Ryan Adams is one of my favourite musicians ever, but I have a tough time explaining why. If you could draw a parallel between fandom and a romantic relationship, I'm that guy who keeps going back to his two-faced girlfriend because "she can be really awesome...sometimes."

Yes, his time fronting alt-country trailblazers, Whiskeytown, yielded a trio of wonderful LPs, not to mention a host of unreleased treasures. Yes, his solo debut, Heartbreaker, is one of the strongest singer/songwriter albums I've had the privilege of hearing. And yes, since then, he's penned some stunning music.

On the other hand, his solo output since Heartbreaker has been spotty, sometimes awful, and almost always brings to mind the phrase, "dude needs an editor." It's not fun to wait half a decade between your favourite band's albums, but it's far less fun to wade through four discs worth of music in one year, only to realize that if you tossed out three quarters of the songs you just paid for, you'd have one great record rather than four half-assed ones. He also followed up his only -- severely underwhelming -- Vancouver performance by cancelling the next day's Seattle gig mere hours before doors opened, and well after I had already begun barrelling down the I-5 in an attempt to attend the non-existent show.

In spite of the lack of consistency though, there's something a bit endearing about the fact that the guy just does what he wants. He may suffer from bouts of mediocrity, but everything that bleeds from that mediocrity -- the surrounding persona -- is, at least, entertaining. Which brings us to my choice for this week's edition of Music Pix. Ryan has a habit of letting recorded studio jokes leak out into the public, but this time he's gone full steam ahead and put a brand new "tune" right up on his official site.

Dial up Ryan-Adams.com in your web browser of choice and you'll be treated to the country-come-pop-come-new-wave-come-country-again troubadour's first entry into the rap game. The song sees Adams MCing his way through, well, mostly nonsense, shouting out Staten Island, Kevin Bacon, contemplating the lack of a Water World Three and poking a hell of a lot of fun at himself. Is it great art? Not even close. But is it funny? You bet.

Ryan's currently holed up in the studio recording what will be one of too many releases for 2007. He also just finished producing Willie Nelson's forthcoming disc. I don't know if any of that is going to be any good, but I do know that his little hip-hop debut is worth enough of a laugh to keep me suckered into buying all of it anyhow.

Stream the song at Ryan's official site http://www.ryan-adams.com.

Or, if you're looking for something a little more serious, check out Ryan and the Cardinals performing "Come Pick Me Up" on Letterman, or watch his solo rendition of "Call Me On Your Way Back Home."

Quinn Omori is a regular Tyee Music Pix contributor and writes the Vancouver music blog From Blown Speakers.