Think some of the Boris and Merzbow stuff is really good and not too abrasive at all. The Merzbow I’ve heard (which is a very small percentage of his enormous back catalogue) has generally been utterly horrible though.
This one’s hard, but factoring in reputation maybe Tool and Sarah Mclachlan?
Wasn’t expecting to post this twice in two days, but Billy Corgan and Natalie Imbruglia.
Billy Corgan making a fantastic Americana album. This song probably best highlights the nature of the departure, even though it’s not my personal favorite on it. Not expecting people to give the album a chance, but there are a lot of GREAT songs on it.
Still got all my old vinyl I bought as a kid so probably something like Adam & the Ants or Ultravox against the full on black metal I listen to a lot of these days, say Lamp of Murmuur or Paysage d’Hiver
Unusual musical collaborations -
The Spawn soundtrack had some odd collabs such as Henry Rollins & Goldie;