Musicians and artists with an eye and an ear for beauty and truth.
There is so much great music in the world, we can only ever hope to scratch the surface or to delve deep in a tiny, tiny area... Right now I can think of the following (another day may bring a whole new set):Captain Beefheart, Lennie Tristano (and his many students), Frank Zappa, Pentangle, Shirley Collins, Tony Mac Mahon, Joe Cooley, Django Reinhardt, Miles Davis, John Lee Hooker, Bach, Schoenberg, Stockhausen, La Monte Young, Webern, Xenakis, Fairport Convention, Nic Jones, Martin Carthy, Elvis, United Bible Studies, Taj Mahal, The Forever Bad Blues Band... Oops, I almost forgot my own band, Eachtra (www.eachtra.org).
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Nosferatu (early or Klaus Kinski), Sex and Lucia... My all time favourite must be Night of the Hunter though... The Blues Brothers, Pulp Fiction, Pi, Mulholland Drive...
"Ancient Lights" by Davis Grubb (who also wrote Night of the Hunter), The Third Policeman by Flann O' Brian (also At Swim Two Birds), The Crock of Gold by James Stephens, Swann's Way... More later, I'm tired...
Bach, La Monte Young, Django Reinhardt, Liam Clancy, Jimi Hendrix, Lennie Tristano, Louis Armstrong and extramusically anyone who can make me laugh uncontrollably for several minutes till it hurts!