Prince turned experimental music into pop music. 'When Doves Cry,' the whole 'Purple Rain' soundtrack - he was inspired by the Cocteau Twins and new wave pop and brought it into R&B when he first started, and then it became this cool, next-level, kind of hard-to-digest music. Which is what I felt 'House of Balloons' was.
PC Music is a really post-modern attempt at pop.
On 'Kaputt,' singer-songwriter Dan Bejar reevaluates his band's sound and drifts away from the David Bowie comparisons that have plagued even his best albums.
Musicians like James Blake were a big influence on me. How he uses his vocals is amazing. And then Yeasayer and Animal Collective, who aren't pop bands exactly, but they do something that is so catchy and undeniable and so much fun.
When Talking Heads started, we called ourselves Thinking Man's Dance Music.
The 11-minute 'Colouring of Pigeons' takes The Knife's experimental, cerebral side to new heights.
Bjork's album, 'Homogenic,' it's got beats, strings, traditional Icelandic stuff. That's my benchmark for what an album should sound like, right up there with Coltrane's 'A Love Supreme' and Marvin Gaye's 'What's Going On.'
I've been listening to a lot of music by Arca.
Actually my favorite singer of all time is Bjork. And my favorite band of all time is They Might Be Giants.
I love pop music, but I love pop music that does something a little bit different.
