March 7, 2007

Party Ben’s Music Picks: March Madness Edition

Whether you buy CDs or download, these are some upcoming releases you ought to check out.

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.


Hey, my last roundup of albums-to-watch-out-for turned out pretty well, didn’t it? Everybody’s got Arcade Fire Fever! Although now that I’ve heard the Ken Andrews CD in its entirety I may have to rescind that recommendation (sorry Ken–too syrupy). But let’s not look back in anger. Let’s look forward… in anticipation, at some more CDs coming out soon-ish, along with a brief description, similar artists, and pertinent links. Let that raga drop:

Tuesday, March 6:

mojo-cover-%21%21%21.jpghere

mojo-cover-rj.jpgRJD2 – The Third Hand (Definitive Jux)
• Ohio hip-hop producer morphs into multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter
• For fans of: Moby, Brian Wilson, chilling on rooftops
• Again, stream three tracks at his MySpace page

Tuesday, March 20:

mojo-cover-dilla.gifJ Dilla – Ruff Draft (Stones Throw)
• Re-release of hard-to-find first solo effort from late hip-hop innovator
• For fans of: DJ Shadow, Marvin Gaye, having your life changed
• Everybody’s got a MySpace page!

Tuesday, March 27:

mojo-photo-timba.jpgTimbaland – Shock Value (Interscope)
• Studio genius takes center stage with high-profile guests
• For fans of: Missy Elliott, Nelly Furtado, bringing sexy back
• Stream the first single, “Give It To Me,” here

Tuesday 4/10/07:

mojo-photo-blonde.jpgBlonde Redhead – 23 (4AD)
• NY art-rock trio gets shoegazey (again)
• For fans of: My Bloody Valentine, Serge Gainsbourg, the pot
• Grab an mp3 of the first single, “23,” here

Tuesday 4/24/07:

mojo-photo-arctic.jpgArctic Monkeys – Favourite Worst Nightmare (Domino)
• Hyped (and hyper) Brit foursome gets serious on sophomore album
• For fans of: Franz Ferdinand, The Jam, dancing to electropop like a robot from 1984
•
Here’s a blog where somebody posted an mp3 (recorded from the radio) of a new song, “Brianstorm” (sic)

WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

payment methods

WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate