*I should state in advance that I do not listen to the radio, that I often stop liking bands once they become popular and my favorite style of music is repetitive and droning. In sum, I am not sure why anyone really cares about what I have to say on the subject of good music.  I will start with my all-time Top 10 album list to help you see if my recommendations might work for you.

The above list is not in any particular order and was very hard for me to make.  Bands that almost made this list include the Flaming lips, Luna, Mission of Burma, Nirvana, Pavement, Sonic Youth, Swell Maps.
 

Here's another list of bands that were great in the 90's but are either defunct or out of steam now. Well worth listening too, but any new product is not expected to rule (I don't expect any great product out of anybody still alive on my all-time list either).
 

Pavement -- Archers of Loaf -- Tindersticks -- Mazzy Star -- Breeders --  Spinanes -- Small Factory --  Teenage Fanclub  -- Luxuria -- Versus -- French -- F**k

Finally, the good stuff: Here are the bands that I think are the best right now and who I expect to continue making great music.
 

The Books: In my view, these guys are the best thing going in modern music. Thought for Food is a real masterpiece. Its folk music for the 21st century. Sampling, humor, musicanship, great recording. The Lemon of Pink is almost as good. The music is hard to describe / catagorize but it gets my highest recommendation.

Pinback: Wow, this is a tremendous group. the melody is often contained in the basslines, the intermittent samples are excellent, the two vocalists are often taking turns singing a different song and the sonics and production of this band's work is fantastic. I guess my favorite is still their first album "this is a pinback cd", but the second one "this is another pinback cd" has the killer song Penelope on it. Saw these guys in Dallas this year and they put on a fantastic show, very good sound and recreation of their intricate recorded performances. The music is both upbeat and melancholy at the same time. Their latest record, "Summer in Abaddon" is just out; on first hearing I like it and recommend it, but don't think it will supplant the first album as the essential choice here.

Shins: I've seen these guys twice in concert. They actually played Norman, and Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips was in the club checking them out. Their second album "Chutes too Narrow" is a masterpiece. crisp production, sweet sound, great songs. I love the tinny, retro sound of their first record, "Oh inverted world" as well. If you are a lo-fi indie type, go for "world", a pop lover, go for "chutes". This band is well worth checking out. James Mercer is a real-deal talent.
 

Joe Pernice:  Whether its the Scud Mountain boys, Pernice Brothers, Chappaquiddick Skyline, or Big Tobacco, Joe Pernice makes great music.  The single must buy product is "Overcome by Happiness", but the new Pernice Brothers CD, "The world won't end" is right up there too. Lush, literate, and distinctive music.  In a recent interview Joe said "I love the Clash, the Jam, the Sex Pistols, Dinosaur Jr., Guided By Voices, Billy Childish, oh lots of people."  Me too Joe!!!
 

Modest Mouse:  Isaac Brock et al are now famous!!!! "Good news for people that love bad news" is a million seller. Incredible. Plus, its pretty good and pretty typical "mouse". No sell out here that I can see.. The Lonesome Crowded West made a believer out of me, and  when they moved to a major label but still made an even better album (The Moon and Antarctica ), I became a fanatic. While their earlier work is good (my single favorite song is their old "All Night Diner"), "moon and antartica" is the single must buy piece. I am excited to think that their best may be yet to come. We saw them in Ft. Worth in September 2001 and they RULE.
 

The Notwist: German collective whose music continues to evolve and in my opinion, improve. Samples, Jazz, off-kilter guitars, great singer (in english). Their definitive work so far is their latest: "Shrink", with their latest CD "Neon Golden" a very close second. The record before that "12" is also worthwhile (esp. the awesome song "torture day"). By the way, some of their stuff is hard to get in the USA, but you can get the band's email from their website and contact them. I bought some music from them directly in that way. Be sure to check out side projects like the "Ms. John Soda", "Tied & Tickled Trio" and "Lali Puna" too.
 

Mountain Goats: This is more or less John Darnielle.  Historically, his sound is primitive, raw, acoustic guitar combined with eloquent, elliptical, often hilarious, lyrics. However, Dude is now on 4AD making very clean sounding records. No more tape hiss, but still pretty good.  In classic indie style, Mountain goats material is on a lot of different labels in different formats. So far my favorite is "Nothing for Juice", but newer ones like "Coroner's Gambit" and older ones like "Sweden" and "Full force Galesburg" are well worth finding. The band has a lot of obscure output. In researching this entry, I discovered stuff I've never heard, and found that Three Beads of Sweat label has released a series of archival compilation CD's. Incredibly bad sound quality but incredibly great music. (for a recent interview with  John, click here ).
 

Will Oldham:  aka Palace brothers, Palace Music, Bonnie Prince Billy. Its hard to say exactly what is so great about Will Oldham, sparse instrumentation, crude lyrics, a fragile voice, non-existent production values. However, the man makes beautiful music. My picks for essential product are "Viva Last Blues" and "I see a darkness". He may be stretched a bit thin these days, but at his best, awesome!!!
 

Manu Chao:  This guy is so awesome! While his group Mano Negra had its moments, his 1998 solo work, "Clandestino" is a masterpiece. The album features singing in english, spanish, and french along with found sounds and fantastic melodies. Its pretty clearly one of the alltime greats. His new album  (2001)"proxima estacion esperanza" (next stop hope) is a fantastic followup. On a first listen I didn't think it was as good as clandestino, but after repeated plays, I am coming to the opinion that its every bit as essential.

 

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