Most listened to bands/artists of late would probably include:
Porcupine Tree
Flower Kings
IQ
Neil Young
U2
Mostly Autumn
Pineapple Thief
Spocks Beard
Heather Nova
and many, many more
am adding :-
Camel
The Enid
Wishbone Ash
Barclay James Harvest
Mike Oldfield
Tangerine Dream
going through a retro phase at the moment ;D
There is a couple of worthy alternative bands. Instead of Porcupine Tree and TFK. Introduce yourself to OPETH(cd"Damnation"=2003) and RETROHEADS(cd"Retrospective"=2004).
I have the last 3 Opeth albums but haven't heard of Retroheads (will check them out, cheers..!!). Anathema are more than worthy of a listen too and the debut album "out of Myself" by Polish band Riverside.
I think I'd use the phrase "as well as" rather than "instead of" as well ;)
Sorry my bad english. :( As for Opeth, I like their cd"Damnation". It's predecessors are not my cup of tea. Retroheads is the brainchild of Tore Bo Bendixen(ex-Fruitcake). If you like early TFK, you will be impressed with cd"Retrospective" too. Go to http://www.retroheads.com/
Apologies Voyager, hadn't realised English wasn't your native tongue :o
I've actually got all the Fruitcake albums so Retroheads does sound like something I would like. I've had a look at the site & read some of the reviews - inteesting that they are likened to Camel who are a big favourite of mine as well. It will certainly go on my "wants" list now. Thanks ;D
Glad to inform you something special, Moonloop. :) I think, that Retroheads is the best prog-newcomer for last year! Do you know something about US-trio Navigator? Their influences are gaints of 70-s era (ELP, Genesis, Yes, Pink Floyd etc.). And such a wonderful site you can see. http://www.navigatorontheweb.com/
Never heard of The Retroheads but checked out Progarchives.com for more info. Looks very interesting. Norwegain band, there is always a lot of excellent music coming from the Skandinavian countries! ;D They've got a couple of longer tracks on their album and use a some old-seventies instruments like moog, mellotron, Hammond. I like that! ;D
Anathema was mentioned below. I recommend Eternity. Fantastic album. Gloomy, dark, rough, sad, sensitive, Eternity got it all! ;D