Video: The Estranged

JENNY AND JOHNNY, LOVE AS LAUGHTER (Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside) At first glance, something about Jenny and Johnny makes my blood boil with hatred; could be the name, could be the tacky leather coat that Jonathan Rice wears in their press photos with a big blue "JOHNNY" emblazoned on the back. But after listening to a few tracks on their first release, I'm Having Fun Now , I find it hard to be resentful. My jaw slackens a bit when listening to the couple's voices blend over sanguine, classic pop [...]

Through the technological wonder and infinite time-sink that is Facebook, I've had the fun of reconnecting with gobs of old friends from college, high school, heck, even grade school; and part of that fun is seeing how many of my friends still maintain their youthful passion for music, no matter what kind. Jeff is off and running to see King Khan in the City, Diana is posting early morning videos of Alan Parsons, Dave has a Kiwi-American hybrid playlist. It's all good. More recently, I'd learned that an old middle-school friend and I developed into musical soul [...]