broken Man" (8:30) - DREAM THEATER - (18.75/20) = 9.375
"Fusing your Synapses" (8:46) - ATOMIC TIME - (18.667/20) = 9.333
"The Ebb and Flow of Heartache" (8:43) - PAREIDOLON - (18.5/20) = 9.25
"The Seventh Sleeper" (8:11) - PATTERN-SEEKING ANIMALS - (13.75/15)
"This Jewel Was Ours" (8:46) - JOHN HOLDEN - (18/20) = 9.0


* Bold print connotes a song's elevation to Progressive Rock's Vahalla of all-time masterpieces.