Why, Kanye, Why?

After hearing several songs on hip-hop/pop radio that use that horrible device that scrambles voices and makes everybody sound like a robot, I wondered two things: what is that device called and why do people use it? When I read several reviews of the new Kanye West album, I discovered that it is called the auto-tune. I still can't figure out the other question though.

Kanye, who after three records was on his way to being a hip-hop legend, decided to base AN ENTIRE ALBUM around this damn thing. Steal a trend and overexpose it under your album is generic and bland - good call! What was he thinking?

That's all I'm going to say about this unlistenable album, which competes with My Morning Jacket and Lucinda Williams for the year's biggest disappointment.

Anyway, have a great Thanksgiving.

Guns N' Roses

I think track-by-track is the only way I can do this. Let's go:

1. Chinese Democracy - A quiet intro leads to a big dumb rock song. Not very memorable, but this an idea way to start this album. Plus, that is a better guitar solo than 95% of the solos attempted this decade, which sets a good precedent for the rest of the record.

2. Shackler's Revenge - This one was obviously created for Guitar Hero. The chorus grew on me after a few times; this is an inevitable radio hit.

3. Better - What is it with this album and horrible song intros? The first 30 seconds sound like a bad Brittany Spears track, and then we get a great mid-tempo verse followed by a great aggressive chorus - think "My Michelle". This is a highlight.

4. Streets Of Dreams - Yes, the piano shows up! Perfect timing! A dramatic power ballad that doesn't overdo the whining or the strings. Best song on the record - things are going great thus far.

5. If The World - What the hell is going on here? Spanish guitar, funk bass, metal riffs, and a new higher octave for Axel to sing in? This is the point where GNR purists throw this CD out their car windows. Terrible.

6. There Was A Time - This song just redefined the word "pretentious". Every idea Axel had, good or bad, they just swung for the fences and tried it. This is a confusing mess of a song. There are parts that I like, but sorting this one out is like homework.

7. Catcher In The Rye - Another gorgeous piano ballad that redeems the album from those last two tracks. I love the uncharacteristic "la la la" that leads into a great guitar solo. This is a keeper.

8. Scraped - Pure guitar muscle reminiscent of Soundgarden. I love the backing vocals, I hate the intro (yet again).

9. Riad N' The Bedouins - Take the last track, give it an even worse intro and a horrible name. You probably could have cut this one.

10. Sorry - A slow, angry, draining ballad that is difficult to get through. "I'm sorry for you, not sorry for me" - these are horrid lyrics even by Axel's standards. This song is, simply put, unlistenable.

11. I.R.S. - Finally, a good intro! A driving but creepy tantrum with some of Axel's best yelling - it grows on you.

12. Madagascar - He performed this one several years ago on MTV. Usually, an orchestra and a symphony work terribly together, but they are well balanced and this is a solid epic in the "Estranged" vein. Even the Martin Luther King sample at the end doesn't overstay its welcome.

13. This I Love - A weepy piano/string ballad that could make it into a future Disney film. I actually like it, although at least one metal head will read this and beat me up for it.

14. Prostitute - More string, more piano, but a bit more drive and guitar this time. Unexpectedly gorgeous outro: a solid end to a shaky record.

For those of you keeping score, here's this record in a nutshell: 5 excellent tracks that rank with this band's best before the two-decade break, 5 songs that are good enough to occupy space but aren't very memorable, and 4 tracks that are horrible experiments gone wrong.

Does that make this a classic album? No, but it makes it a good one. Give it a chance - there are enough well-executed ideas here to make this album interesting and even memorable. I don't think it will be a well-regarded piece of music history, but if you need some good old rock and roll, this will get you through the holiday season. And it should be enough to make you hope Axel doesn't wait another 17 years to give us something new.

Today's Ramblings

- I've read some preliminary reviews of the new Guns N' Roses album and I'm kind of excited. It sounds like a mess, but with more hits than misses and a varied sound that will give it some replay value like the Use Your Illusion albums did. I was skeptical of Rolling Stones review since they have a rule where they can't give bad reviews to old artists, but some other reviews have made me optimistic. Three days from now, everybody can laugh at me if I'm wrong.

- Blender put out the year's first "best of the year list". I was pleasantly surprised by most of it even though the #1 pick was ridiculously obvious for them (Lil Wayne) and mid-November seems to be a bid early to do this. The put my two favorite albums of the year on there (Nick Cave and Bon Iver) even though they failed to write a review on either of them. Oh well, I think I can forgive you guys now. Just stop writing about Lil Wayne for God's sake.

- After GNR, there are no releases to look forward to for the rest of the year. Where are you Jay-Z? U2? We need a good release right before Christmas! Help!

- He really was one of the most underrated drummers ever. Rest in peace, Mitch Mitchell.

Ahh, pop-country music...

I just picked up the new Taylor Swift album. Read that again. Go ahead, mock me. I hid it as I carried it up to the counter at my local Best Buy, but now I'm writing about it. I like this record. While it isn't the caliber of recent masterpieces by Vince Gill and Miranda Lambert, it is another catchy and ultimately satisfying pop country crossover, a type of record that I seem to be playing more and more this year.

With that said, an 18-year old girl just put out a more memorable album than anything being played on rock radio right now. Is this a pretty clear indication that rock music is dead? Seriously, play Taylor Swift and Brad Paisley and then play the new albums by Hinder and Nickelback. You might tell your male friends the rock albums are better, but tell me you aren't humming the country hits on the way home.

Lil Wayne and Kanye West made hip-hop popular again and a new class of very-young songwriters have revived pop country. Rock music needs help. This new Guns N' Roses album really has its work cut out for it.

Until then, at least give the song "Change" by Taylor Swift a try. Give in to country music. You know you want to. Most of us already have.

Deerhunter's Microcastle

Ah, its nice to hear some good old guitar noise again. It's actually become kind of a rare thing - most indie rock these days incorporates kitchen sink instrumentation (Arcade Fire), complex harmonies (Panda Bear), multi-genre exercises (TV On The Radio), pop hooks (The Shins), and on and on. After Nirvana popularized the punk-noise that Sonic Youth perfected, indie rock kind of moved on.

That's why Deerhunter's Microcastle is such a refreshing listen. This band takes the torch passed from Sonic Youth, My Bloody Valentine, and Pavement. "Agoraphobia" and "Nothing Ever Happens" are catchy, loud, and drive with the urgency "college rock" (as it was then called) did 20 years ago. This band writes some beautiful ones too: "Green Jacket" is a piano and light vocals floating in guitar distortion and "Little Kids" could pass as prime R.E.M.

The record store I found this at had it in the "experimental" section, which seems a bit odd - wasn't this the norm in underground music back in the late 80s? Isn't this just great guitar pop with bad production? How does that make it experimental? It isn't - its just a great reminder of how indie rock got to where it is, and that alone makes it one of the year's most interesting listens.

Q-Tip's The Renaissance

I was starting to get worried - is Lil Wayne's Carter III the only worthwhile rap album coming out this year? It was looking that way, with Jay-Z further delaying his and Kanye sounding like he's abandoning rap altogether (and the Streets new album barely qualifying as rap). Every fall, there is a late entry into the race, and last week gave us a masterpiece.

I incorrectly assumed Q-Tip hasn't done much since his Tribe Called Quest days. He's actually recorded four albums in ten years, now two of which have been released. And Wilco thought they had record label problems: at least their recordings eventually get released by somebody.

On the Renaissance, Q-Tip brings back a few things rap has been missing. First is the funk: the low end of this record reminds me of west coast rap from the 90s. Second is actual choruses: between his rhymes of "Gettin' Up" is a beautifully sung harmony. Third is social conscience in the Bob Marley sense of the phrase: "We Fight/We Love" is a calm, peaceful rally call that is out of place with the typical curse-at-the-President fare that passes for political in today's hip-hop. Even "Life Is Better", a romantic duet with Norah Jones, holds together and works in the record's context.

If you own any Tribe Called Quest albums, you already know you are getting one of the best MCs alive; in fact, Jay-Z might be his only competition. Let's all make an effort to make sure this guy is never prevented from releasing an album again: this is everything a rap record should be.

Yes We Can!!!

Well, it was nice to have an uneventful election. No recounts, no riots, just Obama winning and a renewed sense of optimism this country hasn't seen this decade. Here are a few songs that we will always have to remember George W. Bush by:

"Devils and Dust" by Bruce Springsteen - An old fashion anti-war ballad that could have fit the Vietnam War too. I really think Bruce's endorsement of Obama is responsible for at least a million of his votes - nobody can convince me otherwise.

"Capital G" by Nine Inch Nails - Here's a trick that gave Trent new life in his career: make horrifying music about how screwed America is, then give it a dance beat. Any song from that album would fit this list.

"Sins Of Our Fathers" by Tom Waits - The title pretty much says it all. This song didn't need eleven minutes to make its point, but I'm glad it goes that long.

"Holiday" by Green Day - He compares Bush to Hitler, and this song becomes a huge radio hit uncensored. Am I the only one who thinks that's crazy?

"When The President Talks To God" by Bright Eyes - The least subtle and most brutal of the GW Bush slanders, it sounds like an enraged drunk man trying to preach.

Thanks for the memories Bush! Now that rock musicians like the President, what are they going to sing about? This isn't going to be like the 90s where all rock musicians do is cry about the girl who left them, right? I guess we'll see.

Ryan Adams

10 albums in 8 years - this guy is a workaholic. His first album, Heartbreaker, was a new standard in alt-country moping. But then he couldn't decide what he wanted to be: Gold incorporated rock and 70's pop while Rock N' Roll was a straight-up glam punk album. He finally grounded his sound a bit by forming his band (the Cardinals) but he's still cranking out music faster than the average fan can keep up with.

Here's what is really amazing: almost all of his albums have been pretty good. Heartbreaker is his only masterpiece, but alt-country is all about consistency. His albums got a little turbulent in 2005 when he decided to release three in one year, but last year's Easy Tiger was a solid return to form.

His new record, Cardinology, is his best record since Gold. The new single "Fix It" incorporates R&B vocals and "Magick" reminds us on his punk leanings from his earlier albums, but most of it sticks to the plan: guitar hooks, emotional singing and a country twang. There aren't a lot of people who are doing it better right now.

The highlights come in the middle from two mid-tempo ballads. "Cobwebs" is a stadium power ballad that sounds like U2's best 80s singalongs and "Let Us Down Easy" is gospel roots that Dylan would be proud of.

I'm satisfied with Ryan Adams putting out solid alt-country records like this one: he doesn't need to swing for the fences and put out something adventurous that might not work (like the trainwreck of an album Lucinda Williams just put out). Just keep writing memorable songs like these and he has a great future. Cardinology won't win new fans, but it will keep the old ones happy.