The Current Music Blog: September 13, 2006 Archive

In the Twin Cities, Everyone Knows a "Jeff Johnson"

Posted at 7:23 AM on September 13, 2006 by Hans Eisenbeis

We keep a close eye on Fitted Sweats, Jeff Johnson's blog.This particular Jeff Johnson is an awesome and hilarious writer, and he was formerly the music editor at Jane magazine in Manhattan. But he's long been obsessed with Minneapolis music, and this summer he moved to the Twin Cities for reasons even he doesn't fully understand. Yesterday at his blog he linked without comment to St. Paul project Capsize the Stars, which features the guys behind Ether Bunny. Anyone who was in the Twin Cities in the 90s will recognize the name of the most prolific telephone-pole staple-gunners of the decade, possibly ever.

Anyway, check out CTS. They make us want to invent a new word: lilty.

UPDATE: Jeff writes,

"I actually ended up bailing and staying in New York! I love Minneapolis though."

Sigh. Well, we're certain there are more Jeff Johnsons currently applying for Twin Citizenship.

New Album Anxiety

Posted at 9:30 AM on September 13, 2006 by Hans Eisenbeis

Here's some welcome news in this wicked world:

Your Life in 40 Seconds

Posted at 12:00 PM on September 13, 2006 by Hans Eisenbeis

You wasted your childhood on video games. Why waste your adulthood reliving those years? An accelerated history of the video game here.

Warning: This will only divert you from work for about a minute. But then you always have computer solitaire.

A Rocky Mountain Salute to David Bowie (By Way of The Bronx)

Posted at 1:30 PM on September 13, 2006 by Hans Eisenbeis (5 Comments)

Ever since his tragic death, we've been shamelessly confessing our childhood love for John Denver. Finally, someone else joins the chorus, at the expense of Ziggy Stardust. One angel falls to Earth and writes,

"Not too long ago, I was thumbing through Rolling Stone's special 1000th issue and stumbled upon the following quote from David Bowie, circa the mid-'70s: "The cultural leaders used to be Humphrey Bogart, James Dean, and Elvis Presley. Now it's John Denver." Why, the nerve of that snotty little punk, I thought - disparaging poor, dead JOHN DENVER like that! And why? Because John Denver didn't dress in drag (as far as we know) or sleep with Mick Jagger (as far as we know)? Because John Denver seemed as wholesome as Wonderbread, looked like Cousin Oliver from The Brady Bunch, and was constantly thanking God for making him a Country Boy? Well, my word, I thought. Wouldn't Mr. Bowie, of all people, have some understanding of the concept of TOLERANCE? And let me tell you something directly, Mr. Thin White Dupe: You may have been "The Man Who Fell to Earth" … but when God (aka "George Burns") came down to Earth looking for a human representative, who did he choose? That's right: JOHN DENVER."

Take that, Mr. Bowie. All we can add are the noble words of another great visionary of the 70s, Billy Joel: Only the good die young, sir. Only the good die young.

And the rest of you, join us in the comments for a singalong. "Sunshine on My Shoulders"? or "Country Roads"?

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