Video Premiere | Mason Jennings - Arma

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We're thrilled today to share the premiere of the video for "Arma", the first single off Mason Jennings' new album, the upcoming Wild Dark Metal.

In Mason's own words, the choice of "Arma" to introduce the record:

I picked this song as the first one I wanted people to hear because I feel like it contains the central DNA of the record. All the album's spokes come out from here, sonically and thematically. When I was asked if I had any ideas for a video the footage that is in it came to mind. It is home movies my mom and dad shot of me on Super 8 film. I am not sure why these images came to me right away, but when I got done putting it together it felt right.

I've had the pleasure and privilege of being a fan of Mason's since 1999, when I was a freshman at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota - at the time Mason had just released his first album, the still spectacular self-titled, and regularly played our campus pub to sold out crowds. In the 17 intervening years, I've listened closely to and loved every one of Mason's releases, and it has always been partly because Mason's music has been constantly evolving. Every album that he puts out feels familiar to me, but he never settles into complacency; his songwriting, his lyrics, his orchestration, the sounds and images of the songs - they are never the same, they are always fresh and yet familiar.

Wild Dark Metal is out March 18 on Mason's own label, Stats and Brackets. You can find pre-order info over at his website. Stream "Arma" below.

Jam of the Day | My Bloody Valentine - Only Tomorrow

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Twenty-two years after the release their genre-defining magnum opus Loveless, My Bloody Valentine has released a new record. I'll give you a moment to let that sink in. 

After two decades of rumors, scrapped albums, and hiatuses, the Dublin-based shoegaze pioneers unleashed their third album, m b v, upon the world at exactly 11:58 pm on February 2, 2013. Within moments of the album's release, the band's website catastrophically crashed due to the massive flood of traffic. It was a historic moment, and one that many never thought would come, but one question still remained: was the album worth the wait? 

Seeing as I haven't yet been alive for a full twenty-two years, I don't think I'm at liberty to decide if that's too long to wait for a record. However, I can confidently say that m b v is an amazing album.  

All of what made the band's early releases great is still intact, but updated with modern production techniques and a few fresh stylistic twists. Gauzy, fuzz-addled layers of guitars crash over top a prominent rhythm section, with whispy, androgynous vocal melodies lilting high in the mix. "Only Tomorrow" is one of the highlights of the new record, and a perfect example of why My Bloody Valentine is a spectacular band, despite making us wait a quarter of a century for new material.