Unlike the movies, 2000 proved to be a stand-up year in music. It brought us back favorites from the past in vintage form--Steely Dan, Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits), Paul Simon and U2. Brit pop offered us many of the years best, and we saw the most influential of all the Brit bands, Radiohead, set aside their guitars in favor of synthesized experimentation. My pick for the year's best is the reinvention album by Shelby Lynne. Following the rebellious trail out of Nashville blazed by Steve Earle, Shelby's new incarnation features the most deeply affecting and interesting music of the year. Full of moments that are chillingly brilliant, it takes classic Country Blues to places it's never gone before. This is a knock-out piece of work that fans of any kind of music should appreciate. This isn't exactly my favorite kind of music, but I keep reaching to turn up the volume to find it's already up all the way. My favorite album of the year by a country mile.

1 - Shelby Lynne - I Am Shelby Lynne
2 - Coldplay - Parachutes
3 - Travis - The Man Who . . .
4 - Eels - Daisies of the Galaxy
5 - Poe - Haunted
6 - PJ Harvey - Stories . . .
7 - Wyclef Jean - The Ecleftic
8 - Steely Dan - Two Against Nature
9 - Mark Knopfler - Sailing To Philadelphia
10 - Dandy Warhols - 13 Tales
11 - Joseph Arthur - Come To Where I'm From
12 - U2 - All That You Can't Leave Behind
13 - Steve Earle - Transcendental Blues
14 - Aimee Mann - Bachelor # 2
15 - Julianna Hatfield - Beautiful Creature
16 - Peter Case - Flying Saucer Blues
17 - The Jayhawks - Smile
18 - Elliot Smith - Figure 8
19 - Palo Alto - Palo Alto
20 - Catherine Wheel - Wishville
21 - Richard Ashcroft - Alone With Everybody
22 - Sunny Day Real Estate - Rising Tide
23 - Doves - Lost Souls
24 - BT - Movement In Still Life
25 - Radiohead - Kid A