TL Kincaid

Marilyn Manson was the first band I ever liked. Before that, music was just sort of noise to me. He infused the noise with a certain style, a swaggering broken-footed death march with penis implants and a chemical somewhere between testosterone and estrogen. It appealed to my grotesque sensibilities, and it still does.

Bob Dylan. I have to be in the mood for it, but when I am, my enjoyment can be quite profound. My favorite song of his is a relentlessly gloomy and defeated track called "Things Have Changed." I could listen to that over and over again for all eternity and still like it.

Tom Waits. A voice like golems fucking. I love his voice and his esoteric lyrics, referencing people I've never met and who almost certainly never existed, but who somehow feel like family. My favorite lyric: "All the good in the world you could put into a thimble, and still have room for you and me."

Leonard Cohen. The undisputed greatest lyricist of all time, with an awesome voice to boot. It's like an earthquake is singing love songs to you. My favorite songs: There Is A War, I'm Your Man, The Future, Take This Waltz, By The Rivers Dark.

These artists are also notable: Mudvayne, Slipknot, Disturbed, VNVNation, Otep, Richard Wagner, Ludwig Von Beethoven, She Wants Revenge, System of A Down, Serj Tankian, Meatloaf, DZK, Immortal Technique, Sisters of Mercy, Cradle of Filth, Godhead, NIN, APC, Tenacious D, Tiny Tim, Dir En Grey, Rammstein.