Top Ten Stuff ‘n’ Things, 3/23/07

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Let me be clear: liking this stuff (and these things) in no way causes anyone to be hip. I don’t know how to be hip and never have. I know some of the hip people, but when we hang out it’s always kind of awkward, because I’m clearly not one of them. My T-shirts are like, at least two steps behind the times, and I make mashups for Pete’s sake. So not hip! But don’t worry about me! It’s fine!

10. Groove Armada – “Get Down” (Calvin Harris Mix) (from their BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix)

mojo-photo-groove.jpgThis track from the UK duo’s upcoming album is a bit dull in its original form (although see the amusing bunny-riffic video here); this mix ups the intensity just enough. Listen to it on their site here

9. DJ Moule – “Sympathy for Teen Spirit” (Rolling Stones vs. Queen vs. Nirvana) (via the Bootie Top 10)

mojo-cover-djmoule.jpgThis French producer is one of my favorites; this time he layers Mick Jagger and Kurt Cobain over Queen’s disco beat with surprisingly coherent results

8. El-P & Cat Power – “Poisenville Kids No Win / Reprise (This Must Be Our Time)” (from I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead on Definitive Jux)

mojo-cover-elp.jpgThe new album from this Brooklyn hip-hop producer has guest stars like Trent Reznor and Aesop Rock, but he morphs into Portishead when Chan Marshall sings along

7. Ginger Snaps (in the cookie aisle)

mojo-photo-ginger.jpgWho first thought, “let’s dig up that weird spicy root and bake it in a cookie?” Because, I love you. Here’s my thing: get a tub of vanilla frozen yogurt, let it soften up a bit, then use your ginger snaps as crunchy, delicious spoons. Repeat until eyes roll back into head

6. Digitalism – “Pogo” (mp3 via Fluo Kids)

mojo-photo-digitalism.jpgThe always-solid German electro duo venture even further into the rock-oriented sound that they’ve just hinted at on previous tracks like the brilliant “Zdarlight”

5. Neil Young – “Old Man” (from Live at Massey Hall 1971 on Silver Bow)

mojo-photo-neil.jpgThis just-released live concert CD captures a solo Young with perfect sonic clarity at a fascinating moment in his career. “Old Man” is everybody’s favorite but here it takes on new life

4. Amerie – “Gotta Work” (mp3 via Idolator)

mojo-photo-amerie.jpgHer 2005 single “1 Thing” was one of my favorite tracks of the year; she’s back with another brassy number that will give Beyoncé a run for her money

3. J Dilla – “Nothing Like This” (from Rough Draft on Stones Throw)

mojo-cover-ruff.jpgThis track from the long-awaited reissue of Jay Dee’s first solo album is awe-inspiringly strange: more like goth-rock than hip-hop, a distorted, backwards monster

2. LCD Soundsystem – “Someone Great” (from Sound of Silver on DFA)

mojo-cover-lcd.jpgThe most immediate and purely electro track from the New York producer’s excellent new album, like the Chemical Brothers covering the Human League

1. Willie Nelson (and former UN ambassador Richard Holbrook) on The Colbert Report, Tuesday Night, Comedy Central (video here)

mojo-photo-willie.jpgI thought the gay-conversion segment on The Daily Show couldn’t be outdone, but then Colbert manages to up the ante, with this awe-inspiring setup. Richard Holbrook!!! My head wants to ‘splode!!! God bless America, and God Bless Stephen Colbert

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.

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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

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