Jon Brion

While you might not recognize his name at first, Jon Brion has left his sonic stamp on the silver screen and the radio dial since the late '90s. Here's how inescapable he is: When Aimee Mann's heart-sinking "Save Me" single was up for a GRAMMY® in 2001, it lost to "I Try," a chart-topping Macy Gray track that also featured Brion's instrument-swapping sideman skills. Not that he's always stuck behind the scenes: As you're about to hear on key soundtrack cuts from I Heart Huckabees, Punch-Drunk Love, and Synecdoche, New York, Brion's solo recordings have stolen more than a few scenes as well . . .

. . . so many, in fact, that they spill over into our Next Steps.

Ever wonder how Kanye West got such a sweeping, widescreen sound on his second album, Late Registration? That's easy — by recruiting Jon Brion as a coproducer, a decision that took blockbuster singles like "Diamonds from Sierra Leone" in a totally Technicolor® direction. Not that that's a surprise, what with the way Brion's restless hands have blessed everything from a profoundly psychedelic Nirvana cover (the Polyphonic Spree's rainbow-chasing rendition of "Lithium") to a synth-pressed techno tune (the Crystal Method's "Bad Stone," which features Brion on guitar).

Which says nothing of our Deep Cuts, a genre-jumping playlist that weaves its way through enough familiar faces and cult favorites to keep your iPod guessing all night.

Adam Sandler's script-flipping role in Punch-Drunk Love wasn't the only reason critics fell for Paul Thomas Anderson's first film since Magnolia. The director's longtime collaborator, Jon Brion, fleshed out every frame with his sepia-toned songs — music that's as melancholic as the movie itself. And that's the thing with Brion's career: every track he touches tells a story, whether it's through creeping keys and malaise-struck melodies (Aimee Mann's "One"), speaker-caving beats and slick organ rolls (Macy Gray's "Caligula"), or mind-bending stabs at jazz (Brad Mehldau's "Dropjes") and simple but satisfying singer-songwriter fare (spellbound sessions with Sean Lennon, Rickie Lee Jones, and many, many more).

Since he's primarily known as the Man Behind the Boards, the best way to understand Jon Brion's highly influential work as a producer, songwriter, and shape-shifting solo artist may be his ongoing residency at the L.A. club Largo. A crowd-pleasing mix of covers and originals, his local shows feature a revolving door of special guests and absolutely no set list. Instead, he lets his subconscious guide every single song. Or, as he once told the Chicago Tribune, "I taught my hands to follow whatever was coming into my head." No wonder his contributions to the film score/pop song canon feel so . . . real, so full of love and loss that we can't help but linger on every last note, courtesy of artists ranging from Kanye West to Fiona Apple, from Macy Gray to Of Montreal, from . . .