popular culture, even though I'm open to anything, really.

^^Have you listened to Nurse With Wound, Einsturzende Neubauten, Throbbing Gristle and the like, Industrial avant-garde?

No I have not! what albums would you recommend to me? I appreciate this greatly.

Einsturzende Neubauten - 1/2 Mensch (perfect album to start with)
Nurse With Wound - Chance Meeting on a Dissecting Table of a Sewing Machine and an Umbrella
Throbbing Gristle - ....First Annual Report

not trying to hijack this dankrsta...just three of my favorite bands :)

^^Haha, what hijack? I'll just add to your recommendations.

For Nurse With Wound, I will quote myself from previous page:

Einsturzende Neubauten: Strategies Against Architecture I (compilation of tracks from 1980-83, many from the first album and early EP, with some live tracks), Kollaps - first album (these two are really experimental as I remember them)

Throbbing Gristle: The Second Annual Report, D.o.A. The Third and Final Report. @bob. What about those live volumes :)

And why not SPK: Information Overload Unit, Leichenschrei

yes....honestly i think the only and best way to hear Throbbing gristle is live...both recorded and in person....so i suggest Dayvan Cowboy took look for the four volume live series...all are mind blowing/rotting.....

all of those nurse with wound albums are wondreful and complex...i also suggest Rock N Roll Station and Huffin' Rag Blues....both show a more jazzy and fun side to NWW

Kollaps is certainly the definitive sound of buildings falling down :)...i remember reading the entire album was recorded "live" and underneath a high bridge in berlin....and i personally never take Strategies... Part 2 from my ipod

for SPK might as well cover all the early stuff and check out Auto-Da-Fé as well...if 'Slogan' doesn't start to drive you mad....you're in a good place :)

Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band - Lick My Decals Off Baby/Trout Mask Replica
Public Image Limited - Flowers Of Romance
Scott Walker - The Drift/Tilt
The Residents - Third Reich 'n' Roll
Silver Apples - Silver Apples
Sun City Girls - Torch Of the Mystics
Mr Bungle - Disco Volante
David Sylvian - Manafon

^ My favourite avante-garde albums in one way or the other that I'd recommend to anyone.

I'm looking for a replacement to Shwayze.......
if you don’t know them, they are trio that blends softcore raps with minimalist roots rock instrumentation, Shwayze is made up of an MC of the same name (the self-dubbed "only black kid in Malibu", Aaron Smith), guitarist Cisco Adler and DJ Skeet Skeet possibly the greatest DJ of all time in my mind. . The tone is laidback and the subject matter never veers too far from three staples skirt chasing, weed-smoking, and summer parties.

any help would be yummy fire away..............

You should definitely check out Tom Waits. His work from the 80s (especially Rain Dogs) has a very avant-garde and experimental sound to it.

I can't believe I forgot to mention them in my first responding post to your avant-garde requests but the band Ulver.

Here's how their discography reads:

01. Bergtatt – Et eeventyr i 5 capitler (1994) = Black Metal/folk metal
02. Kveldssanger (1995) = Folk
03. Nattens madrigal – Aatte hymne til ulven i manden (1997) = Back to their black metal
04. Themes from William Blake's The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (1998) = Experimental
05. Perdition City (2000) = electronic, jazz, trip hop, ambient
06. Blood Inside (2005) = experimental, industrial, rock, electronic
07. Shadows of the Sun (2007) = ambient, electronic

Their two black metal albums are easily two of the best in the genre, but they really know how to take other styles and sounds and really make it work for them. If you're looking for avant-garde, I really cannot think of a better band to recommend you. Pretty much anything from Themes From William Blake's The Marriage of Heaven and Hell onwards will most likely hit something for you.