February 2, 2007

Party Ben’s Music Picks (For People Who Still Buy CDs)

All those cool bands you’ve been hearing about, and a few you’ve never heard of – but will.

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


I’m not sure how much relevance actual release dates have any more (in this era of internet leaks) but if you’re the type who likes their CDs and mp3s legit, the next few months promise some breathless Monday nights. I thought I’d sneak on here while all the Mother Jones employees are nursing their hangovers and tell you about some upcoming albums I can’t wait for, along with a brief explanation, similar artists, and a link to a preview (if available) or some recent material.

  • 02/06/07: Bloc Party – Weekend in the City (Vice/Atlantic)
    The UK quartet follow up their acclaimed debut with a more mature (and apparently more openly queer-ish) album
    For fans of: The Cure, Franz Ferdinand, being wistful
    Stream the whole album already on their Myspace page

  • 03/06/07: Arcade Fire – Neon Bible (Merge)
    Adored Montreal band face dreaded sophomore slump

    For fans of: Talking Heads, Neutral Milk Hotel, going to funerals

    Download the first single, “Interventions,” here

  • 03/06/07: Air – Pocket Symphony (Astralwerks)
    French band swings back to the more “difficult” sound of 10,000 Hz Legend
    For fans of: Burt Bacharach, Zero 7, spacing out
    Buy the first single, “Once Upon a Time” at iTunes

  • 03/13/07: Ken Andrews – Secret of the Lost Satellite (Dinosaur Flight)
    Producer-geek former member of Failure uses own name for once
    For fans of: Autolux, Nine Inch Nails, wearing headphones
    Hear a loop from Track 8 off the new album at his website

  • 03/20/07: Chamillionaire – The Ultimate Victory (Universal)
    Southern rap superstar returns with more smooth guest star-laden hip-hop
    For fans of: Paul Wall, Weird Al, ridin’ dirty
    Download a recent mixtape here

  • 03/20/07: LCD Soundsystem – Sound of Silver (DFA)
    NY dance-rock dude & friends bring back the funk
    For fans of: New Order, The Rapture, ironic disco dancing
    Hear earlier versions of some of the new songs in the Nike mix 45:33 available on iTunes

    • 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