Here goes nothing:

1. Björk- Of everyone that I listen to, she seems to have the purest approach and intentions. Her ability to evoke a multitude of different emotions, just from the intonation of a word, blows my mind. She continually challenges herself and her audience and she truly seems like more of a conduit for true art than someone with an agenda. Her videos are always a spectacle to behold and the journey she has taken me on over the past 12 years has not once been predictable.

2. The Cure- My favorite band. They got me through many lonely hours of angst as a pre-teen and teenager, but their emotional palate extends well beyond the infamous melancholy. Yes, the lyrics are often very self-centered, but the isolation, desperation, ecstasy, bewilderment and remorse that drives them are so innately human that their music sounds universal. I love that the breadth of their emotional and music scope is limitless. The colorful space that their music inhabits makes me beam, and their epic sound and melodic bass have made them the most influential artist to me in terms of the music that I myself have composed.

3. Eurythmics/Annie Lennox- Annie is my musical hero. Such a dichotomy of defiant strength and startling vulnerability has gotten me through many tough times. The early Eurythmics records are filled with songs that seem to come straight out of my soul, as if I was born with them already in my mind. I can't think of any music that sounds more naturally home to me. Their fearless experimentation and creative artistry keep me wanting more. Annie Lennox always sounds like her life depends on her performance when I hear her, and she convinces me every time.

4. Janet Jackson- my first childhood crush. I fell for her in her Rhythm Nation period, and her songs in large part paved the way for me to explore music. However, unlike many other "pop" acts, her music has stayed relevant to me. I remember a few years ago, I popped All for You in after having listened to more "serious" music for months at a time, and the exuberance just jumped out of the speakers. It certainly felt like an epiphany that the world needs uplifting, catchy pop songs just as much as it needs more contemplative, sink-your-teeth-into songs. I made a compilation of many of her slow songs a few years ago, and I used to fall asleep to it every night. There is just an inexplicable comfort in her music that comes from having been a reassuring and uplifting presence in my life since I was a child.

5. Madonna- my Michigan sister! Madonna's music is so ingrained in everyone's psyche that it is almost unfathomable to think of a world where it has never been around. She has always been a factor, pushing this or that envelope, embracing or creating this or that trend. But to me, Madonna has always come across as an older sister figure that I never had. I swear I feel like the kid in the "Open Your Heart" video, gallivanting around with her through the streets. Maybe it’s from growing up in Michigan. Her charisma and bravado appeal to me greatly, and strangely, her music comforts me, like its omnipresence is a sign that everything is OK.

6. Blondie- I’ve always had a thing about frontwomen with mojo, and Deborah Harry embodies that concept better than anyone I can envision. Yes, she coyly coos and flirts her sexuality, and yes she is an unbelievably gorgeous sight to behold, but she also brings an intelligence and a sophisticated recklessness to her songs that I adore. Plus, she simply oozes cool. The band’s trepidation never cramped the music, in my opinion, and the fact that every musical style that I love is within their grasp makes it so that I’m always in the mood for something Blondie. Also, “War Child” has a primal chant at the end that never fails to give me chills.

7. David Bowie- My appreciation of David Bowie’s music did not come nearly as naturally as that of the others on this list. At first, I only liked Earthling and a few of his 80s songs. Frankly, his Ziggy persona and outlandish appearance freaked me out. Plus, his vocal craziness didn’t instantly connect with me like Prince’s did. However, the genius slowly sunk its teeth in and hasn’t let go. Bit by bit and era by era, I grew to love his music, and it proved a gateway to other seminal artists for me. If I hadn’t cracked his early 70s material, I may never have been open to contemporaries that I now adore such as Roxy Music and The Velvet Underground. Like Annie Lennox and Björk, Bowie seems to bleed his art. He set an impressive template that few others can compete with, and his infinite vision and evolution are a blessing.

8. Kylie Minogue- After Janet and Madonna seduced with me their pop perfection, there was nothing else that could compete for over a decade. I waded through the 90s without discovering many new artists at all, least of all anyone pop. That all changed in 2002 when the hypnotic pulse of “Can’t Get You Out of My Head” instantly grabbed me by the balls and never let go. The unabashed pop stylings of Fever made me seek out her other material, and I was amazed that someone who started out with such awful pop bubblegum could actually evolve and grow into a mature artist. This all was happening as the new org launched, and this thread proved to be one of the first correspondences between my future wife and me. As such, her music has often seemed like a path to the love of my life, and I therefore can’t get enough of it. When Body Language dropped in late ’03 and infused 80s electro-funk into her catalogue, I was a goner for life. Her originally planned concerts in Australia coincided with my first long trip to Australia, and while Tracy and I had to wait 18 months to finally see the shows, it proved to be a true “full circle” moment.

9. New Order- This band is more capable than any other of giving me chills through its music alone. Whether it is the frenetic synth flourish of “Vanishing Point” or just a simple piano progression in “World”, their sound tickles me like no other. The prevalence of the bass guitar as a melodic instrument and the rapid, machine like percussion have set a standard for all others to follow, in my opinion. Also, Barney’s half-floating voice injects the songs with a mystery that draws me in. Like The Cure, they are also capable of an ecstasy few others can touch.

10. Depeche Mode- Synth pop at its finest. Like many others on my list, they could be considered a guilty pleasure, but I have no guilt about being pulled in by the sheer SIZE of their sound (“Never Let Me Down Again”, “Personal Jesus”) and the double-juggernaut of Dave and Martin’s alluring voices. While their sound does not vary as much as that of the other artists on this list, this ensures that I don’t dislike any of their songs, as they all work within a friendly framework in my mind. I find that as a mathematician that electronic music showcases math more visibly than other genres of music, and I can’t think of an artist that exhibits this more than Depeche Mode.

Oh you stay out of this.