I have got a question for y'all synthheads!
 

Okay so basically, I'm planning on buying a synth for my birthday, in October. I'm searching something on which I could play "surreal" sounds, as in the intro of The Earthquake That Frees Prisioners by Gang Gang Dance, Taste by Animal Collective, or 1969/Music Is Math by Boards Of Canada (actually a lot of BoC tracks would apply there as well). For the moment I think I'll get an Alesis Ion, it seems really great and I think I'll have enough money, but do you have other suggestions? At first I was planning on buying a Roland SH-201, cause it's cheaper, but the few demos I saw on youtube frightened me, cause it seems to mostly be able to produce plastic trance sounds, which doesn't interest me. So... if you have suggestions, please tell me :)

If you want atmosphere:
Access Virus (even though you don't have the cash)
Roland Juno (probably the same story)
more soon

The Moog Little Phatty is great.

You can probably pick up an old Juno fairly cheaply, but it won't have midi spec. They're amazing synths nonetheless.

Midi Synth - I find that the more surreal ways of getting ''surreal sounds'' come from abusing both the technology and your instrument to the point that you will regret it.

Tradional ways- Anything that you think is not there and should be forge an amibilvalent relationship with your instrument, therefore potentially profitable.