Michael Tippett was never satisfied with one kind of musical form. Operas, symphonies, concertos, sonatas, choral works, string quartets -- he dabbled in them all. Even within a single work, he was fond of combining numerous influences, from Beethoven to English folk music to reggae to rap. Tippett's

20th-century music, Composed, Eclectic, Intense, Layered, Sensual

The Eurythmics did not merely tap into the synthesized pop sounds of the 1980s -- they helped to define those sounds. They combined robotic beats with techno-oceanic undercurrents, sensual lyrics with savvy electric guitar riffs. The resulting sound seems, at least in retrospect, to capture the essen

80s synthpop, Cool, Expansive, Lush, Sensual

If Lauryn Hill had allowed critics to choose her path, she would have left the Fugees after their 1993 debut, "Blunted on Reality" -- andthe best selling hip-hop album ever, "The Score," would never have been more than a dream. Hill stuck to her convictions and produced the Fugees' sophomore album, w

Lush, Pop, Religious, Sensual, Sincere

On certain streets of Northern India it is not the classical sitar of Ravi Shankar that spills from markets and open air restaurants: it's the music of Najma Akhtar. For those who want more juice than the old-school Shankar offers, Akhtar represents the next generation. She backs up classic ghazal

Eclectic, Layered, Modern pop/dance, Pioneering, Rhythmic, Sensual