Myspace Rundown: The Triple Threat, December Remember, Daroe, Since November, Rob Gezschman

The intermittent rundown of bands or musicians that randomly friend me on MySpace--an exercise in maintaining critical balance. MySpace bands are definitely graded on a curve--an A- on MySpace is probably a B or so for music encountered commercially.

The Triple Threat: Sweet, and distinctly pleasant, but unexceptional. B.

December Remember: Oh god. This is like a mix of Bright Eyes, Joanna Newsom, and really, really bad. Possibly the most confused music I've heard; I can't tell if it's on purpose or not (is he off-key and off-beat deliberately? is it some complex mathematical manipulation of either or both?), but I don't care. C-? D?

Daroe: One of the more together bands that've featured on Myspace Rundown; they're on-beat and maybe even a bit interesting. Skillful instrumentals and vocals, but "Slaves" is lame. B- (without considering the self-conscious grunge lyrics of "Slaves," B+)

Since November: The publicity photo is atrocious--very Scandinavian, mouth-open, smash-banged foolishness. I like the music, though; a nice mix of acoustic instrumentals and distorted vocals. I'm a sucker for juxtaposing very acoustic layers and very electronic layers. A--.

Rob Getzschman: I wish it to be understood that bad acoustic covers of Postal Service songs win nobody points. Amanda Palmer can pull it off; Rob Getzschman can't. Following it up with subgenre in-joke "Anti-Folk Is Dead" doesn't get any points either, actually. The dude seems competent but incapable of doing a non-derivative song. Why showcase those two, really? C-.

I may split Myspace grades into two aspects, which are I think togetherness and creativity. Sometimes bands that are not very interesting get rated highly, because they can keep time and find their way around their instruments without getting obviously lost; some bands aim higher than they can fly. I'd like to take both into account.

tags: [Music], [Myspace]