Henry Cow, Art Bears, Fred Frith & the whole RIO thing, anyone dig?

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As a result of my current obsession with Krautrock I have also discovered the joys of the mysterious RIO/Avant-prog scene that was the contemporary of Krautrock. Hard hitters were Henry Cow and the Art Bears. Wow, what great stuff. The Art Bears have this jazz/evil operatic feel to them. That vocalist, she's friggin insane! Wailing out crazy , slightly out of tune harmonies while Fred Frith slows out his electric fury underneath.
And Henry Cow! Grateful Dead and Traffic have a baby with Sun Ra and it's eleventy billion times better than the three combined. Very dicordant stuff, probably hard to access but I love this stuff. This site has some great bands on it that kinda fit with this stuff-

http://www.progarchives.com/Progress...T.asp?style=36

Anyone else dig? Anything I should check out?

[tkozal]

I love Henry Cow's Concerts CD. The first disc goes to the desert island with me. But I love Hatfield and the North and National Health a little more than the Cow....

If you like Dagmar, check out the Slapp Happy releases, more twisted pop than RIO, but essential. The Slapp Happy/Henry Cow Desperate Straights album is very good.

[brianrost]

Massacre: Fred Frith goes punk with Bill Laswell on bass

Frank Zappa: Grand Wazoo

Also: Soft Machine, Hatfield and the North, Matching Mole, National Health

[JimK]

Cool bands, all.
Don't forget Frith as bassist in Naked City.

[Matt Till]

Too artsy for me... maybe.

I haven't explored much, Henry Cow was too much for me.

[The Owl]

RIO is osmething I can only handle in small doses, but that said, Thinking Plague is definitely worth checking out.

[PhR]

Samla Mammas Manna/Zamla Mammas Manna/Von Zamla from Sweden. Start with the album Familjesprickor (Family Cracks). Great stuff.

Belgium's Univers Zero was also part of the movement. If you like Magma, check them out.