Jam of the Day: Hundred Waters - "[Animal]"

From Hundred Waters, this skittering folktronica track recalls the best of Bjork's sonic pop explorations.

New: Lana Del Rey - "Shades of Cool"

Another peek into Lana Del Rey's upcoming record Ultraviolence.

Videos of the Week

Here they are, you have been waiting for them, the videos of the week:



Live footage mixed with urban imagery highlights this gorgeous track from CYMBALS.



Sam Smith is involved in a love triangle in this slick video for his tender ballad.



Basement Jaxx didn't just return to form, they came back blazing with their new single "Unicorn." The single now gets a candy-colored animated video.



Michigan post-punkers Bars of Gold get their faces morphed in this cool clip.



Gorgeous clip from Young & Sick.

Jam of the Day: Maya Jane Coles - "Lost In The City"

Starkly funky track from Maya Jane Coles that sounds like the perfect accompaniment to a long drive/walk home from the club at 5 am.

Non-Sequiturs

Perfect bear belly.

Sexy Jeff from Seattle.  Grrrrr.

Yum.

Damn.

Sexy bear.

Gorgeous ginger.

Wow.

Amazing.

Daddy abs.

Daddy!

This Memorial Day Weekend, Andrew and I traveled down to Pensacola Beach, Florida to celebrate our friend Richy's 50th birthday. We had a house with 10 guys and a ton of other friends down there for the weekend. It was a perfect weekend, filled with sun, fun, sand, water, and great friends. It will definitely go down in the books as one of our best vacations. Here are some musings from the weekend:

* Good vacations are all about who you are with, and our house had a great group of guys with absolutely no drama.
* The drive to and from Pensacola is ridiculously boring.
* Orange is not my color.
* Dancing on the beach at night is a surreal experience, and sand is not a forgiving surface. My legs and feet are very sore.
* Sunblock, and lots of it, is your friend.
* Always bring a cooler with wheels.
* Be sure to get down to the beach well before 10:30 am, as the police tend to shut the road down around that time.
* I do not need to see women flashing their boobs all weekend.
* Chocolate chip cookies, Reeses Cups, Cake, and Krispy Kreme donuts are perfectly acceptable breakfast foods.
* Take a chance and have dinner with people you don't know very well, you may find you have lots in common and have a really good time.
* Always give someone a second chance to redeem themselves.
* But never give someone a third chance, they are going to be dick, regardless.
* People's real personalities come out when they get drunk.
* A good tent will be your life saver throughout the day.
* The straight women that were in our group should be given honorary gay men badges. They were so much fun.

Coming back to reality sucks.

Beware of snakes in the grass.

It is not fun coming home from vacation to a dead car battery.

Exactly.

I love the preset Fairlight CMI synth patch sound.

Apparently, I know a lot of Davids.

How do young people, who use "like" and "oh my god" in every sentence, ever get a job?

It was super tragical at Mexican the other night. What some people choose to wear out in public amazes me. There was a hootchie mama that showed up in a skin tight blue dress with neon green lacing up both sides, with an open back, and a nude colored granny bra underneath. To complete this striking look, she paired it with matching neon green lipstick.

Love this.

The mid-season finale for Mad Men was one of the best hours of television I have seen in quite awhile.

I'd have more respect for your stupidity if you were at least consistent about it.

Learning about other people's relationships makes me very thankful for how mine is.

LOL.

I could eat Mexican food pretty much every night.

How do you politely tell someone that no one can stand their new boyfriend?

I am so ready for Bear Week, and getting married to Andrew.

Why are the weeks after a long weekend the longest?

I love when I hear an album and the music is so intense it is like being on drugs.

Your cute for the day.

Lyrics Rattling Around My Brain

"Those were last nights having you
Smoked another Camel blue
Your apartment was my world
A light bulbs were the stars, the fire burn like our hearts.
Time would pass without a trace,
Watch the sunset on your face
Making love as morning comes,
Whispers something warm
Wanting more and more and more
I still feel your kisses burn with peppermint.

Can't forget the scent of you, let it linger
No one ever came closer, your movements in the dark
Does it hurt to be apart?!

Don't say it's over
Don't say it's over
Don't say!"

Say Lou Lou
"Peppermint"

"Guess it's true, I'm not good at a one-night stand
But I still need love cause I'm just a man
These nights never seem to go to plan
I don't want you to leave, will you hold my hand?

Oh, won't you stay with me?
'Cause you're all I need
This ain't love it's clear to see
But darling, stay with me

Why am I so emotional?
No it's not a good look, gain some self control
And deep down I know this never works
But you can lay with me so it doesn't hurt

Oh, won't you stay with me?
'Cause you're all I need
This ain't love it's clear to see
But darling, stay with me

Oh, won't you stay with me?
'Cause you're all I need
This ain't love it's clear to see
But darling, stay with me

Oh, won't you stay with me?
'Cause you're all I need
This ain't love it's clear to see
But darling, stay with me."

Sam Smith
"Stay With Me"

Appealing Things

Sam Smith
Throwing Snow
Moby's cover of "Rio"
Fried seafood
Early mornings at the beach before it gets crowded

Annoying Things

The taste of Mountain Dew
Having to wait until next year to see the final half season of Mad Men
People who want everything given to them without putting in effort
Coming home from vacation

Jam of the Day: Voyageur - "Tear My Heart Out"

A simple, piano-led ballad erupts into electronic fury using a sample from Elliphant's Track "Revolusion." It's an intensely emotional and cathartic track that is impossible to listen to just once.

New: La Roux - "Uptight Downtown"

Another preview off La Roux's upcoming second record Trouble In Paradise.

Jam of the Day: Jamie Isaac - "She Dried"

Gorgeous and haunting track from Jamie Isaac, an up and coming 18-year old from South London. His music is soft and eerie, relying on silences and a muted palette. Some might call it minimal, but for me it is evocative and full of beauty.

Jam of the Day: Sia - "Chandelier (BASECAMP Remix)"

Nashville Future R&B-ists BASECAMP remix Sia's skyscraping single "Chandelier" and add their slinky, inimitable stamp to it. Somehow it takes it to a minimalist place, yet retains the song's stadium ready appeal.

Non-Sequiturs

Almost perfect body, to me at least.

Score!

UNF.

Slightly too hipsterish, but I like the look.

Police yumminess.

Tatts.

Ginger, tatts, belly.

SBJ.

Amazing physique.

Ditto.

Nice belly.

Love the tatts and chest.

Damn.

Nothing sexier than silver chest hair.

Sexy eyes.

Mr. Beef.

Wow.

Big bear chest.

Perfect.

Grrrrr.

Gorgeous.

Ditto.

A little too bro-brah for me, but still hot.

We are heading to Pensacola, Florida with the rest of gay Atlanta for Memorial Day Weekend. It is always such a fun trip. I can't wait to get away.

I really hate it when Andrew goes away for a business trip.

Would it be rude of me to comment on someone's FB post that their constant posts are annoying?

It doesn't matter that with "visual trickery" you can make a 625 square foot apartment look bigger; it is still 625 square feet.

Our loft is the most impossible to place to have any sort of delivery made.

Hot and sour soup is just gross.

I find it funny when people of my generation complain about pop music of this current generation. You do realize you are sounding like your parents now, and you always vehemently denied that you would ever say something like that. Heads up to you, current pop stars aren't making music for you, either stay in your generational vacuum and shut the fuck up, or just get over it and take it for what it is.

Interesting that FB got rid of the "See Friendship" function. I used to use that to see if someone had any sort of communication and/or contact with me.

People are stranger.

If you ask me my opinion about someone (and I don't know you all that well) and that opinion of said person is bad, I am not going to say anything at all, and most likely, will change the subject.

If I am home alone, I would rather listen to music than watch television.

Cloud Atlas is a vastly underrated movie.

The most dangerous type of person is an ignorant know-it-all.

Seeing the video from Slowdive's first show in over 20 years really brought a smile to my face.

Less is more.

I love when you get the shower temperature just right.

Maya Jane Coles is one of the best remixers.

I was born and raised in Georgia, and have lived in Georgia all my life, however, most people say I have no Southern accent.

I finally trimmed my beard last night. I wanted to wait until the last possible moment before going out of town. I thought I was going to go crazy from it. I love the length, but it was becoming a bit unruly.

If I had the chance to do it all over again, would I go to law school? No.

It would be nice if just one person from my family would congratulate Andrew and I on getting engaged.

Some Tehran teens were arrested after posting clips to YouTube of them dancing to Pharrell's song "Happy." I just can't fathom having to live under such a repressive regime. Makes me very lucky to live where I live.

Sculptures like this astound me. The detail and mastery is sublime.

I like Coldplay, but I really don't like their new album Ghost Stories.

I love a good squeltchy Roland 303 acid house bass line.

Your cute for the day.

Lyrics Rattling Around My Brain

"Take on another shaft
Palms in the middle, hands in the middle

Walk out another road,
Something is muffled, another chuckle.

This is a foreground.
It is a foreground.

A cross country mass
Take directions, can't connect it.

I'm not afraid besides, ten detected,
Nine interrupted

A little jelly, fine
Powdered and fallen
Ocean and solid

Something about this light

Take all evening
I'll just be cleaning

This is a foreground.
It is a foreground."

Grizzly Bear
"Foreground"

"What would I do without your smart mouth
Drawing me in, and you kicking me out
Got my head spinning, no kidding, I can’t pin you down
What’s going on in that beautiful mind
I’m on your magical mystery ride
And I’m so dizzy, don’t know what hit me, but I’ll be alright

My head’s under water
But I’m breathing fine
You’re crazy and I’m out of my mind."

John Legend
"All Of Me"

Appealing Things

Pensacola
Four day weekends
Finally seeing results
Working from home
Sleeping well
Oregon and Pennsylvania getting marriage equality

Annoying Things

When one of your favorite DJs blows their set
6 hour car rides
Shots in your butt
Our stupid discovery platform crashing every 5 minutes