Ah, like des Esseintes, I have seen and done it all, and there is nothing that does not fill me with an overpowering tedium... *nails hand to forehead*
My new favorite singer, Kipp Hamilton .. width="425" height="350" ..
CURRENT TERROR ALERT LEVEL:
Based on my iTunes play count: The Velvet Underground, Shiina Ringo (and Tokyo Jihen), Puffy, Bob Dylan, Patti Smith, Pixies, France Gall, the Stooges, Radiohead, David Bowie.
I also have more than a sneaking fondness for the Beatles, the Stones, the Kinks, the Who, Love, the Move, the Creation, The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, the Clash, The Jam, The Shaggs, The Stooges, DEVO, Stephen and the Colberts, ABBA, the Smiths, the Cure, Cult Hero, Lava Diva, Chuck Berry, Sun-era Elvis, Tori Amos, eX-Girl, The Brilliant Green, Tommy february6, Tommy heavenly6, Tommy Angels, Johnny Hawk and the Pavement Oysters, The Peanuts, Pink Lady, Wink, Halcali, The Traveling Wilburys, The Masked Marauders, The Prototypes, The Left Banke, the Turtles, Billy Barf and the Vomitones, that dog., Petra Haden, Syd's Pink Floyd, The Genital Harpies, Mazzy Star, Kahimi Karie, Unrest, the Jim Carroll Band, Pale Saints, My Bloody Valentine, Ultra Vivid Scene, Jonathan Richman, His Name Is Alive, Rita Chao, Nine Inch Nails, Heidi Berry, Mean Machine, Mari Iijima, Ulfuls, Kome Kome Club, and many others.
As for classical, I like the masters of grandiosity: Beethoven, Wagner, and Mahler.
La Dolce Vita, Swallowtail Butterfly, Chungking Express and Fallen Angels, Jean de Florette and Manon of the Spring, the Three Colors Trilogy, Grave of the Fireflies (and all Studio Ghibli), The Splendiferous Zeppelin Escapades of Filliam H. Muffman, The Seventh Seal, The Best Intentions, Annie Hall, "Manos": The Hands of Fate, Walkabout, Cashiered!, Bedazzled (Dudley Moore/Peter Cook version), The Magic Christian, Blow Up, The Blob, Shivers, Rabid, Freaks, Sir Henry at Rawlinson's End, Help, WR: Mysteries of the Organism, Time Regained, Time Bandits, The Ring series, the Ju-on series, The Story of Ricky, Stranger Than Paradise, Down by Law, Eraserhead, Blue Velvet, Wild at Heart, Mulholland Drive, Yojimbo, For a Fistful of Dollars, Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, Black Orpheus, Horsefeathers, Animal Crackers, Duck Soup, and (sadly enough) Star Wars
The Sopranos, the Daily Show, Fantasy Bedtime Hour, The Prisoner, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Cowboy Bebop, and a lot of '80s robot anime.
Is there any way to say that I like post-WWI European Modernists without sounding like a pretentious twat? Anyway, it's true. Proust, Joyce, Kafka, Woolf, Musil, and Mann all press my button that says YES. So does Heian-era Japanese literature, especially the Tale of Genji and the Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon.
As far as living authors go, Jonathan Carroll is probably my favorite, but I also like Neil Gaiman, Philip Pullman, Thomas Pynchon, Haruki Murakami, Julian Barnes, A.S. Byatt, Koji Suzuki, and Stephen R. Donaldson. And I'm the only person I know who likes James Branch Cabell.
I also like a few comics, namely: The Sandman, The Five Star Stories, Area 88, Strangers in Paradise, The Invisibles, Cerebus, Promethea, Top Ten, G.T.O., Peach Girl, Berserk, and Monster.