You would've thought having been approached by the evergreen musician Aimee Mann to do the art for her latest album, @#%&*! Smilers, would've given Gary Taxali a big head. On the contrary, the modest artist contends that you should go on and buy the album, "Not only because I did the artwork, but because it's a great album." Taxali also had a little time to present BlackBook with a revelatory glimpse behind the serendipitous synthesis of his inimitable vision with Mann's exacting sound, what it means to be a Chump, and how he came to create a limited range of toys for the Whitney Museum.

You want to be in pictures? Write a soundtrack with little bombast and no obvious hit singles. Below, a look at the musicians—from Aimee Mann to DeVotchKa!—who are changing the sound of movies.

Nick Urata and accordionist Tom Hagerman of DeVotchKa!, photographed in the farmlands east of their native Denver, by Gary Isaacs.

Watching this year’s Oscar broadcast made fans of indie rock jump out of their chairs and jig like the cast of Riverdance on a thousand Red Bulls for one joyful reason: Jon Stewart brought Markéta Irglová back on stage to finish the acceptance speech for Best Original Song that was drowned out by the orchestra, shoving her off stage. Her speech was great; it was a “moment.”