Looking Back on Premillennium Tension

A strange truth emerged as New Times polled both its own writers and prominent music figures across Miami's aural spectrum, seeking their personal Top 10s from the past year and asking them to distill twelve months of pop culture into a clinical black-and-white list. What could it mean that the sole aesthetic common ground between one of Miami's premier techno producers and one of the city's few promoters willing to bravely challenge el exilio's cultural boycott against Cuba, was Sting? Could the middle-of-the-road crooner turn out to be the hidden key in bridging the bitter chasm between Fidel and Florida? Could it be Sting that finally would close the yawning gap between the musical tribes of Miami, between the b-boys who drive the cars that go boom and those aging Cold Warriors who literally would make the cars go boom?

Brett Sokol, music editor, Miami New Times
1. Los Van Van, live at the Miami Arena, 10/9/99
2. Pole, CD1 (Matador)
3. Steve Earle and the Del McCoury Band, The Mountain (E-Squared)
4. The Sullivan Family, Alive (Rensongs)
5. Juan-Carlos Formell, Songs from a Little Blue House (Wicklow/BMG)
6. Beck, Midnight Vultures (DGC)
7. Bob Dylan, live at the Coral Sky Amphitheatre, 9/2/99
8. The Roots, Things Fall Apart, The Roots Come Alive (MCA)
9. Phil Lesh & Friends, Love Will See You Through (Grateful Dead Records)
10. Beth Orton, Central Reservation (Arista)
11. Green Velvet, The Nineties, Constant Chaos (Music Man)
12. To Rococo Rot, The Amateur View (Mute)
13. Various Artists, Kompakt Total 1 (Kompakt)
14. JT Money, "Who Dat?" (Priority)
15. Trick Daddy, www.thug.com (Slip 'n' Slide)

Celeste Fraser Delgado, staff writer, Miami New Times
1. Francisco Aguabella, Agua de Cuba
(Cubop Records)
2. Café Tacuba, Revés/Yo Soy (WEA Latina)
3. Cesaria Evora, Café Atlantico
(BMG/RCA Victor)
4. Fabulosos Cadillacs, La Marcha del Gollazo Solitario (BMG)
5. Ibrahim Ferrer, Buena Vista Social Club Presents Ibrahim Ferrer (World Circuit/Nonesuch)
6. Macy Gray, On How Life Is (Epic)
7. Olga Tañon, Olga Viva ... Viva Olga (WEA Latina)
8. Ali Farka Touré, Niafunke (Hannibal/Rykodisc)
9. Carlos Vives, El Amor de Mi Tierra (EMI Latin)
10. Various Artists, Reggae Gold 1999 (VP)

Judy Cantor, former staff writer, Miami New Times
1. Chucho Valdés, Briyumba Palo Congo (Blue Note)
2. Juan-Carlos Formell, Songs from a Little Blue House (Wicklow/BMG)
3. TLC, Fanmail (La Face/Arista)
4. Ibrahim Ferrer, Buena Vista Social Club Presents Ibrahim Ferrer (World Circuit/Nonesuch)
5. Los Van Van, The Legendary Los Van Van (Ashe)
6. Ruben Blades, Tiempos (Sony Discos)
7. Bamboleo, Ya No Hace Falta (Ahi Nama)
8. Various Artists, Caravana Cubana Late-Night Sesions (Dreamer Music)
9. Cesaria Evora, Café Atlantico (BMG)
10. Clave y Guaguanco with Celeste Mendoza and Changuito, Noche de la Rumba (Tumi)

Alec Hanley Bemis, contributing writer, Miami New Times
1. Beck, Midnite Vultures (DGC)
2. Beta Band, The Beta Band (Astralwerks)
3. The Flaming Lips, The Soft Bulletin (Warner Bros.)
4. Magnetic Fields, 69 Love Songs (Merge)
5. Moby, Play (V2)
6. Pole, CD1 (Matador)
7. Solex, Pick Up (Matador)
8. Nobukazu Takemura, Scope (Thrill Jockey)
9. TLC, Fanmail (La Face/Arista)
10. Caetano Veloso, Livro (Nonesuch)

Hobey Echlin, contributing writer, Miami New Times
1. Eminem, Slim Shady (Aftermath/Interscope)
2. Underworld, Beaucoup Fish (V2)
3. Natas, Wicket World Wide.Com (Gothom/Overcore)
4. Primordial Passage, Underground Evolution (Peacefrog)
5. John Digweed, Bedrock (Ultra)
6. DJ DB, Shades of Technology (F-111)
7. Richie Hawtin, Decks, EFX & 909 (Minus/Nova Mute)
8. DJ Lion, Live in Arizona New Year's Eve 1998-9 (Grey Multimedia)
9. Asleep At The Wheel, A Ride with Bob (DreamWorks)
10. Nick Warren, Back to Mine (DMC/UK)

John Floyd, contributing writer, Miami New Times
1. Those Bastard Souls, Debt & Departure (V2)
2. Wilco, Summer Teeth (Reprise)
3. Alejandro Escovedo, Bourbonitis Blues (Bloodshot)
4. Mark Lanegan, I'll Take Care of You (Sub Pop)
5. Kelly Willis, What I Deserve (Rykodisc)
6. Kevin Welch, Beneath My Wheels (Dead Reckoning)
7. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Echo (Warner Bros.)
8. B.B. King, Let the Good Times Roll (MCA)
9. Paul Jones, Pucker Up Buttercup (Fat Possum)
10. Paul Westerberg, Suicane Gratification (Capitol)

Ezra Gale, contributing writer, Miami New Times
1. Vinicius Cantuaria, Tucumã (Verve)
2. Eliades Ochoa y el Cuarteto Patria, Sublime Illusion (Higher Octave)
3. Cuban Roots, Cuban Roots Revisited (Cubop)
4. DJ Logic, Presents Project Logic (Ropadope Records)
5. We, Square Roots of Negative One (Asphodel)
6. Branford Marsalis, Requiem (Columbia)
7. Chucho Valdés, Briyumba Palo Congo (Blue Note)
8. Ben Perowski Trio, Ben Perowski Trio (self-released)
9. Mocean Worker, Mixed Emotional Features (Palm Pictures)
10. Avishai Cohen, Devotion (Stretch/Concord)

Bob Tarte, contributing writer, Miami New Times
1. Mahmoud Ahmed, Erè Mèla Mèla (Buda)
2. Afel Bocoum, Alkibar (World Circuit/Nonesuch)
3. Ibrahim Ferrer, Buena Vista Social Club Presents Ibrahim Ferrer (World Circuit/Nonesuch)
4. Various Artists, The Raga Guide (Nimbus)
5. Hedningarna, Karelia Visa (NorthSide)
6. Habib Koité & Bamada, Ma Ya (Putumayo)
7. Ned Sublette, Cowboy Rumba (Rykodisc)
8. Various Artists, Roosevelt in Trinidad (Rounder)
9. Yat-Kha, Dalai Beldiri (Wicklow)
10. Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers, Spirit of Music (Palm Pictures)