Arcade Fire, The Strokes, The Felice Brothers, Wilco, The White Stripes, OutKast, The XX, Radiohead, Rufus Wainwright, Air, Sufjan Stevens, Beck, Lambchop, The Decemberists, Alicia Keys, Daft Punk, Fleet Foxes, Midlake, Bright Eyes, Arctic Monkeys, The Roots*, M.I.A., The Libertines, Sigur Rós, Interpol, Ryan Adams, The Flaming Lips, Bonnie Prince Billy, Chromeo, Phoenix, Underworld, Janelle Monáe...to name a few.
*excellent new album "Undun" released just a few days ago.
I know, some of the a.m. artists were already around before 2000 (some bands were even founded in the 80s, like Underworld, The Roots or Radiohead), but this didn't prevent them from releasing some of their best works in the 00s.
Plus: After 2000 Bob Dylan released two of his best albums, Kate Bush made an unexpected comeback with one of her best works, Bruce Springsteen returned to his fans with great albums and live shows, Neil Young and The Rolling Stones were and are as alive and kicking (and sometimes as annoying) as in the decades before. Randy Newman showed us he's still around and finally won a deserved oscar (he's one of the best US songwriters). Joni Mitchell returned, Nick Cave released some great albums, etc, etc.
The music made after 2000 did and does not suck. There will always be great music for everyone. You just have to look for it, and sometimes it will even come to you by just listeining to the (internet) radio stations which fit your tastes the most. Today we have more possiblities than ever to discover new (and old) unknown music, e.g. I discovered this brilliant track by musicians I've never heard of before (Yasmin Gate/Douglas McCarthy) just a few days ago.
