The good news is that it can only get better, right? I mean, can it really get any worse than:

•  Impotent, slightly fey, homoerotic "boy bands" pandering to the prepubescent Tigerbeat sect and/or flaccid gay males who were left wandering, lost and lonely, without a new Pet Shop Boys CD?

• Moronic, "high-road," pseudo-Christian, chest-beater anthem rawk by ungifted, earnest thieves like Creed, who's music is merely badly performed Alice in Chains or Pearl Jam with a God jonze and bad hair?

• Misogynistic hate-hop by an incredibly untalented, Mickey Mouse-voiced, white-ghetto, K mart-styled poseur with a loathing complex targeted at his mother/wife/American dream?

• Simple-minded, goon-driven aggra-rap bleetings by over-coifed, Cookie Monster-voiced, white gangsta-wannabes who don't realize that the Vanilla Ice-flavored "word-to-your-mother" riffs wore out their welcome a decade ago?

Things were equally as unremarkable in the beneath-the-radar flight path of indie rock, the sphere in which new ideas are suppose to bubble up, unhampered by Andy Travis-like program directors, like magma through the music world's rock-hard crust. Suddenly, everything sounded emo or angular, over-emoted or over-conceptualized. No one indie band raised its head above the crowded fray. Regardless, the steady-as-she-goes indie stalwarts did come through, for the most part, and again produced the most interesting and enjoyable new music of the year.

Without further ado, my "top-10 favorites" of 2000:

While national music was in the doldrums, local music hit a high-water mark, thanks to Saddle Creek Records, which enjoyed a bang-up year with releases from Bright Eyes (Fevers and Mirrors) and Cursive (Cursive's Domestica) that garnered national exposure. Even The Faint's 1999 release, Blank-Wave Arcade, continued to burn brightly in the indie world, thanks to the band's tireless national touring schedule.

But Saddle Creek wasn't the only playa in the crowded Omaha music scene. The Good Life (headed by Cursive frontman Tim Kasher) put out arguably the best CD by local musicians last year with Novena On a Nocturn released by Better Looking Records (much to Saddle Creek's chagrin). Oil's outstanding Dreaming with a Deadline was among the best non-Saddle Creek-related releases, along with Fizzle Like a Flood's homemade ode to AKsarben, Golden Sand and the Grandstand, Bad Luck Charm's blistering slice of punk-roots meets twang madness Viva La Sinners, and The Crossphade Family's hip-hop street-opus Middlenium.

The live music scene again revolved around three primary stages. The Ranch Bowl continued to cater to owner Matt Markel's GetGo! Records' stable as well as a handful of national touring alternative bands. The Music Box, in its lackluster first year of operations, finally began to draw crowds after dropping its no-smoking policy and booking AOR-friendly national acts like Maceo Parker and The Jayhawks. Sokol Underground booked the most interesting national shows by bands including Death Cab for Cutie, Pedro the Lion, The Dismemberment Plan, Her Space Holiday, Guided by Voices, Sunshine, and, of course, the Saddle Creek acts. The Junction, a relative newcomer, began forging a reputation as a much-needed alternative stage for metal and noise bands. But perhaps the strangest trend was the Cog Factory's success at booking touring Christian rock bands between the usual hardcore/punk outfits that have made the venue famous.

But before we get to the predictions, let's review last year's prophecies:

Prediction: Bright Eyes will release a full-length CD that will push him to the next level of national exposure. 
Outcome: Fevers and Mirrors almost broke into the CMJ top-20, Conor penned a deal with Sony involving his publishing rights and has appeared in the pages of national publications such as Magnet, CMJ, and New Music Express.

Prediction: Grunge will rise from the ashes as the natural evolution of emo. 
Outcome: Guitar-driven emo and post-emo rock pretty much dominated the indie scene last year.

Prediction: Chicago-style house music will be back. 
Outcome: Who would have thought that the rave culture would continue to bubble over a decade after its first incarnation?

Prediction: Violence suggested at the Woodstock festival will be rekindled somewhere during the summer festivals. 
Outcome: The closest thing to violence came at the World Trade Organization conference in Seattle, the Rage Against the Machine performance outside the Democratic National Convention and the Source Hip-Hop Awards show.

Prediction: Marilyn Manson will release a dark, violent, hate-filled opus that parents will really hate. 
Outcome: Holy Wood took Manson to new lows, both in content and sales.

Prediction: Non-touring Omaha original bands, such as Twitch, Five Story Fall, Silicon Bomb, The Get, Oil and Jank 1000, will continue to garner a loyal following, waiting for some sort of miracle to get them to the next level. Watch half of these bands break up in 2000. 
Outcome: Well, Twitch did break up, Silicon Bomb hasn't played live since August, and Five Story Fall broke up then reformed with new personnel. None of the above bands made any national headway.

Prediction: 106.9 FM The City's free-form radio format will prove to be too "free form." 
Outcome: The station dropped the format last fall for a VH1-style format.

Prediction: An Omaha musician or band (or former Omahans) -- other than 311 or Mulberry Lane -- will appear on either David Letterman, SNL, Leno or Conan O'Brien. 
Outcome: We're still waiting.