With lyrics that range from musings on the Eiffel Tower to thoughts on the nature of space, The Pixies clearly transcend the categories of pop, punk, and rock 'n' roll. Their songs, which vacillate between light, almost airy pop tunes and grinding, sci-fi punk, might as well have come from another pl

Absurd, Alternative rock, Intense, Pop, Post-punk, Slangy, Smarty arty pop, Visceral

Cornelius, a.k.a the Orangutan, and Keigo Oyamada, escapee from the Planet of the Apes, sports a prodigious musical appetite and thorough metabolism. He is The New Music Machine, playing all the instruments, singing, producing, sampling, and composing. In a sense, Cornelius is an embodiment of all th

Bright, Bubblicious, Citational, Pop, Smart, Smarty arty pop

Blending soulful vocals with a melodic, mid-tempo beat, Marvin Gaye introduced a new kind of rhythmic pop to the mainstream. The drive to produce commercially successful material -- a goal Gaye personally deemed insignificant -- eventually took its toll on the sensitive artist. But though he never qu

Cool, Intimate, Layered, Pop, Religious, Rhythmic, Sensual

Mouse on Mars spins symphonies of wet blips, bleeps, buzzes, and beats into disjointed ditties of electronic joy. Since the early '90s, the D'sseldorf duo of Jan St. Werner and Andi Toma has been composing a world within an electronic soundscape that is anything but cold. It's as if these two only fi

Abstract electronica, Bright, Bubblicious, Cartoonish, Kinetic, Pop, Smart