Less Weird RIO/Avant-Prog

I think that U Totem's self-titled could appeal to quite a few into Symphonic Prog.

And some of my favourite RIO/Avant I find can be both weird and accessible: News From Babel, Art Bears, Slapp Happy, Samla Mammas Manna, some Henry Cow, some The Residents....

One I would like to mention is Wapassou (In PA in RIO/Avant, I might have gone with Eclectic)

There are lot of acts not included in RIO/Avant here that have those avant qualities that could be accessible to ye average Prog fan (if there is such a thing). Avant Prog is very diverse and has no clear boundaries, and even RIO, which is more of a movement and ones that played festivals is diverse.

^ I mean that they can be both weird and accessible at the same time*, but of course there are many diverse ones who might put out a weird album and then a different accessible one, or on one album it might have a weird songs and a different accessible song. I label albums and tracks, not artists so much (of course some are part of music and movements, like RIO, and are most associated with certain styles). An act (band/artist) might put out an avant prog album and then the next is primarily yacht rock, for instance, but then I would consider the yachy rock album if not avant yacht rock to be that relevant to this even if the artist is often labeled Avant Prog.

* of course what is accessible depends on the listener, and this can be true of what is considered weird too. Sometimes weird just means unfamiliar (like Chinese opera might be weird to the average Nashville raised country and western music fan even if the music is not inherently weird -- intended to be bizarre).

Edited by Logan - April 16 2022 at 10:44

Some of Frank Zappa, Mike Keneally, and French TV is accessible. Some could have even been pop hits.

Edited by Grumpyprogfan - April 16 2022 at 12:00

Nogbad_The_Bad wrote: 3 Mice Aranis Julverne

I wish that I'd mentioned Aranis.

That said, if you're the kind of Progger hoping that this will sound akin to the love child of James LaBrie and Neal Morse, then you are likely to be disappointed.

Cheer-Accident is one of a different ilk that could work (depending on the track). Thinking Plague's A History Of Madness is quite accessible, and not that weird as I recall.

And Factor Burzaco's debut as I recall (quirky, though).

Logan wrote: ^ I mean that they can be both weird and accessible at the same time*, but of course there are many diverse ones who might put out a weird album and then a different accessible one, or on one album it might have a weird songs and a different accessible song. I label albums and tracks, not artists so much (of course some are part of music and movements, like RIO, and are most associated with certain styles). An act (band/artist) might put out an avant prog album and then the next is primarily yacht rock, for instance, but then I would consider the yachy rock album if not avant yacht rock to be that relevant to this even if the artist is often labeled Avant Prog. * of course what is accessible depends on the listener, and this can be true of what is considered weird too. Sometimes weird just means unfamiliar (like Chinese opera might be weird to the average Nashville raised country and western music fan even if the music is not inherently weird -- intended to be bizarre).

You do accept the principle that some avant is more 'accessible' than other avant, right?

Birdsong of the Mesozoic