Top 50 Boomer Rock Artists of the 21st Century (So Far)

Top 50 Artists of the 21C So Far
Updated April 23, 2012
Updated May 12, 2012 new #17
Updated June 6, 2012
Updated Septembert 7, 2012

1. Arcade Fire--3 fabulous records and 10 years worth of kick-ass live shows--not rated in my top 45 until now, they've arrived with a bang, you could say. See my review of Arcade Fire on this blog.

2. Sufjan Stevens--fun, unexpected, a true original

3. Jerry Douglas--reinforces the point that rock and country/bluegrass overlap more than not; Best Kept Secret is an all-timer

4. Rufus Wainwright--4 great records and 2 superb concert performances (that I saw), a real gem

5. Bill Frisell--too prolific, lots of flotsam, but his best (Good Dog Happy Man, The Willies, All We Are Saying) are just too gorgeous for words

6. Aimee Mann--several great records and 2, well, so-so, concerts. Concerts are not her thing. Really smart songs are her thing.

7. Tift Merritt--3 great records, 1 pretty good record (this year's Traveling Alone) and solid concert performances; her songwriting is just terrific and she sings 'em just so, kind of a country-fied Aimee Mann

8. Hem--a poppy band with a nostalgic, old-timey, throwback appeal; beautiful songs, terrific instrumental arrangements, and superbly sung by Sally Ellyson. This is the golden age of women singers, btw.

9. Auto Body Experience--a local Twin Cities (Minnesota) band; Zappaesque; funny, totally original; Scott Yoho is a genius

10. Leonard Cohen--hasn't recorded anything near his best LPs, but each one tends to contain 1 or 2 instant classics, a la "Alexandra Leaving" and "We Will Go No More a-Roving," and his concert was an all-timer

11. Ry Cooder--Cohen and Cooder have had better decades but, seriously, their 21C output would be a career for most artists,

12. Zappa Plays Zappa--Dweezil is a genius, too, on the guitar--he's made himself a better guitarist than his daddy, though he would probably disagree

13. Sarah Borges--great singer-songwriterwith lots of energy, and she put on a great live show

14. Natalie MacMaster--terrific fiddler, has a great recorded output from trad to modern; live she's modern all the way with rock band instrumentation and very high energy

15. Black Keys--prolific and with El Camino you have to say that their best stuff is, well, among the best music of their time

16. Alison Krauss & Union Station including the incomparable Jerry Douglas

17. Los Lobos--keep plugging along. Their performance of "Mas y Mas" on Clapton's Crossroads is classic.

18. James McMurtry--"We Can't Make It Here Anymore" is probably the greatest political/social commentary of the 21C so far

19. Ray LaMontagne--his best stuff is totally gorgeuous, i.e. "Trouble" and "Shelter"

20. Travis--3 great LPs


21. Jeff Beck--also stellar on Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Fest

22. Bruce Springsteen--just keeps pluggin' along, broke the mold with The Seeger Sessions and "We Are Alive" is an all-timer

23. The Hold Steady/Craig Finn--as much as I love(d) Hold Steady, Finn's solo is just as good--different, but good

24. Zero7

25. Bright Eyes/Conor Oberst--I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning is one of the top 3 or 4 LPs of the 21C

26. Steve Earle--his LP with Del McCoury Band is his best work ever

27. Aly Bain
28. The National
29. The Shins

30. Calexico

31. Iris DeMent
32. Fantastic Merlins
33. The Gourds
34. Kings of Leon
35. Bob Dylan

36. Kasey Chambers

37. Vince Gill
38. Dwight Yoakum
39. Shawn Colvin

40. fun.

41. Wilco
42. Bon Iver
43. Whiskeytown

44. Alison Brown

45. Pat Donahue
46. The Flaming Lips
47. Kathleen Edwards
48. Halloween Alaska
49. The Lumineers
50. Jolie Holland

Best Vocals--Sally Ellison (Hem), Ray LaMontagne, Alison Krauss, Raul Malo (The Mavericks), Tift Merritt, Rufus Wainwright, Win Butler (Arcade Fire), Aimee Mann, Iris DeMent, Sarah Borges, Tina Dico (solo and with Zero7), Dwight Yoakum, Vince Gill, Nate Reuss (fun.), Glenn Healey (Travis), Eliza Gilkyson

Best Instrumentalist--Jerry Douglas, Bill Frisell, Natalie MacMaster, Dan Auerbach (Black Keys), Jeff Beck, Aly Bain, Ry Cooder, Dweezil Zappa, Bela Fleck, Robert Cray, Pat Donahue, Ron Block (Union Station), Vince Gill, Alison Brown, Sonny Landreth

Best Songs--Win Butler and Arcade Fire, Sufjan Stevens, Aimee Mann, Tift Merritt, Ry Cooder, Steve Earle, James McMurtry, Rufus Wainwright, Ray LaMontagne, Leonard Cohen, Conor Oberst, James Mercer (The Shins), Sarah Borges, Jeff Tweedy, David Hidalgo and Cesar Rosas (Los Lobos)

Top "Artists" redefined as individuals (no groups)--Win Butler, Sufjan Stevens, Rufus Wainwright, Jerry Douglas, Bill Frisell, Aimee Mann, Tift Merritt, Ry Cooder, Dweezil Zappa, Sarah Borges, Ray LaMontagne, Alison Krauss, Natalie MacMaster, Craig Finn, James McMurtry