Top 5 Musical Artists

[Kyonikov]

5. Ensiferum
It has recently been brought to my attention how amazing folk metal is. Yeah, folk metal. I have no clue how this genre got started, but as soon as I heard these guys I was hooked.
--Stone Cold Metal from From Afar--

5. Pinback
Whenever it's sunny outside or if I'm just in a good mood, I put one of these guys' albums on and I'm set. Their songs aren't necessarily happy, but they just have a sound that just makes my day better.
--Penelope from Blue Screen Life--

3. Muse
You can sum up Muse in one word: Amazing. Every album is consistently mind blowing in it's awesomeness. The variety in their music is really surprising as well (in a good way).
--Bliss from Origin of Symmetry--

2. Pendulum
These guys rock. They started out making Drum and Bass, but are moving more mainstream. Generally, that's a bad thing to me, but they're doing it the right way. They're experimenting with new sounds and genres, but keeping their roots in DnB.
--Crush from Immersion--

1. The Faint
Hooray for bands you've probably never heard of before, right? These guys have really a really dark, often electronic sound. When I first heard them I was trying to figure out wtf I was listening to, but after a few more songs I decided they were literally the best thing ever.
--Worked Up So Sexual from Blank Wave Arcade--

[SaiQ]

5. Craig Armstrong

Craig Armstrong composes modern orchestra music, electronica, and film scores. The music he composes is very subtle and flows very well.

 

4. Ayumi Hamasaki

Ayumi Hamasaki is the first J-artist I listened to. She is one of the top japanese artists in Japan. She's also a fashion icon and has a large presence in the japanese entertainment industry. Her music is unique, entrancing, and stylish. She will always hold a special place in my heart.

 

3. High and Mighty Color

High and Mighty Color is a J-Rock Fusion group. When I listened to their first single, "Pride", it mind blowing. It's like mixing j-rock, j-pop, and rap all into one. They have a unique style. I was deeply saddended when Makii, female vocals, left the band. It's unfortunate the current group is disbanding.

 

2. Yoko Kanno

Yoko Kanno is a famous Japanese composers. She experiments and create her own soundtracks often influenced by many genres, including j-pop, jazz, classical, blues, rock, and electronic. Some of her best works can be heard in popular anime series, including Cowboy Bepop, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Wolf's Rain, The Vision of Escaflowne, RahXephon, and Macross Frontier. In fact, some of them are even aired on 918 and are rated highly.

 

1. Yuki Kajiura

See-Saw, FictionJunction, and Kalafina all have one thing in common. Yuki Kajiura composes, plays keyboard, and back-up vocals all three them.

Yuki Kajiura is my all-time favorite artist. All of her soundtracks are beautiful and mesmerizing. Mixing pop, classic, and new age, she takes music to a whole new level. She's also composed music for a lot of popular animes and video games, including .hack//SIGN, Gundam Seed and Seed Destiny, Madlax, Mai-Hime, Noir, Tsubasa Chronicle, and all three Xenosaga.