Progressive electronic represents the adventurous, boundary-pushing wing of electronic music where technical sophistication meets conceptual ambition. Emerging from the experimental studios of 1970s Berlin and Düsseldorf—where pioneers like Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze, and Cluster crafted sprawling cosmic journeys on modular synthesizers—the genre has continually reinvented itself across decades. Unlike ambient's focus on atmosphere or IDM's cerebral rhythmic deconstruction, progressive electronic emphasizes architectural compositions that evolve dramatically, often across extended durations, blending meticulous sound design with narrative arc.
The genre thrives on synthesis innovation and structural complexity. Contemporary artists like Oneohtrix Point Never and Floating Points inherit this legacy while incorporating digital manipulation, sampling archaeology, and post-internet aesthetics that distinguish their work from new age's meditative simplicity or glitch's fragmented textures. These artists construct immersive sonic worlds where arpeggiated sequences collide with textural abstraction, where vintage analog warmth meets cutting-edge production techniques, and where repetition serves not hypnosis but transformation.
What makes progressive electronic essential is its refusal to settle. It's music that demands active listening—rewarding patience with revelatory moments where rhythm, melody, and timbre align in unexpected ways. From Jean Michel Jarre's symphonic grandeur to Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith's modular explorations and death's dynamic shroud's vaporwave mutations, this is electronic music for the curious, the intrepid, those who want their headphones to feel like portals to未 uncharted dimensions. Progressive electronic doesn't just soundtrack the future—it engineers it.
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List updated:
| #58 | ByTangerine Dream | Released:1971-03-01 | |||
| #36 | ByKlaus Schulze | Released:1972-08 | |||
| #90 | ByTangerine Dream | Released:1973-03-01 | |||
| #70 | ByKlaus Schulze | Released:1973-10 | |||
| #86 | ByHarmonia | Released:1974-01-01 | |||
| #12 | ByTangerine Dream | Released:1974-02-20 | |||
| #15 | ByKraftwerk | Released:1974-11-01 | |||
| #80 | ByCluster | Released:1974 | |||
| #53 | ByKlaus Schulze | Released:1975-01-01 | |||
| #75 | ByKlaus Schulze | Released:1975-01 | |||
| #26 | ByTangerine Dream | Released:1975-03-21 | |||
| #6 | ByMort Garson | Released:1976-01-01 | |||
| #91 | ByKlaus Schulze | Released:1976-04-16 | |||
| #27 | ByTangerine Dream | Released:1976-10-01 | |||
| #13 | ByJean-Michel Jarre | Released:1976-12-05 | |||
| #16 | ByAshra | Released:1976 | |||
| #60 | ByKraftwerk | Released:1977-03-01 | |||
| #79 | ByAshra | Released:1977-10-18 | |||
| #41 | ByKraftwerk | Released:1977 | progressive electronicsynthpop | ||
| #100 | ByKlaus Schulze | Released:1978-09 | |||
| #95 | ByTangerine Dream | Released:1979-02-01 | |||
| #59 | ByCluster | Released:1979 | |||
| #88 | ByHarald Grosskopf | Released:1980-01-01 | |||
| #98 | ByTangerine Dream | Released:1980-05-01 | |||
| #83 | ByMichael Stearns | Released:1981-05-01 | |||
| #35 | BySteve Roach | Released:1984-08-24 | |||
| #68 | ByTangerine Dream | Released:1985-11 | |||
| #33 | ByJean Michel Jarre | Released:1992 | |||
| #17 | ByKraftwerk | Released:1993 | |||
| #47 | ByGlobal Communication | Released:1994-06-01 | |||
| #40 | ByVangelis | Released:1994-06-07 | |||
| #92 | ByJean Michel Jarre | Released:1997 | |||
| #49 | ByVangelis | Released:1999-11-16 | |||
| #65 | ByFour Tet | Released:2001-10-09 | |||
| #99 | ByKitaro | Released:2001 | |||
| #62 | ByZombi | Released:2004-08-03 | |||
| #8 | ByBrian Eno | Released:2005 | |||
| #52 | ByZombi | Released:2006-03-18 | |||
| #93 | ByOneohtrix Point Never | Released:2009-11-01 | |||
| #39 | ByC418 | Released:2010-03-22 | |||
| #19 | ByEmeralds | Released:2010-05-24 | |||
| #21 | ByOneohtrix Point Never | Released:2010-06-28 | |||
| #4 | ByC418 | Released:2011-03-04 | |||
| #87 | ByDonato Dozzy | Released:2011-04-27 | |||
| #56 | ByTangerine Dream | Released:2011-08-29 | |||
| #71 | ByKuedo | Released:2011-10-17 | |||
| #51 | BySteve Hauschildt | Released:2011-11-14 | |||
| #74 | ByThe Algorithm | Released:2012-01-16 | progressive electronic | ||
| #89 | ByBelbury Poly | Released:2012-02-24 | progressive electronic | ||
| #76 | ByThree Trapped Tigers | Released:2012-03-12 | |||
| #48 | ByOneohtrix Point Never | Released:2013-04-23 | |||
| #10 | ByOneohtrix Point Never | Released:2013-09-21 | |||
| #20 | ByC418 | Released:2013-11-09 | |||
| #14 | ByOneohtrix Point Never | Released:2014-03-20 | |||
| #34 | BySinoia Caves | Released:2014-09-02 | |||
| #64 | ByWeyes Blood | Released:2014-10-20 | |||
| #94 | ByElysia Crampton | Released:2015-10-01 | |||
| #28 | ByKaitlyn Aurelia Smith | Released:2016-04-01 | |||
| #66 | ByTim Hecker | Released:2016-04-08 | |||
| #1 | ByFloating Points | Released:2016-08-05 | |||
| #23 | ByKing Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard | Released:2016-12-02 | |||
| #96 | ByCavern of Anti-Matter | Released:2016 | |||
| #81 | ByMen I Trust | Released:2017-04-22 | |||
| #77 | ByOneohtrix Point Never | Released:2017-08-11 | |||
| #97 | ByOld Sorcery | Released:2017-10-31 | |||
| #38 | By7038634357 | Released:2018-01-18 | |||
| #43 | ByLena Raine | Released:2018-01-25 | |||
| #82 | ByDie Wilde Jagd | Released:2018-04-06 | |||
| #31 | By7038634357 | Released:2018-04-16 | |||
| #73 | ByJames Ferraro | Released:2018-05-18 | |||
| #69 | ByTOXE | Released:2018-06-22 | |||
| #46 | ByAnadol | Released:2018-07-13 | hypnagogic popprogressive electronic | ||
| #54 | ByDeathpact | Released:2018-10-19 | progressive electronic | ||
| #5 | ByOneohtrix Point Never | Released:2018-11-23 | |||
| #3 | ByGesaffelstein | Released:2019-03-08 | |||
| #9 | ByFloating Points | Released:2019-10-18 | |||
| #37 | ByAmon Tobin | Released:2019-10-25 | |||
| #84 | ByEmeralds | Released:2020-05-01 | |||
| #42 | ByA. G. Cook | Released:2020-08-12 | |||
| #45 | ByMatmos | Released:2020-08-21 | |||
| #11 | ByOklou | Released:2020-09-24 | |||
| #18 | ByOneohtrix Point Never | Released:2020-10-30 | |||
| #50 | BySamuel Organ | Released:2021-05-07 | |||
| #72 | ByStone Giants | Released:2021-05-07 | progressive electronic | ||
| #61 | ByMurlo | Released:2021-07-23 | progressive electronic | ||
| #2 | ByAlvedon | Released:2021-08-01 | |||
| #55 | ByBlood Incantation | Released:2022-02-25 | |||
| #7 | ByKayCyy | Released:2022-03-11 | |||
| #63 | ByJeremiah Chiu | Released:2022-03-11 | |||
| #24 | Bywhitearmor | Released:2022-05-20 | |||
| #67 | Bydeath's dynamic shroud | Released:2022-09-23 | |||
| #57 | ByKing Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard | Released:2022-10-12 | |||
| #78 | ByTim Hecker | Released:2023-04-07 | |||
| #85 | ByEvian Christ | Released:2023-10-20 | |||
| #29 | ByKing Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard | Released:2023-10-27 | |||
| #32 | ByAndré 3000 | Released:2023-11-17 | |||
| #25 | ByArca | Released:2023 | |||
| #44 | ByOneohtrix Point Never | Released:2024-02-29 | |||
| #30 | ByNala Sinephro | Released:2024-09-06 | |||
| #22 | ByBurial | Released:2025-09-23 |