Auto tune. I think if there’s one indicator modern music is in such bad shape it has to be the fact that organic music in and of itself is in sharp decline. Pro-tools and digital slice and dice editing have the unfortunate result of dulling everything into such a perfect package that with all the rough edges sanded off that ends up having all the appeal of Ikea furniture. Functional perhaps, but completely uninspiring. And Auto tune is the main symptom of the disease. It’s gone from something meant to correct pitch and make someone sound better, to just the opposite. If often sounds like someone is throwing up a harmonica. And it’s used in such quantity that it truly does make it sound like everything is the same. Listen to any TOP 10 hits on the pop chart and it is really hard to discern one from the next without a DJ or your satellite radio ID’ing which track is next.
 
 The fear of rocking out. This to me is just plain sad. How often do you see a live performer these days just going for it, sounding like their at their breaking point, appearing dangerous the way rock and roll was first intended? Think about it, where’s the next Iggy Pop? The last band I saw that sounded and looked like they were ready to spontaneously combust onstage was At The Drive In, and that’s a lonnngggggg time ago.  I fear part of this was an overcorrection to all the Nu-Metal stuff from the late 90’s, early 00’s. It had gotten so cartoonish to rock out that the thing that felt safest to do was to put on your geek specs and coo in a bad off key falsetto over herky jerky Gang of 4 lite guitar lines. Just give me more bands not afraid to rip a good guitar solo while belting away and showing some energy. Please.
 
In the end, I think more of this has to do with the way radio is positioned. It’s easy and cheap to produce the auto tuned kiddy crap that we’re drowning in today. Disposable yes, but much easier to work with than doing multiple takes to get a guitar solo done organically or to hit the right notes vocally without all the studio wizardry. But it’s a sad price to pay.
 
Please don’t take me for a complete stick in the mud. I can find new music I do enjoy. In the past few years, The Horrors, the XX, Mastodon, M83, Red Fang, Silversun Pickups and She Wants Revenge have all caught my appreciation. But in the end what makes them appealing to me is how much they sound like old stuff I liked, not pointing to any new movement or something unforeseen.
 
I think growing up in the Grunge era spoiled music for a lot of folks in my age range. Hair Metal and Boy Bands were everywhere, and then this great roar of feedback killed it dead. Suddenly the bands that were your best-kept secret were the talk of the nation and everything felt a little bit cooler for a while. But then it imploded. Britpop & Techno, much of which I enjoyed, were mainly a hit in Europe and kind of trickled down over here, but not in a demonstrative changing way. Instead we got primarily hit with post grunge, Creed, ET all and then Limp Bizkit, and then the resurgance of the boy bands and teen pop. We’ve gone full circle. We are currently in an early stage of riding a wave of 90’s nostalgia, which I dearly hope will give some teenagers in their garage a desire to let it rip and to freak people out. Go out and offend, destroy some eardrums and make me proud kids!