[pavlov]

Daft Punk is fine, it's fun pop music extremely well executed, but it doesn't transport me anywhere. Listening to Aphex Twin always felt like I'm taking a journey somewhere.

It requires some focus, but doesn't need a massive cultural decoder ring like many kinds of contemporary Western art music. (I mean the post-WWII music by classically trained composers.)

[billfruit]

Philip Glass is one of the post WW2 composers whose music does not need a cultural decoder ring. His music is distinctively Glass-ian, I think very few musicians have carved out such a distinctive musical identity.

[pavlov]

Indeed! I would recommend the Met Opera production of Glass's "Akhnaten" to absolutely anyone, even if they don't like traditional opera or contemporary music in a concert setting. It's transcendental with very beautiful staging.

[aworks]

Double Indeed! Akhnaten and SAW2 are two of my favorites.