Nine Inch Nails, my favourite band. I have been of a fan of Trent Reznor since I was 14, initially I was drawn to the hard rock element but over the years the quieter tracks appeal to me more. I believe that Reznors greatest strength as a musician is his versatility & ability to adapt. He is an artist not tied down by the industry around him always pushing for his own direction. Throughout his career his asethic and musical style have been through several iterations. All of which feel genuine and not artificial. Unlike most other musicians that try to fit in with the changing times, each reinventions of Reznor is another aspect of himself shown to the world, not a marketing gimmick. To me The Fragile is Reznor at his peak which is why I recommend it as the perfect gateway album to Nine Inch Nails.
I first got into Pertubator in 2013 after playing Hotline Miami since then he has consistently been my most listened to artist. Pertubator is the master of synthwave and the genres biggest contributor. Each one of his releases have been outstanding, each pushing the established synthwave sound to the outer limits. Pertubator's latest release New Model, his most experimental yet is my favourite.
KMFDM Defined my highschool years, the ultra heavy beat was continuously blasted into my eardrums through cheap tinny headphones as I would lay waste to N00Bz in CS 1.6, half-life deathmatch, The specialists, tfc. Anything That I could run on my dell inspirion with integrated graphics. Eventually I bought a gaming pc and mostly play modern games at the time such as tf2, MW2 & Killing Floor but there was something romantic about those Goldsrc days. KMFDM SUCKS.
Grimes is great, I especially like her most recent stuff. Love her retro anime aesthetic.
Massive Attack is a band I have listened to for a long time but only became one of my favourites.
Another great synthwave artist.
Bjork needs no introduction.
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I found Goldfrapp through playing the game vampire the masquerade bloodlines. In said game there is a segment set in a haunted hotel reminiscence of the shining. Your goal as the player is to find an item which once belonged to the spirit haunting the hotel to be used in an exorcism. Once the item is found the player is flashed into a dream like vision of what the hotel used to be. During this pleasant visage pilots can be heard. The track mesmerized me.