I have to believe that at this point no one really considers the current decade to be a period of "great" music. Maybe a period of "fun" or "entertaining" music, but not great, in an artistic sense. It's been a decade dominated by teen pop and ringtone rap.

www.shelbylynne.comShelby Lynne's 2000 album "I am Shelby Lynne" is the first entry in my Albums of the Aughts feature.

My point is that every decade has stupid music, and it's only in hindsight that we start to associate that decade with the great music. Well, today I'm kicking off the hindsight process for the '00s. Looking through my music collection, I've identified 50 great or near-great albums released since Jan. 1, 2000, and I'll be featuring them here for the next 50 weeks.

I'll be going through the 50 "Albums of the Aughts" in the order of their U.S. release dates, with five from each year. There will be a new one posted every Sunday.

This singer-songwriter has plenty to recommend him: thoughtful acoustic folk songs with a touch of country.

The Canada native's EP includes the title song "Start Over," that I'm featuring in "Sound Check" today.

LOS ANGELES - It looks like the old Dead are gettin' on.

Surviving members of the Grateful Dead say they'll regroup for a 19-city tour, their first since 2004, beginning April 12 in Greensboro, N.C.

Everybody who's happy to see a turbulent 2008 disappear in your rear-view mirror, raise your hands. I thought so.

Even Nielsen SoundScan music sales figures for last year tell a troubling story: Once again, physical album/CD sales dropped, this time by a whopping 23 percent from 2007. However, overall music sales -- thanks mostly to the continued surge in digital track sales via the Internet -- were up 10.5 percent. But album sales (including digital albums) were down 14 percent. Doesn't anybody listen to albums cover to cover anymore?

FLINT, Michigan -- Churchill's has lined up a trio of regional acts for a musical get-together following the Jan. 9 downtown art walk.

Venue regulars Ground Score will appear alongside Michigan rockers No Baloney Zone and the Poor Al's, a local alternative rock band that arrived in Flint via Hampton, Va.

Courtesy PhotoAlexisonfire's Dallas Green takes his solo project, City and Colour, on a national tour with its first stop at the Fillmore Detroit.

DETROIT, Michigan -- Driving in a car on the way to rehearsal with Alexisonfire bandmate/guitarist Wade MacNeil, Canadian singer/guitarist Dallas Green is talking about his folk-inspired solo project, City and Colour. The group allows Green to channel his softer, acoustic self while Alexisonfire focuses on arena rock anthems.

"Sometimes it gets weird and tricky but sometimes you just have to work around it," Green said about balancing both projects. "It allows me to get rid of any tendencies I have toward writing softer songs out of my mind. So when I pick up my electric guitar, I can focus on playing a loud kind of thing that I really like about (Alexisonfire), as opposed to trying to slide in acoustic ideas in order to show how diverse we can be. I can focus on big rock songs, which is what we like to do in Alexis."

Green will open his first U.S. headlining jaunt with City and Colour at The Fillmore Detroit. The show is part of The River's second annual Winter Icebreaker with William Elliott Whitmore, Serena Ryder and Neverending White Lights.

Tina Turner and actress Anne Hathaway attend the Amway Global presentation of Turner's tour in Madison Square Garden on Dec. 1 in New York City.

I was intrigued by a story The Press' business editor, Nancy Crawley, did in the fall about Amway Global sponsoring Tina Turner's recent North American tour.

The tour ended a couple of weeks ago, so I thought I would check in with Steve Lieberman, managing director of Amway Global, to see how things went.

Press Photo/Delbridge Langdon Jr.The Plain White T's perform Wednesday night as part of the New Year's on the Grand.

Everybody who made it downtown Wednesday night will agree on one thing. New Year's on the Grand was really cold.

AP File PhotoWill Amy Winehouse make it to her own drug possession appeal in Norway?

British singer-songwriter Amy Winehouse has been summoned to appear in a Norwegian court on Jan. 12 in her appeal against a fine in a drugs possession case, a police prosecutor said Wednesday.

Winehouse and her husband, Blake Fielder-Civil, were arrested in the western city of Bergen in October 2007 during a concert stop on charges of possessing 7 grams (1/4-ounce) of marijuana. They were held overnight and released after paying fines of 3,000 kroner ($415) each.

The 25-year-old Winehouse later appealed the fine, claiming Norwegian police made mistakes in the case. An initial trial date in March 2008 was postponed at the request of her attorney.

AP File PhotoRapper DMX made a plea deal to multiple drug possession, theft and animal cruelty charges.

DMX has reached a plea deal on multiple drug possession, theft and animal cruelty charges.

The rapper (real name: Earl Simmons) pleaded guilty on Tuesday to one misdemeanor count of animal cruelty, one felony count of theft, and one count each of felony possession of marijuana and a narcotic drug.

DMX, who appeared in handcuffs and wearing a black-and-white striped prison uniform, is expected to receive a minimum 90-day jail sentence as well as probation under terms of a plea agreement, according to the Maricopa County attorney's office. He will remain in the county jail until his sentencing and won't be given credit for time served.