Record Collection Crushes: Geeky Musical Benchmarks

Paul Schneider rocks on!

Anyone who has ever been to a concert knows that just because someone likes your favorite band, it doesn't mean they aren't totally annoying.  That being said, as a music geek, it's hard not be impressed when someone has a really killer record collection or iTunes Library.

So what makes someone's record collection crushworthy?  Usually its the weird stuff that you like that you think no one else does.  As a suburban teenager, my bar was pretty low.  If someone had heard of (and liked) Radiohead, I thought they were pretty awesome.  Now, as a jaded twenty-something who knows a lot of people with similar taste, I'm much pickier ("You like LCD Soundsystem, yeah, so does EVERYONE...").   

Earlier, I did a post on musical dealbreakers; bands and artists so heinous, they are potential relationship-enders.  These musical benchmarks are the opposite; bands and artists so supremely awesome, that if someone liked them, you'd respect them a little more for it. Overall, this list was much trickier to compile than the dealbreakers.  They are not necessarily my favorite bands (Note: no LCD Soundsystem, no Black Keys), just the ones that seem obscure and rocking enough to earn my musical admiration.  Below are my picks:

Jonathan Richman and/ or the Modern Lovers.  Find him in the catalog!

Post-Punk:  Wire, Gang of Four, Jesus and Mary Chain, etc.

Elephant 6 bands:  Neutral Milk Hotel, Apples in Stereo, Olivia Tremor Control, etc.

Madvillain, Madlib, and MF Doom.  

Any blues music from the Fat Possum Label.  R.L. Burnside, Junior Kimbrough, T-Model Ford.  Fat Possum's indie stuff is cool too!

Smart, Literate NYC Indie Rockers:  The Walkmen, The National, etc.

Okay music geeks, what additions (or subtractions) would you make to the list?