Let's see, my favorite bands (aside from #1) are constantly changing. 6-9 months ago I was listening to a lot of hip-hop and electronica (especially trip-hop) and my list would have been fairly different, before that I was really digging some new post-punk, industrial and ebm shiz, and before that it was some metal (sludge and prog metal mostly), ambient and post-hardcore... I go through these cycles where I usually focus on a few genres mostly although I do listen to other stuff and old favorites as well. Lately I have been trying to limit getting new music and just revisit old favorites and artists I haven't listened to enough. My list is a mix of all-time favorites and recent favorites:
Porcupine TreeWell, it's my all-time favorite band, simple as that. There are few bands which have evolved and changed their sound as much as Porcupine Tree have and still always maintained the high quality of their work with so much consistency and variety in each album. And their sound just clicks with me perfectly. It's very textural with lots of layers and it's not something you'll appreciate right away even though generally their music is fairly accessible. There are so many subtleties in their songs that you simply cannot be conscious of them until you have heard the songs at least a few times, sometimes even dozens of times. People often fail to realize how many genres Porcupine Tree's music actually covers because they are very subtle about it, it all fits the music and doesn't sound out of place. For someone like me who enjoys both classic and modern progressive/alternative rock, electronic and ambient music, psychedelic rock and metal (the good kind

), PT has a lot to offer. They also have minor elements from other genres as well and that's another reason why I think their music has so much variety especially if you look at their whole discography. I also think they are liberally experimental, managing to be accessible and poppy while playing around with lots of cool out-of-norm ideas. And most of all, I like the fact how they stress songwriting and soundscapes over technical skill, complex solos and just generally unnecessary wankery, placing emotion above all else. I probably could go on forever but that's pretty much sums it up I suppose. Admittedly their lyrics could be better though, while I like a lot of their lyrics they also have some cringeworthy stuff but gladly the lyrics never get so bad it'd be distracting.
Nine Inch NailsI have been a fan of Nine Inch Nails for years but it wasn't until this year they really clicked with me, and I mean really! Like Steven Wilson with Porcupine Tree, I think Trent Reznor has managed to create something truly unique with Nine Inch Nails. I often see people dissing Nine Inch Nails saying how it's not true industrial music. A friend of mine complains how it's actually just poppy and accessible rock. So what? I didn't know it's a bad thing to combine different genres together to create something completely new and manage to be poppy and accessible while you do it. I think Trent Reznor is nothing short of a genius and he's pretty much one of the coolest people in the whole music industry, period. Also, while NIN might have their own little niche going on, all of their albums have a clearly different and distinctive sound. Another thing I think Steven Wilson and Trent Reznor share in common is that they aren't your average musicians but they are both fantastic producers and multi-instrumentalists as well and they excel at creating unique soundscapes different from anything else you've heard. I'm not saying everyone needs to like their music or respect it but that's something I really enjoy about Nine Inch Nails, the sound they have going on is just unique and Trent Reznor can do so many cool things with rock and electronic music that it's unbelievable. I could probably try to list all kinds of cool things NIN have going on in their songs but it's impossible to put it in words. It's just unique and very, very cool. I think The Fragile is their masterpiece and it shows what continuity and consistency is all about. Almost every NIN release is really good though and that's why fans have completely different favorite releases which speaks for the consistency of Trent Reznor's work. It's kinda interesting how similar he and Steven Wilson are in some ways as they share many same views and have a similar approach to music. Also me liking NIN as much as I do shows that it's a band you can't be too quick to judge because for the longest time I didn't see any huge appeal in them. Now I do, and I'm so glad about it.
ArchiveThis is one of those recent favorites as I discovered Archive in early 2009. I don't really have too much to say about them but everyone should check them out, Archive are a fucking fantastic band. Their stuff varies from trip-hop and rock to pop, hip-hop and even some proggier stuff. Their first album Londinium is one of the best trip-hop albums I have heard and a true masterpiece in electronic music. It has a fair amount of rapping as well. They have gone through various singers and while usually this is a bad thing, it has brought some really nice variety to Archive's music as all of their vocalists have been good in my books. I really recommend their latest album Controlling Crowds as it's their strongest and most consistent album so far. It has a great deal of variety as well with three vocalists, a male lead vocalists, a female vocalist and a rapper, styles including electronica, rock, hip-hop, britpop and even some jazz. It's quite a melodic album with lots of fantastic moments and it flows like a good soundtrack. It's a long album but a very strong one as well. Londinium is another album I'd highly recommend and You All Look the Same to Me is another masterpiece with that proggier side I was speaking of. But really, all their albums are good.
dälekReally fucking awesome noisy hip-hop! Been a fan since I heard Abandoned Language in 2007 around when I started to get into hip-hop. I know dälek can appeal to people who aren't necessarily into hip-hop because I know lots of people who like them despite not being a fan of hip-hop in general. Basically they are just kind of weird and out there and their stuff is pretty abstract and it's definitely not everyone's cup of tea. I missed seeing them live in Spring but gladly they are opening for ISIS (what a weird combination, eh) and I'm going to be seeing them in November so I'm really happy about that. Anyway, check them out if you like your hip-hop with originality. It's really fucking cool, that's all there is to it.
Pink FloydBack when I still listened to a lot of 70's prog, Pink Floyd was that one band I never really got into and I found them extremely overrated. I have started to get into them slowly but surely and I absolutely fell in love with them this summer. It's weird because I have heard most of their albums many times and now that I listen to them again, I just see them in such a different light. They are such a fantastic band and it's so hard to fathom how I didn't like them before. They are the only 70's prog band I listen to regularly nowadays with some King Crimson and Jethro Tull thrown in every now and then. I don't really have any favorite overall artists list and this list represents artists I really like right now or artists I have enjoyed the most thorough 2009 but if I did try to make a list of overall artists, I'm not sure if Pink Floyd would rank this high but they are definitely the band I have listened to most since early summer!
And some artists which didn't make the cut: Tool, Snowman, Pain of Salvation, Sage Francis, VNV Nation, K'naan, mewithoutYou, Mastodon, Sneaker Pimps, The Cure, XTC...
I dunno, even though some of my all-time favorite artists are artists I have listened to years and still love them, I really think it's impossible for me to name any favorite genres anymore. I honestly believe I'm quite eclectic when it comes to music. Some genres more than others, naturally.