Lauded by Details Magazine as "the metal machine music of Lou Reed's nightmares," Future Sound of London bridges the gap between the driving beats of techno and the pleasant waves of orchestral ambient music. Out from the trashbin of mid-'90s techno, the group's sound has emerged without a smudge.

Ambient, Citational, Dreamy, Hi-tech, Hypnotic, Layered, Techno/house/big beat

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

He saw the movie "Wild Style" in 1987 and bought a turntable the next day. Something about Grandmaster Flash's vinyl theatrics keyed into DJ Krush's body and brain. He knew he'd come across a new calling the moment he heard the edgy articulations of the scratched record and the breakbeat rhythm. With

Citational, Hypnotic, Layered, Moody, Trip-hop

If you got tongue from David Bowie, it might change your life. It certainly brought one Japanese pop star-actor-composer-musician into the limelight. In "Merry Christmas, Mister Lawrence," the slow-motion screen kiss between Bowie and Ryuichi Sakamoto was a turning point in his career. Of course, it

20th-century music, Abstract electronica, Ambient, Eclectic, Layered, Lyrical, Psychedelic