About Dylans tracks: Yeah, he can write stuff from several standpoints. This for example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AwnyyEntJE ... is a pure thought. Not story too much, not based on a phrase too much ... it's just him and thought about his girlfriend. Love it.

About System Of A Down song: Those are like impressionist painting. Getting it all out there whatever "it" is. It has it's magic too.

About Madeon's track: That bit is awesome, but I can't get rid of the feeling this one is strongly connected to melody and rythm it's sung with. It's just a hell of a great bridge. ...but that's also important, to have a connection of your lyrics and the rest of the track.

(again biased by hip hop a bit) Imho great lyrics school is also good old Em. Come on... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOMhN-hfMtY Classic.
And another guy I just admire way too much is Ed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4BLVznuWnU ...also story based, kinda overplayed right now, but somehow different.
...or from new faces: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6bjwDFk8mo
Speaking about basing lyrics on phrases, I liked this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3-k-5KOduE
Or going into electronic music a bit, here's a really cool recent surprise: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BR74ZadqjNA ...loving the honesty.

That being said... I used a preset and some unprocessed samples for a remix competition just a while ago. And I kinda liked it.

Oh, same here. Also on a remix contest. Guilty.

  <-- This is Bob.
Bob freezes his tracks.
Bob is smart.
Be like Bob.

( ...no for real, it's slower, but it helps. )

...anything music related you know you shouldn't listen to or do?

Me for example, I shamefuly like some Max Martin-ish pop. ...and it's nowadays variants. I'm kinda boyband resistant, which is pretty guilty for a guy.

...or while production itself, i like to try big looong epic pads with every track. Eventhough it doesn't fit it sometimes.

Yours?

EDIT: And what makes pleasures guilty anyway?

Mind if I browse to different genere for this?
I LOVE lyrics by this guy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLSFAjh0w74, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFNsKNCf_H8
I love how he raps about stuff he really lives through. So open. I think music in general lacks this a lot.
Imho great lyris is relatable. When someone else can find themselfs in those lines.

Simplest solutions win:
If you have spare filter in your synth, set it in series after the first one, set it to highpass and turn key-tracking all the way up. Here you go. Fundamental-killer.

Also, I find this bad habit being a result of dialing LP cuttoff down while having EQ (with high pass) on. It distorts your perspactive. So you can try this: Turn off your eq, slowly rise LP cuttoff until it sounds better (but not too much, just slowly) and then re-aply EQ. That also helps.

...you can get pitch tracking EQs, but they tend to be really experimental and I wouldn't trust them too much on vital sounds. Fixing it some simpler way is imho better.

Music isn't a sit down and listen sort of activity any more as much as it once was. Today it seems to be more of a back drop to the conversation, the internet surfing, even the friggin live shows to an extent.

Right. On. Kind of OT here, but it's exactly as you say. ...and that I think is sad. Usual listener isn't instructed to enjoy it. ...so he usually ends up "consuming" the music.

Damn, some things just can't be unseen...