January 3, 2001

• The Year in Music

  
  

  N’Sync, Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears… Oh my! In 2000, the biggest names in music were not always the best names in music. But looking a little deeper, I discovered that the year 2000 had a lot of music treats to offer. Counter to the culture of superstar one hit wonders, 2000 was prolific for older, more established artists. What follows is a look back in some of my personal favorite moments in music for the year 2000.

  
  

  The new releases. U2, Radiohead; two of my favorite bands, two of the most groundbreaking releases of 2000. While Radiohead challenged us with the synthesized electronica of Kid A, U2 returned to their roots with All That You Can’t Leave Behind. Both enjoyed critical as well as monetary success, which was most surprising for the Radiohead release.

  
  

  Two heavyweights of The Blues also joined forces to release one of the most anticipated and popular blues albums of the year. Eric Clapton and B.B. King released Riding with the King, which highlighted 2 generations of the blues, nicely contrasting Clapton’s rock styles with King’s more traditional sound.

  
  

  The Box Sets. Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughn, two unparalleled guitarists (parallel only to each other, I suppose) the world lost too soon, have box sets featuring live and unreleased material. A real treasure for true fans, these sets prove that these legends will be heard strong in the new millennium (sorry, every 2000 retrospective is allowed one “new millennium reference”…). And with the release of 1, The Beatles proved that they were still the biggest boy band in the world. This compilation of number 1 songs broke records by holding the number 1 spot itself, currently going on its 5^th week in the number one spot.

  
  

  The Movies. Soundtracks have always been connected with the movies they represent. But this year welcomed movies whose very fabric was woven with the threads of sound. The biggest was Cameron Crowe’s Almost Famous, which drew from Crowe’s 30 years of experience and adventures as a rock journalist. Music provided relief and solace to the characters of High Fidelity. The romantic comedy was a big hit; much of the comedy drew from John Cusack’s, Todd Louiso’s, and Jack Black’s characters, who lived and breathe the records that surrounded them. Dancer in the Dark was a more somber film, a musical with beautiful original music, and a surprise in Bjork’s strong acting debut. The year was rounded out with the late-December release of O Brother, Where Art Thou?, the Coen brother’s highly anticipated new movie. O Brother resurrected the sound of the Depression era South to spin a feel good tale worthy of a Mark Twain novel. Musicals have become a stale and stereotyped Hollywood genre, but Dancer in the Dark and O Brother reinvented the style and demonstrated just how original a musical can be. Each of these four fine films have earned some sort of Golden Globe recognition.

  
  

  The Shows. Ever since the grunge explosion Seattle has always been associated with its music scene. The fervor may have died down, but the music remains strong. This summer saw two landmark concert events in Seattle. The opening of the Experince Music Project kicked off with a weekend of big name concerts free to the public; maybe the steep $20 entry fee to the EMP helped fund these shows. The EMP is a museum funded by Microsoft’s Paul Allen devoted to music appreciation and education. The concert welcomed such godfathers of musical genres as Bob Mould (famed founder of punk icons Husker Du and Sugar), Zakir Hussain (A master of the tabla), Bo Diddley, and Taj Mahal (two blues greats). These are shows I would have gladly paid to see! Two months later the Bumbershoot festival arrived in Seattle, a concert much in the same vein as the earlier EMP festival, with a nominal fee of $10 for an entire days worth of shows. My favorite moment of Bumbershoot had to be Maktub (a great Seattle band and one of my favorite new bands) covering (my favorite old band) Led Zeppelin’s No Quarter. Other highlight performances included Tracy Chapman, Ani Difranco, Ben Harper, and Common.

  
  

  Seattle was also treated to a mini-concert from Eddie Vedder, when he was the surprise guest at a Ralph Nader rally in September. Vedder, shy and sporting a scruffy beard, played two solo songs (whose names I don’t know, one was the ukulele track off Pearl Jam’s newest album); it wasn’t a true show, but it was an interesting moment nonetheless.

  
  

  Seattle was great, but New York played host to some exclusive shows. Madonna, Radiohead and U2 were big bands that played small shows in town. Radiohead made one of two North American appearances at the Roseland Ballroom (The other was at the Greek in LA); Madonna played at the Roseland as well. U2 did a small gig for 1000 fans at Irving Plaza, a show I wrote more about here.

  
  

  The Unprecedented. Speaking of Pearl Jam, in an ambitious move, the Seattle band decided to release ALL the concerts from their European tour on CD. This highlighted Pearl Jams everlasting devotion to their fans, who would usually have to pay twice or three times as much for bootlegged versions of these shows. In another show of fan devotion, Smashing Pumpkins released their final album, Machina II, to select media outlets. As they had hoped, the album was easily leaked to more appealing outlets like Napster and countless FTP sites. The album was a precursor to the Pumpkin’s final show and breakup. They were a great Chicago band that will be really missed.

  
  

  The Interesting. Metallica became the real bad boys of rock when they chose to challenge Napster and their fans. This issue has been beat to death and I think we can agree that Metallica is pure evil without being cool, which is a combination you expect from your high school English teacher, not your favorite heavy metal band. In case you have any doubts of Metallica’s misguided evil, read about their suit against a French perfume company over the name Metallica. Prince finally returned his name to Prince, seven years after he insisted on being called The Artist. The seven year name game stemmed from Prince’s animosity with his record label. And lastly, if you found yourself watching a commercial/movie/show and asking “what’s that awesome music from?, chances are you were listening to a Moby tune. Every one of Moby’s 18 tracks from Play were licensed for some sort of visual production. It’s a feat that takes selling out to a whole new level.

  
  

  This was my year in music, and it was truly a fun ride. Blah Blah Blah I’m tired of writing; this really turned out longer than I expected. Hope you enjoyed it. Please feel free to share your favorite music moments in the comments section.

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