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i am a prog rock devotee! that's all i listened to growing up. it's often hard for me to listen to very straight pop music coz i find it so boring and one-dimensional.

mahavishnu is good for the fusing of some indian stuff and the whole jazz/rock thing. most mathy prog tends to blend classical and rock, though king crimson did do some borderline indian-influenced stuff in the 80s [discipline, beat, three of a perfect pair all have little forays into it]. Yes, Nektar, Gentle Giant, Brand X, Happy the Man, Camel, Vermillion, Gwar, Rush, Jethro Tull, UK, Jean Luc Ponty, PFM Cook, Eddie Jobson [solo], Genesis [early], ELP, Van Der Graaf Generator all had their spins on prog, but each band had its own special twist on how they did the math, so to speak. Some are more metal-y prog [Rush kinda can be classified as that], others were more classically-oriented [ELP & Yes, esp. with Rick Wakeman at the helm--ELP did straight-up remakes of tchaikovsky works], others had folksier moods [Camel, Tull], others went more fusiony/funk [Brand X] and others are more bluesy, at least in parts [Nektar]. so there's a big dictionary from which to cull, given that most of these bands explored a pretty vast musical terrain. but they really are unique musical explorations. some folks classify Pink Floyd as prog, and i can see why, but i just think of Floyd as more 'experimental.' their music had more mood and less musical "prowess", at least in terms of how i think of it [ie; lots of odd time, big arrangements, massive drumming, complex and extended musical passages, etc, etc]. i love them nonetheless.

newer bands like Dream Theatre and Porcupine Tree also fall into the prog family, though i am less familiar with their works. i do want to check out Porcupine more, coz i understand gavin harrison is outstanding.

regarding indian stuff specifically [and apologies if i'm overpimping him], but my teacher gregg bendian has a lot of experience with it. this mahavishnu project he plays in [which is a john mclaughlin "endorsed" maha tribute band] does musical interpretations of original maha music, and a big part of it goes toward indian percussion sections. long percussion solos! it's way cool. i can't tell you how great it is studying with someone who is in the exact same musical headspace as me. plus he kicks ass as a jazz player.


anyhow, that's my long-winded reply to the math rock thing. prog rules, and i'm so glad there are still people putting forth prog works!