I'll throw my (belated) two cents in...

I think that an album by The Magnetic Fields (which is just one guy) - "Holiday" - is just brilliant. It is so clear and crisp, with so many subtle effects I have regularly thought that my speakers were distorting, when in fact they were doing everything right.

It's a very melancholy album filled with ironicly upbeat synth-pop... it's morose with a moog-style swing.

Worth a listen, even if you don't like whatever they call this music these days....