Or, music of an experimental/progressive bent that doesn't sacrifice good old melody for the sake of overt weirdness (less catchy heading).
Now for me the three bands mentioned in the title are the absolute masters of this. Cardiacs in particular will seem scattershot and irritating to many i'm sure, but their main songwriter Tim always considered them a "pop group" and personally i've always heard a huge melodic sensibility in almost everything he's done. Ditto Andy Partridge who even at his wonkiest never fails to couple it with a massive choon.
With Ween it's maybe less obvious. They can do melodic pop and they can do obnoxious weirdness, but more often than not it's during the course of a full album rather than a song. The point is they do both well without feeling forced imo.
Mr Bungle's California album is another prime example. I'm guessing most here will be familiar with it.
The best recent example i've heard (and really what inspired me to start a thread and try to find some more of this stuff) is this quite extraordinary album by Condor Moments. It's poppy, weird, noisy, off-kilter, melodic and accessable yet utterly demented. This is as good an example as any of what i'm on about.
Is there anymore to be recommended in this area? I've heard good things about Make A Rising, so i'm looking forward to checking them out soon.
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