Re-Rewind.....back to the year 2000

Folks, it's time to get all misty-eyed and nostalgic as I take a trip down memory lane....

Ten years ago this very week I arrived in New York, very much your typical greenhorn, ready to take on anything the Big Apple had to throw at me: Godzilla, that thing from Cloverfield, mobsters, the cast of Ghostbusters, pretzel vendors, Sarah Jessica Parker......to my surprise, I didn't encounter anything quite as worrying, although the stench of honey-roasted pretzels still haunts me to this day.

What I did find was a city of warm welcomes, friendly individuals and more flavours of Snapple than you can drink in one afternoon sitting. I've tried, you can't.

I also discovered that you can pass off caves (yes, almost quite literally) as the latest hip drinking spot, that everyone has a little bit of Irish in them, that orange juice can change from a liquid to a solid when there's enough pulp in it, that German tourists think that Get Carter (the Sylvester Stallone version, no less) is a masterwork of cinema, that if you in any way call into question the class of the New York Yankees there's a danger that you will be banned from entering the city ever again, that New Jersey is a charming hovel, that sleeping on, and hosting parties on, the roof is actually fantastic and not something reserved for the cast of How I Met Your Mother, that there's no limit to the amount of free coffee you can drink in a diner, that you have a knack for hailing cabs which only George Costanza can rival, that men in business suits know every single word to "Cowboy" by Kid Rock, and that you should never, ever live anywhere near a fire station. No, not even the one from Ghostbusters.

Anyway, this nostalgia trip got me looking at some of the fine records that were released in the year 2000, and my goodness were there some corkers.

The most obvious was, of course, Radiohead's Kid A. It's almost as if music never existed before this album. Nowadays no-one really bats an eyelid when a "guitar band" starts messing around with electronics, but back in 200o what Radiohead went and did seemed positively outre. I must confess that before Kid A I could have cared less about the band, but this was just an incredible album. From the glitch of "Idioteque" to the downright beauty of "Motion Picture Soundtrack" it seemed to change the way that people looked at what a rock band was really capable of. Radiohead have never looked back from that point, and they're still one of the most vital bands that we have today.

Another great highlight was the joyous psych-pop of Mwng by Super Furry Animals. Despite being an album sung entirely in their native Welsh, this remains a terrific sing-a-long record, sunny, open and full of inventiveness. For me, other than Rings Around the World, SFA have unfortunately gone steadily downhill since.

Yo La Tengo's And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out is a record that reminds me of pleasantly warm summer nights. It's filled with gentle ballads, fuzzy background noise and an air of resigned beauty hangs all around it. Everything feels covered in a layer of reverb, even the noisy moments seem strangely subdued compared to YLT's usual wig-outs. It also has officially one of the best album covers, courtesy of Gregory Crewdson.

From quiet to loud, and of course no-one does that quite like Godspeed You Black Emperor! With Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven, Godspeed produced what might be the best opening 20minutes to an album I've ever had the pleasure of listening to. An epic double album, it was a orchestral, confused, brilliant and cataclysmic as ever. It's great to be able to welcome then back later this year after an extended hiatus.

Other great 2000 moments include Modest Mouse's The Moon and Antarctica, Sigur Ros's gorgeous debut Agaetis Byrjun, Sleater-Kinney's rollicking All Hands on the Bad One, Grandaddy's maudlin and affecting Sophtware Slump, Elliott Smith's Beatle-y Figure 8 and the still missing-in-action The Avalanches with the ridiculously inventive and sample-packed Since I Left You.

I could go on, but I'm now pining for the city that never sleeps. And you get the general idea; it was how I remembered it - a fantastic year for music. I'm glad about that as it soundtracked some good times, some great memories.....