It's been a pretty lousy decade in many ways (think George W. Bush, etc.), but, when it comes to music at least, it's been a great ten years.
From Bob Dylan's continued renaissance, to the emergence of Jack White as one of music's most inspired artists, to the revolutionary new sounds being created by the likes of M.I.A., to the hip hop genius of Jay-Z and Kanye West, it's sure been an exciting time to be a music fan.
So here they are, my picks for the best music of the last ten years:
"So don't fear if you hear
A foreign sound to your ear"
- Bob Dylan, "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)"
"Voices echo this is what salvation must be like after a while"
- Bob Dylan, "Visions Of Johanna"
Bob Dylan as one of the greatest singers ever? I know from many a heated discussion that this confuses, confounds and perplexes a lot of people. And even enrages a few others. But, as I've argued for years now, particularly in my earlier piece The BOB ON BOB Rave ("This Old Man"), there's just no denying the greatness of Dylan as a singer. That's right, contrary to popular perception, Bob is indeed one of the greatest singers of all time. And now I've got a major music magazine backing me up on this.
OK, let's get one thing straight right from the get-go, Sri Lanka is simply the greatest place I've ever visited! After a delay of over 7 weeks I'm finally going to start writing about our time here. And what a time it's been so far. I've been too busy up till now (simply having fun) to write, but I've now made some time and, man, do I ever have a lot to tell. How will I remember all the details from so many weeks ago? Don't worry. I have hundreds of pages of notes. Enough, in fact, to write a whole book just about these past 7 and a half weeks. We had a great 10 months in Nepal and India, but in just the first month here we'd already had more amazing experiences than during our entire time in those 2 countries. Seriously! A month after arriving here it was as if we'd already been living here for years, with our own soccer friends, basketball friends, drinking friends, Beach Club friends and "come stay at our place" friends too. And not to forget Bunny and Dr Seuss.
