Jam of the Day: Young Fathers - "Just Another Bullet"

Somewhere at a crossroads where Public Enemy, Tricky, Massive Attack, Death Grips, and TV on the Radio meet in a head-on collision, you find Scottish trio Young Fathers. They are up for the Mercury Prize for their album Dead, which is a collection of dark, experimental hip-hop tracks. It is hard to pick one track from the record as it all sort of works together as a collective whole. One of the standouts for me, though, is the lumbering, clanking track "Just Another Bullet."

Video: Arca - "Now You Know"

This dense soundscape from Arca gets a disorienting video that is as arresting as it is also hard to watch. If you get motion sickness, you may want to be warned.

Videos of the Week

Happy Halloween, and Happy Friday! Here are some spooktacular and just everyday videos to get your weekend going right:



Extremely creepy video from Flying Lotus.



While not really a Halloween-esque video, this clip from FKA twigs has some sinister moments to it.



The Growlers perform in a creepy evangelical church in this eerie black and white clip.



Dark and twisted clip from The Afghan Whigs.



The only scary thing about this OK Go video is thinking about how many times they had to do this routine before they got it right.

Jam of the Day: Palace - "Bitter"

Shimmering track from the London quartet's debut EP Lost in the Night.

Non-Sequiturs

SBJ UNF!

Damn, that's a hot man.

Yes, please.

Yes,  my tongue is out too.

Woof.

Sexy fur.

Hot stomach.

That's a lot of fur.

Grrrrr.

Big boy.

Beefy boy.

This guy is so damn hot.

I'd get under the covers with him.

Damn.

Le sigh.

Hey Daddy!

Beautiful physique.

Foxy Brown is my spirit animal.

If you are going to be in porn, you might at least look like you are interested in being there.

Arca's song "Held Apart" on his debut album Xen is one minute and twenty seconds of achingly beautiful music.

Most of my office floor is out on Fridays. I need to look into this plan.

For someone with small hands and fingers, I have some seriously fat thumbs.

LOL.

Does anyone really read my music posts on here? Or do they just come for the shirtless men?

Actually, after I wrote that, someone on FB commented that they love the music I post on my blog, so I guess I have my answer.

Subtlety is rare in religious music.

I loathe making small talk.

Ariel Pink is seriously overrated.

Hee hee.

OK Go make some amazing videos, but do you really recall any of their songs? I just saw their new clip, and it was really cool, but I couldn't hum you the melody if I tried.

Versatility is a lost art.

Don't tell Andrew but I like "Shake It Off."

I'm not quite sure I want to try BBQ from Wendy's.

Maple frosted donuts in the fall are amazing.

I'll tell you when I've had enough, dammit.

"Die with memories, not dreams." I love that quote.

If one of your main concerns in life is whether or not a dishwasher is loaded properly, you have some issues.

One of the legal assistants on my floor sprays her office down everyday with Lysol and wipes everything with disinfectant wipes. I am all for cleanliness, but somehow I think she is creating some super bacteria over there that will eventually be resistant to all disinfectants.

I really don't find long hair on a man attractive at all.

Ha!

Who wouldn't want a hedgehog?

Watching people try to walk a cat on a leash is hysterical.

If your relationship is so perfect/wonderful/dreamy why are you always on FB posting about it 10 times a day? Shouldn't you be enjoying it with your partner rather than trying to convince yourself and others?

One of the many pleasures in loft living is that we don't have to get candy for trick or treaters.

Your cute for the day.

Lyrics Rattling Around My Brain

"You're probably the only one, though it is hard to admit
That can save me
And I never liked to ask for a helping hand
But I do now

I look into your eyes
This hard, bewildered stare
Part of me wants to hurt you
Tear in your hair
But I don't do that now

A naive, open wounded exchange of stories that transforms us here
But I think I am the only one breathing on this planet tonight

The cheap sweat smothered makeup
Makes her face look as if dissolving
Yet full of grace
Here in the darkness now

One hundred Euro wine
I do believe in heaven and I do believe its time
Yes its time now
Five inch white high heels
I do believe in heaven and I do believe its real
And its okay now

Vast scarlet leisure
Immense blood pressure
Scatterbrained love lecture
Come here and be gorgeous for me now

After all I think it's evident that I am god's favorite one
And now is the time I should have whatever I desire

One hundred Euro wine
I do believe in heaven and I do believe its time
Faceless company
It don't matter much to me
Five inch white high heels
I do believe in heaven and I do believe its real
Dreamlike mirage haze
I'm positively god's favorite one

favorite one
favorite one
favorite one
I do believe I'm the lord's favorite one."

Iceage
"The Lord's Favorite"

"Oh what's that seeking us
Still hands are gonna talk to us
Looked in your eye, in your eye

Seagull laugh and pick the bones
The entity I wrestle to the ground
Looked in the eye, looked in the eye

Chill

Some teasing and then bring myself in too
It's like I've forgotten you
Think I'm gonna go to pieces now
Come and fall in (in love) the dark

Chill."

Thom Yorke
"A Brain In A Bottle"

Appealing Things

A good haircut
The view from my new office
New office supplies
New office laptop
The Book of Life
Gallowglass
Ysabeau
Pedicures
My new Oakley sunglasses

Annoying Things

Having to pay out-of-pocket for lab fees
Vaguebooking
Trying to figure out whether or not to accept my Mother's friend request on FB
Lacking gym motivation

New: Burial - "Lambeth"

Here is an unreleased track from Burial that appears on the compilation Hyperdub 10.4.

Jam of the Day: Thumpers ft. Jena Malone - "Devotee"

Fantastic collaboration between UK duo Thumpers and Hunger Games' actress Jena Malone, who also releases solo material under the name The Shoe.

Video: FKA twigs - "Video Girl"

Intense and strange clip for this standout track from FKA twigs' debut record LP1.

Jam of the Day: JMR - "Shivers"

Florida-based singer-songwriter JMR (Joshua Michael Robinson) releases another single today, the dreamy and hypnotic "Shivers." JMR's gorgeous falsetto floats over a sensual bed of R&B and jazz inflected electronics.

New: Marilyn Manson - "Third Day of a Seven Day Binge"

Remarkably straight-forward track from the former shock master.

Jam of the Day: Wild Kid - "Done Wrong"

Skittering beats, pastoral guitar, washes of synths, and natural sounds punctuate this track from Wild Kid, a.k.a. Ryan Glassman. The track is featured on his debut EP New Bethlehem.

30th Anniversary: The The - Soul Mining

My first introduction to The The, a.k.a. Matt Johnson, came from the pages of Rolling Stone magazine and their yearly feature Ten Bands You Must Hear, which also included stories on then unknowns Prefab Sprout and General Public. What struck me about the article on The The was that Johnson was the sole member of the band and had pretty much recorded every note on the album Soul Mining. Being from the relatively small town of Savannah in the 1980s didn't provide much in the way of easy access to alternative music, but one day in my local Record Bar was one shiny cassette tape of Soul Mining, begging me to take it home. Since that day, I have worn out approximately three cassette copies of the record, until I finally preserved it on CD and now digital media. This album is such a seminal part of my musical growth in the 80s that it amazes me sometimes that I forget to mention it in my top albums of all time. I tend to overlook it, not because it somehow is inferior, but because it is such a monolithic work that it towers so far above as to be god-like. What strikes me most about this album now is that it still sounds well ahead of its time with very little aging. Usually in these features I highlight one song that I like the most off a record, however, in this case, I like every song equally. If you have yet to hear this record, prepare to be blown away by its inventive sonic attack, brazen and witty lyrics, and the sheer melodic force of these tracks. For those that adore this record already, be prepared to be welcomed back into its warm cocoon. In honor of its 30th anniversary, Sony Music is reissuing the album. The re-packed and expanded version contains an authentic reproduction of the album, with newly remastered audio from the original master tapes (overseen at Abbey Road by Matt Johnson), as well as an extra 12” gatefold vinyl of alternative versions and remixes.

Jam of the Day: Oyinda - "Rush Of You"

London-based, Nigerian-born singer Oyinda singer's "Rush of You" is a fairly minimal alt-R&B track that hits all the right marks for me. Her subtle voice is the key to this track, as it equates love to a drug addiction, with the withdrawals giving her false hope that her lover will come back. The end of the track is simply the voices in her head clipped and chopped into another instrument as the feelings wash over her.

Videos of the Week

Friday cometh! Herein lies this weeks best videos:



Lonely and forlorn video for Interpol, finds the band playing in a dive bar.



A mother leaves her child in a forbidding forest that is inhabited by some weird cultists, in this eerie and odd clip from Thurston Moore.



Really cool clip from Museum of Love (a collaboration between former LCD Soundsystem drummer Pat Mahoney and Run-Roc labelhead Dennis McNan) shows a sculptor working on a piece in fast-motion.



Elaborate video from The Head and the Heart.



Chvrches share this anime-inspired video for their song "Under the Tide."



Extremely bizarre clip for this collaboration between art-pop icon Scott Walker and drone-metal titans Sunn O))).

Non-Sequiturs

Gorgeous furry chest.

Woof.

Very hot.

Beautiful belly.

Cute.

Beefy daddy.

Lovely.

Grrrrrr.

Too much cuteness.

Adorable.

Likewise.

Bobcat kittens are so cute.

It's pretty shitty when someone tells another person about a tattoo they are going to get and other person steals the idea and has it done.

The whole U2 album release for Songs of Innocence was an unqualified disaster.

If you start off giving your opinion on science facts with the phrase "I'm not a scientist....," you just need to shut your mouth right there.

Not that I won't drink them, but shots are really not my thing.

I know I am a bad indie music fan for saying this, but I really don't care for Sleater-Kinney.

LOL.

Waze is amazing.

Coffee and a fruit smoothie do not go well together.

"Hyper-Ballad" is a perfect pop song.

I think it is incredibly lazy when an artist does a covers album.

Exactly.

The new Gwen Stefani single is very underwhelming.

I am not a fan of plastic surgery. If you want to get some to make you feel better, have fun with it, I personally would rather just age the way I am supposed to age.

I've been watching some re-runs of Sex In The City and there have been some scenes that I have some issues with. For example, the scene where Carrie interrupts Natasha's lunch in order to seek forgiveness she is wearing this quite slutty looking Christian Dior dress that is barely more than a slip. Wouldn't you think said situation would require her to dress a little more demurely?

Remember when Depeche Mode was fun? Every record since Violater and Songs of Faith and Devotion has been a over-dramatic bore.

I don't understand all the critical affection for Ariel Pink. Overrated!

Fire drills suck.

My mouth is small, so when I get back from dentist's cleaning it is sore as hell.

I really hate writing thank you notes.

Whenever we move, we are seriously considering giving up cable tv altogether. All of the streaming services basically have what we want, and we rarely watch television in real time.

Andrew exclaims "God Almighty!," while I am more prone to exclaim "God A Mercy!"

For all my tall friends.

I've always liked the beach during the winter.

I've never had a stand-offish cat. All of my cats have been very needy and attention starved.

Music is amazingly subjective. With the new Arca album Xen, I hear intricate, amazing collages of sound that constantly surprise and amaze me, while my friend Donovan only hears noise. I agree it is not for everyone, but for me, it is brilliant.

Your cute for the day.

Lyrics Rattling Through My Brain

"I've waited hours for this,
I've made myself so sick
I wish I'd stayed asleep today,
I never thought this day would end
I never thought tonight could ever be
This close to me

Just try to see in the dark,
Just try to make it work,
To feel the fear before you're here
I make the shapes come much too close,
I pull my eyes out,
Hold my breath,
And wait until I shake

But if I had your faith,
Then I could make it safe and clean
If only I was sure,
That my head on the door was a dream

I've waited hours for this,
I've made myself so sick,
I wish I'd stayed asleep today
I never thought this day would end,
I never thought tonight could ever be
This close to me

But if I had your face,
Then I could make it safe and clean
If only I was sure,
That my head on the door,
Was a dream."

The Cure
"Close to Me"

"Innocent idols who turn me on
While selling bibles to babies
We sleep for a while but then you are gone
All I have left is the story

All I can see before me is the darkest blues
Because I slip to the depths without you

If I met a waitress could she turn me on
I got the time to let her know me
I keep my focus but my dreams keeps me strong
I come abreast of it slowly

All I can see before me is the darkest blue
Because I slip to the depths without you

So many hours that I see before me
Now the stars are out of view
Because I slip to the depths without you."

Interpol
"The Depths"

Appealing Things

Caribou's egg white and turkey bacon sandwich
Making travel plans
My cat Missy feeling better
Weekends with nothing to do
That distinctive fall smell in Atlanta
My new office with a spectacular view of Piedmont Park
Klo.

Annoying Things

Key lime pie flavored tooth polish at the dentist
Candy corn
Fall weather when it is chilly in the morning then turns hot in the afternoon