best artists in the last 15 years

Honestly I come up empty when I compare the last 15 to the 20 before that. I listen to a lot of music and buy a lot of CDs - sure I've found some pretty good ones - but in context of my entire listening life since the late 60s - they just don't measure up. It doesn't even have to be substantive but how many times do I hear a new song that gives me the same thrill as, say, Summer Breeze, Bad Bad Leroy Brown, Just an Old Fasioned Love Song, Draw the Line, More than a Feeling, Point of No Return, Rikki Don't Lose that Number, In Every Dreamhome a Heartache, 20th Century Boy and so on. I haven't even touched the 80s. That just don't write 'em like that anymore. Ok I found Sufjan Stevens pretty good, Paul Weller's done a lot of good stuff in the last 15 years.

Wireless200, sounds to me like you're stuck in a musical rut. I have a solution for you. Go to Pandora.com and create your own music stations. Experiment a little, as there are a boatload of muscians out there making magnificent music that you'll never hear on the radio. If you step outside the box a whole new world will open up for you.

Uncle Tupelo (sadly defunct as of 1994). Many of the alt.country/americana bands -- like some of those mentioned above -- owe a great deal to them. UT included Jeff Tweedy (Wilco) and Jay Farrar (Son Volt); in my estimation, their subsequent stuff has not been as inspiring.

John

can not really go with specific artists over the last 15 years because of the hit and miss nature i find with most artists output over this time period but i can name recordings that i love:

ben harper: fight for your mind
north mississippi allstars: shake hands with shorty
lucinda williams: car wheels on a gravel road
susan tudeschi: just won't burn
bryan ferry: frantic
los super seven: i heard it on the x
the waifs: up all night

Basic Channel(93), Sleater-Kinney(94), Cat Power(94-ish), Boards Of Canada(96) & Phosphorescent(00) are a few to come to mind. There are tons of bands mentioned above that were formed WAY more than 15 years ago. Radiohead formed in 89, NIN in 89, Massive Attack in 87, Guided By Voices in uh uhm...85, etc.