NToM #51
Neo-Prog-Fusion
Okay, a bit of a different take on things this week and it may become something I do on occasion. I want to highlight a band that deserves a whole lot more exposure and appreciation. It is criminal that they are performing as a Doors cover band to help make ends meet after two decades of producing album after album of absolute sonic bliss. They are highly praised and critically acclaimed but have not reached a large audience.
Field Music has consistently been in my rotation since I stumbled on them around 2020. If you like bands like Yes, Supertramp, XTC, Genesis, Peter Gabriel, Talking Heads, Prince, Sparks and The Beatles, then you are in for a real treat. And yes, I realize those are all wildly different bands. While you can definitely hear the influences, I find myself hearing bits and pieces that are somehow nostalgic, never do they sound plagiaristic. And they are definitely worthy of being in the same conversation as the bands I mentioned above.
Every one of their albums is a gem but I will highlight a few below. As far as genres go, I would call them prog-fusion but not in the jazz sense.
Click on the album titles to add them to your library:
Field Music - Making a New World (2020)
Top Tracks – Coffee or Wine, Between Nations, Only in a Man’s World
My take – My personal favorite, a concept album with 19 (mostly short) tracks tracing how WWI shaped the future of civilization. If I didn’t know better, I would think Only in a Man’s World was a long last demo by Talking Heads and Prince.
Field Music - Flat White Moon (2021)
Top Tracks – Orion From the Street, No Pressure, The Curtained Room
My take – Maybe their most accessible record, 70s-tinged pop that recalls 10cc, McCartney, and Peter Gabriel-era Genesis.
Field Music - Open Here (2018)
Top Tracks – Time in Joy, Open Here, Find a Way to Keep Me
My take – Think The Beatles, Sparks, XTC and Talking Heads with a full orchestra crashing the party — strings, horns, flutes, the lot.
Field Music - Limits of Language (2024)
Top Tracks – Turn the Hours Away, On the Other Side, I Might Have Been Wrong
My take – This one is more synth forward and has a definite XTC undercurrent along with early Genesis, angular Talking Heads and even moments of Devo, Kraftwerk, Bowie and Phil Collins. These moments are exactly that, nostalgic call backs that don’t overwhelm or take over.
Field Music & The NASUWT Riverside Band - Binding Time (2024)
Top Tracks – Busy at His Play, Londonderry, Landless Forever
My take – Written entirely for a 7-piece brass band, utterly unlike anything else in their catalogue and completely beautiful.
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