I just connected with an old friend who complained that there isn't any new music worth listening to these days... or if there is, he can't find it. My biggest problem is keeping up with all of the cool new music and I always have my ear to the ground for new sounds.

[there used to be a streaming playlist here but since Apple bought Lala and promptly destroyed it, you can't see or hear it anymore]

To make it a little easier for him, I was inspired to make this playlist of "Modern Classics," which I define as relatively new music that has proven it's staying power. Everything on this list is roughly 10 years old (1998-2000) and nearly all of these artists are actively creating today.

RL Burnside - During the 90's, R.L.'s Mississippi Hill Country Blues (aka "dirty blues") gained exposure thanks to collaborations with the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. R.L. has an incredible, deep voice and is a groove-master on acoustic and electric guitar. This track is from 'Wish I Was In Heaven Sitting Down' (2000) which is essentially a remix album of earlier material. You've heard other remix stuff on The Sopranos. Unfortunately R.L. got his wish and is up in Heaven now, hopefully sitting down.

Macy Gray - This is by far the most mainstream track on this list but she cannot be ignored. The world was ripe for a new diva and 'On How Life Is' (1999) still stands... although these days my attention shifts to Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings.

Sly and Robbie w/ Howie B - Drum-n-bass producer meets drum and bass legends for an awesome trip/hop/dub record in 1999.

Eels - The George W. Bush campaign in 2000 cited this record 'Daisies of the Galaxy' as inappropriate (profanity) music marketed toward children when handed out in a Gore campaign goodie bag. The way I see it, it's just great fun for the whole family with songs like "I Like Birds," It's A Motherfucker," and "Tiger In My Tank" but you can opt for the cleaned up version with "It's A Monstertrucker."

Beta Band - First full-length album 'The Beta Band' (1999) didn't get the same respect as the EP's that preceded it but I think it was more imaginative. At the time, they seemed to be the most promising new band in the world. (You might recall their track in the film "High Fidelity" where Cusack wows his record store audience.) A couple albums and years later, they suddenly break up!! Our household is still devastated. A couple of the members have re-joined as The Aliens.

Bad Livers - 'Blood and Mood' (2000) was a totally ground-breaking album that went virtually unnoticed until recently, when this track "Death Trip" showed up on HBO's True Blood last year. The fanmail is still coming in! (I'm their webguy) Maybe their marketing strategy wasn't lined up properly -- they played old-timey sounding music on an alt-rock label (Quarterstick) then switched to a bluegrass label (Sugar Hill) where they gradually brought in rock and electronic influences. 'Blood and Mood' was tragically their swan song record but exponentially expanded the sonic pallet of alt.country.

Calexico - 'The Black Light' (1998) sounds like Neil Young, in psychadelic regalia, wandered into a spaghetti western with a band of mariachies... navigating the ghost towns of the American west. This record makes you want to take a massive roadtrip into the unknown. They've made many fine albums since -- and they are an impressive touring band -- but this record stands by itself as a Sonoran Desert masterpiece.

Latin Playboys - A core duo from Los Lobos (Hidalgo/Perez) joins forces with the binaural production team of Mitchell Froom and Tchad Blake (Tom Waits' 'Bone Machine, Suzanne Vega, Paul McCartney, among others) for their second record together 'Dose' (1999). Like Calexico, it's sounds very cinematic and mysterious... but more of an urban trip.

Amon Tobin - Known previously as Cujo, 'Supermodified' from 2000 captures his evolution from cut-and-paste lounge to funky electronic constructs. It's complete freakout music that you can't resist dancing to.

Queens of the Stone Age - QotSA is my favorite band and I think they just keep getting better! With that said, their amazing second record 'Rated R' from 2000 has many favorites including the wicked "Monsters In The Parasol," the T. Rex-ish "Auto Pilot" w/ grunge legend Mark Lanegan, and the epic "I Think I Lost My Headache." I chose this track because I think it best sets the direction they go from here.... soon sealing the deal as the new saviors of rock and roll with 2002's 'Songs for the Deaf.'

Radiohead - The other saviors of rock experiment with electronica on 'Kid A' (2000)... a huge influence on the music world. I'm not a huge Radiohead fan myself but this record is an obvious milestone in the evolution of modern rock.

Flaming Lips - In 1999, 'The Soft Bulletin' indicated that The Flaming Lips (who used to suck) had suddenly became one of the most important recording artists on the planet. This was confirmed 3 years later with 'Yoshime Battles The Pink Robots,' which I will argue is the best record of the 00's.

Sufjan Stevens - His self-made debut 'A Sun Came' (2000) is a triumph in lo-fi. This is artsy, experimental folk rock with balls. It sounds like it was recorded in about 14 different countries but was made on a 4-track somewhere in the upper midwest.

Tom Waits - 'Mule Variations' (1999) was Tom Waits' comeback after a long hiatus, and he has been prolific ever since. A guy that worked at my local cafe in San Francisco played on here and related stories as the sessions went by. He played the "bones." The whole album is great -- and I like the next one 'Blood Money' even better -- but this track "What's He Building In There" is a must-have classic.

Lambchop - This is the lush, gently raging sound from the fringes of Nashville. Back in the days of 'What Another Man Spills'(1998) Lambchop was a 14-piece band with strings, horns, 2 basses, piano, piano and f/x guitar centered around Kurt Wagner, who is some kind of soft-spoken supergenius.