Veterans of the Halls of Rock may recall our enthusiastic, hard-working sessions discussing the working definition of Proctomusicology and that aesthetic discipline's resulting music, Prock. The goal was to develop a validated, universally accepted notion of these terms, which could be used to shift the paradigm of rock criticism. Alas, we may have crawled up our own collective ass. Another post or two would follow this Working Definition, but eventually Townspeople threw up their hands and were content to use the term "Prock" without fully understanding its full implications. Perhaps revisiting this topic will inspire new research and debate. Perhaps not.

This post initially appeared 2/26/07.

Before a term makes it to the Rock Town Hall Glossary, it must first be identified and understood. A few weeks ago, we began work on defining the term Proctomusicology and its related terms Proctomusicologist and Prock. In the course of our investigations, it was determined that Prock, as a musical subgenre, might be the missing link that will unite previously segmented artists across rock subgenres.

During our initial examination, bands such spanning as wide a spectrum as Steely Dan, Apples in Stereo, XTC, Jellyfish, Adrian Belew-era King Crimson, Paul Simon, and Lindsey Buckingham were suggested as possible practitioners of Prock. Along the way, we tried to determine what united these musicians, what characteristics both they and their fans might have had in common.

One characterization of Proctomusicology and Prock practitioners, as offered by a Townsperson, that we could agree on was as follows:

Music that's almost exclusively built on styles and attitudes fom Rock's past, without making any claims of overt revivalism.

There was also the suspicion that Prock music is, as one Townsperson put it:

Music for AND by the tight-assed.

Follow up:

The Proctomusicologist, as another Townsperson remarked, displays, "an overt intention to approach rock from an intellectual mindset." I remember having multiple debates with 2 friends over the merits of my beloved (unabashedly through The Big Express and with reservations thereafter) XTC. Once, in the heat of a 2-on-1 debate (2 XTC fans vs a definite non-fan), after my XTC-loving friend and I compared The Power and Glory of XTC at their peak (ie, Black Sea and English Settlement) to that of Led Zeppelin. Our nonbeliever friend proclaimed: "But XTC has no blues!" We didn't need no stinkin' blues from our powerful Prock music!

Another friend complained to me that the music of XTC was "constipated" and lacking in sexuality. This charge didn't faze me. I responded that one of the things that's great about XTC is how twisted their emotional impact is because of their inability to cut loose. I don't know - is it like the aging process of wine or cheese? But I don't want to get sidetracked by a ranking of the 14 Top 5 XTC albums.

It's not just tight-asses that are key but getting one's head up one's ass...Prock bands get up their own collective ass, for instance, to ensure that the tambourine comes out of precisely the desired angle of the stereo spectrum, the backing vocals are processed to sound as if they were coming through a 1971 Panasonic transistor radio - not a 1973 model!

However, for as much progress as we made, there was a call to tighten up our focus:

When you can put Lindsey Buckingham, Apples In Stereo and 80s King Crimson in the same cateogory, you've lost me.

General Slocum left us with the final word on our initial foray into this definition:

Isn't Paul's proctomusicological bent what really broke up the Beatles? The ultimate proctomusician was Webern. His entire life output is maybe 4 hours long, yet it is impacted with years of material! I'm thinking here of the classic definition of anal-retentiveness. What, then, would be the term for anal-expulsive acts such as the Dead? And would bio films made about some of these artists be Prock-u-dramas? Also, could the ultimate proctomusician be Robert Christgau, who's head is so far up his rectum as to prevent musical sounds ever being uttered at all, leaving only Criticism, the Silent But Deadly musical art?

So, there is work to be done. I posit that the shared approach these diverse musicians take toward their art results in a body of work that can be bundled and understood by sympathetic fans of this approach to music making. For instance, if you have a friend who followed his or her prog-rock background (OK, who are we kidding - his) through to Adrian Belew-era King Crimson, there's a chance this friend is going to "get" something out of XTC he won't find in a more loosey-goosey, eccentric pop band, like NRBQ, a band that is decidedly not Prock. Similarly, if you developed a taste for the brainy, sometimes forced tinkering with pop formalities of an XTC, you may be more inclined to "get" something under Fripp's heavy manners while not ever grasping the more organic prog of early Soft Machine or Genesis. But don't let my personal experiences distract you from the main task at hand.

Is there a shared approach that in and of itself can be appreciated by a certain segment of rock fans? Does this shared approach add to each specific genre in which it is applied? Do Prock artists have a certain "touch" that can be felt and that is distinct from that of other musicians in their field of practice who take a less-cerebral approach to their art?

I look forward to your help in further constructing this working definition.