Winter with Louis Vuitton! Men’s Scarves!

It is no surprise that we’re in love with everything about this season of Louis Vuitton for men.  The oversized, thick scarves, which could serve as blankets, are absolutely amazing! The colors range from deep camel colors matched with navy blues in great busy prints, burgundy and dark greys, and pops of bright royal blue making this LV season overly desirable! We’ll take one of everything please!!! This winter keep yourself warm and stylish with one of these oversized scarfs or a coat that matches it… because with Louis Vuitton on you, there’s zero way you won’t look your best!

Be Yourself.  Be Fearless.  Be Your Own Unexpected Luxury!

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NEW: Calvin Harris’ Sweet Nothing Ft. Florence Welch!

Oh man do we love sweet musical magic! For those of you that don’t know what musical magic means, it is when incredible talented artists get together and create music, sweet and magical, transporting to a different world music.

This is the case with Calvin Harris’ latest hit Sweet Nothing.  The international DJ teamed up with vocal power house, fashionista, and socialite Florence Welch to create a track that elevates any set to a higher level! And if this equation of talent wasn’t enough insert Tiësto who remixed the track to an absolute club jammer!

Check it out!

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NEW! Porter Robinson and Matt Zo!

Porter Robinson & Mat Zo found time in between stops on their successful Language tour to bring us “Easy“, an excellent new tune. The track clashes Robinson’s recent addition of uplifting chord melodies (most notably on his festival hit “Language”) and near trademark thudding bass lines with Zo’s distinct synths and warm piano leads. The production on the vocal sample is executed flawlessly, filtering in & out paving the way for the track’s atmospheric breakdowns and euphoric drops. The groove is immense on this one, and will surely be on the festival circuit in the months to come. The collab is due out on Anjunabeats soon, but check out the preview below.

http://m.soundcloud.com/articlatures/porter-robinson-mat-zo-easy

 

Written by contributing writer Alberto Reyes. Check out his Twitter HERE!

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Introduction to The Smith’s and Morrissey: Girlfriend in a Coma

Think back to high school days, driving around with new friends, smoking cigarettes even though you don’t really smoke, talking political bullshit although you didn’t even know what you’re talking about.  Walmart’s the man.  The man has to be stopped.  Who the fuck is the man? They get it in Britain you say.  Britain…not England.  Well…maybe London.  All you know of London is Doc Martins and Big Ben and that they’re controlled by a Queen or some shit like that.

And then this chick in the front seat turns around and pulls her headphones off of her head and puts them on yours.  Suddenly this song fills your ears and you’ve never heard anything like it before in your life.  The voice is…amazing! Yet the whole time you’re trying to stay focused on this chick in the front seat blowing chewing gum bubbles so nobody notices you staring at her boyfriend.  It’s a distraction…just a distraction.

Until you go into the music store the following week and ask for a tape from the band who sings about the girl in a coma.  The lady at the counter, dressed in all black, laughs and walks you over to the Alternative section.  The Smiths.  She gives you a quick history lesson on The Smiths and Morrissey and then taps this tape…The Singles, all the while chomping on her chewing gum.  What is it with these chicks and their chewing gum.

You buy the tape and go home, rummaging through your shit to find your older brother’s old Sony cassette Walkman.  Man…they should bring back tapes.

You turn it on and BAM! Girlfriend in a Coma.  You found it! You listen to it over and over until you have all of the words memorized, which takes about three times and then you listen to the rest of the tape.  All night long you lay in bed, thinking about him driving that car and you listen to Morrissey’s words echo in your heart.

The next day at school you wear a safety pin through your pierced ear and you write The Smiths on your French folder with a thick, black Sharpie.

And for the first time…he smiles at you.

One of our all time faves…Girlfriend in a Coma!

Be Yourself.  Be Fearless.  Be Your Own Unexpected Luxury!

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What Do We Do???

Lately, alot of people have been struggling to figure out exactly what it is we do.  We’re not sure why this is so difficult to understand it’s basically all written out for you, literally, at raannt.com.  “No, but what do you guys do?”, they ask. Oh, that. Well, we do have full time obligations outside of raannt, but for the most part, we have turned our passion into a full time career.  We interview certain celebrities who we find interesting, we review music, style and other things related to pop culture.  But that’s not what your really asking…You want to know what a typical day looks like for us…

Well, if you’re not counting Alex being in school or Peter being in his office, here’s what it looks like…

Sleep til 10 or 11 and then immediately get coffee at Starbucks.  Alex drinks a Venti Green Iced Tea-Unsweetened and Peter either drinks a Venti Coffee with two shots and two equal or a venti six shot iced Americano…If you buy us Starbucks gift cards we’ll love your forever!

Then we pull ourselves together, showering, getting dressed, straightening up the house from the day before.  We also have three dogs who are our children; Dunken(who we call PP), Tucker and Boo Radley.

After those things are taken care of we head downstairs to our office, which is our dining room outfitted with two computers facing each other at a huge eight foot, old dining room table.  Our “desk” is covered with iPads, iPods, notepads, pens, binders, post-it notes, highlighters and all kinds of stuff to make it look like we’re extremely busy.

Next…we check our ratings and analytics for the day.

And then…emails.  Ok, we’re not sure how many typical emails the average person gets but between our personal emails, requests from people to review their products, emails from PR reps, agents and managers, organizing travel and event attendance emails, as well as emails from all kinds of people who read our site just asking questions or saying hi, we get tons of emails.  We personally answer each email because it’s really important to us that we never lose sight of why we started this endeavor.

Although…we excitedly have plans for an assistant who we are currently working with and she will begin next summer!

During the afternoon, Alex goes to the gym while Peter returns phone calls or runs errands…Now, this should read, “Peter and Alex hit the gym every afternoon”, but that hasn’t been the case.  It is our plan, however, to get back to the gym routine again soon!

Late afternoon, early evening is spent on Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook, or scheduling certain posts as well as working on write-ups for the following day.

And then of course…the infamous nap.  Peter takes a 2-3 hour nap every day, while Alex watches tv or downloads music.

Followed by dinner, which is always out.  We do not cook.  Yes, we know how much money we’d save, but neither one of us cook and we both enjoy going out to dinner.  Usual haunts for us during the week are Puccini’s, The Cheesecake Factory, Eddie Met Salad or Yats.  Typically, dinner is spent on our phones, checking things and eating, while laughing and gossiping to each other.  We consider these business meetings.

If we have free time, we’ll watch a movie in the evenings or just lounge around with the dogs but if it is the night of a show we write about, or an event night(such as The Oscars or The Miss America Pageant), we’re busy Tweeting and writing.  Most nights, we’re up late together working on “raannt stuff”.  Alex always goes to bed by midnight, whereas Peter is up late, late…late, writing and working on stuff for the next day.

So…that’s what a typical day looks like…adding in Alex’s school career and job and Peter’s office hours and writing his book.

We are such busy little bee…but…not a day goes by that we don’t joke with each other, smile at each other, make out a little bit, pinch each other’s butts and remember how truly blessed and lucky we are to have such amazing lives! If we ever come across as arrogant, which we’ve been accused of in the last few years, that is not our intention.  We are simply proud of how hard we’ve worked and how far we’ve come.  People sometimes confuse pride with arrogance…something you’d think the gay community knows best by now…but that’s not the case.

So we just keep trudging along, now adding assistants and guest writers, and feeling blessed to have such awesome lives while we’re still living and healthy, because we’re all on borrowed time as it is. 

To those of you who have supported us along the way…thank you.  We consider you true friends and we will always have your back!

Til tomorrow..

Be Yourself.  Be Fearless.  Be Your Own Unexpected Luxury!

Massive Attack in 2 Soundtracks! Amazing!

Funny how music, like fashion, makes its way back into our daily lives and teleports us back to a night, week, event, minute, memory.  As little kids we heard our parents jam to their favorite tunes and talk to their friends over drinks about their college years, weddings and parties they attended and little details about their lives when they were younger.

Last week the hit ABC show Revenge showcased Paradise Circus by Massive Attack and as we watched the closing caption of the episode, right away we were taken back two years ago to the gossip girl episode when Little J made it her mission to get Nate to love her.

The same song, because it’s so amazing…was played in both shows!

As lovers of music, good music, we couldn’t help but fall in love with this song.  Its sexy and sensual, and it will forever bring the memories of nights ago when we sat on our couch and watched our favorite shows as they left us wanting more.

Check out this remix of the super sexy song:

Be Yourself.  Be Fearless.  Be Your Own Unexpected Luxury!

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Corduroy is Back! And Tighter Than Ever!

Make it fit like a glove…that’s this season’s trick.  The cold weather signature fabric has come back into our lives, once again, with a slimmer, fitter, and incredibly chic and masculine (yes that’s a thing) look. So pick pieces that compliment you, your style, your look, because this time around the Wales – the little ridges of fabric that gives it texture and makes it cords – have comeback with a look that almost makes it seem like something else other than corduroy. Pick colors that are neutrals and mix well with others so that you can still play with bright colors in the gloomy cold fall/winter days.

Be Yourself.  Be Fearless.  Be Your Own Unexpected Luxury!

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GTA…Booty Bounce!

Recently, we mentioned we were looking for guest bloggers on our site in the areas of style, music and pop culture reviews.  Within days, several people contacted us stating an interest in working for us.  This was actually more difficult than we thought because we wanted to find writers who had a similar voice as ours, share the same passion we do for the things we love and also lived a life according to our motto…Be Yourself, Be Fearless, Be Your Own Unexpected Luxury.  Alberto Reyes was a perfect fit.  Below is his first music review for us.  We hope he will continue to write for us regularly and join us in attending music festivals and events, developing a strong voice in the music scene.  If you also have an interest in being a guest blogger on our site writing about music, style or pop culture reviews, please contact us at info@raannt.com.

Rising EDM group, GTA might have a significant breakout hit on their hands with “Booty Bounce (Feat. DJ Funk)”! Being praised as “one of the biggest releases ever” on Mad Decent/Jeffrees by the label head himself, Diplo might guarantee it. The Miami-based duo are no newcomers to the EDM game and showcase their raw talent and keen ear for infectious beats on their new single. This track explosively combines an INCREDIBLY catchy and over the top vocal (try NOT to shimmy while singing “BOOTY BOOTY BOOTY  BOOTY BOUNCE”) and a hard hitting bass drum that will leave you in dire need of a dance floor. Take a listen, grab the free download & get your booty bouncing!

http://soundcloud.com/maddecent/sets/gta-booty-bounce-jeff036/

 

If you liked Alberto’s write-up, please give him a little praise in our comment section below! And follow him on Twitter HERE!

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Celia Cruz…A Personal Memory

Celia Cruz’s La Negra Tiene Tumbao will forever be one of our favorite songs.  I remember the first time I heard it.  We had been dating for a few weeks when Alex asked me if I wanted to go salsa dancing with he and his cousin Mya.  This was long before my inception into Latino culture and I didn’t know anything about salsa dancing or Celia Cruz.  We went to this small bar which had salsa dancing one night a week.  It was absolutely packed.  All of the men had their hair slicked back and all of the women were extremely well dressed in sexy, tight dresses and heels.  When the DJ started playing the music he made an announcement that they were going to have a salsa contest.  Alex informed me that he and Mya were going to enter the contest and he thought it would give me a good chance to see real salsa dancing from serious dancers because most of the people who would enter would be much better than he and Mya…he couldn’t have been more wrong.

Maybe it was the thick accent of Tequila and cologne or maybe it was the intensity of the heat from the dance floor, but sensuality danced around that room and as soon as they hit the floor, I couldn’t take my eyes off of them. The song was Celia Cruz’s La Negra Tiene Tumbao.  I had never heard the song before, but by the words being mouthed from almost everyone else in the bar, it was a well known song.  I watched all of the dancers and their different styles move around the floor, but I couldn’t take my eyes off of Alex.  His cute butt moved quickly in his tight jeans and he spun Mya around and back again as they moved across the floor, so confident in their movement that it almost seemed like they were gliding on water.  In one quick glance, he looked over at me and winked.  I was in love.

Maybe because it’s the moment I realized I was in love with Alex or maybe it’s because the scene of that bar that night cemented in my heart forever a love of Latino culture, but I will never forget that song or how it felt that night to be standing in that bar.  I’ve learned a lot in the last four years that we, as white America, could learn from Latino culture.  They take pride in family, in appearance and in working hard.  They know the difference between working and having a good time; and trying to do both at the same time.  They teach their children at a young age the power of being friendly, thankful and pride in culture.  Alex told me later that he had been salsa dancing for so long that he couldn’t remember the first time that his mom started dancing with him. Since that time, I’ve seen tons of little kids at family gatherings salsa dancing much better than I will ever dance.

They didn’t win the contest, but they should have.  It doesn’t matter though, because every time I hear this song…I’m reminded of that love and all that I’ve learned from so many wonderful people in the last few years.  Enjoy…besos!

Be Yourself.  Be Fearless.  Be Your Own Unexpected Luxury.

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Walk on the Wild Side…Back to Our Roots!

In an effort to pull back to our roots and start posting some of the music that formed us, made us who we are today, we’ve been posting daily music picks of our flashback favorites.  Lou Reed’s Walk on the Wild Side was a definitive moment for both of us, helping us to realize that our differences from everyone else, those things that made us unique and insecure, were what made us beautiful and unique.  Walk on the Wild Side is a dedication to diversity and beauty in being who you are and embracing those differences.  Of course, it reminds us of younger days, smoking cigarettes behind thick, black sunglasses, wearing cords and leather jackets thinking we were the coolest things on Earth.  Guess what…we were!

Be Yourself.  Be Fearless.  Be Your Own Unexpected Luxury!

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