(Not So) New Music: Plastilina Mosh

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mojo-photo-pmosh.jpgGreetings from Puebla, Mexico, where I just finished the Cinco Tacos special: only 25 pesos for five crazy good tacos al pastor. Insert Homer Simpson blissful gargle noise here. I’m in Mexico this week to do a couple DJ gigs at “warm-up parties” for the MX Beat Soundfest music festival, and while its prominent Marlboro sponsorship gave me pause (I’m an American Spirit smoker!), I guess commercial tie-ins are kind of typical south of the border, and the lineup is reassuringly fantastic, including both international artists like the Beastie Boys and M.I.A. as well as Mexican artists like Los Dynamite and Instituto Mexicano del Sonido. Headlining the event here in Puebla on Saturday is Plastilina Mosh, a Monterrey duo who have a reputation for enthusiastic eclecticism. Their latest single, last year’s “Millionaire,” connects the dots between loping reggaeton, glitchy Aphex Twin, and, well, Ace of Base, and happily switches between Spanish and English. I haven’t been able to get it out of my head all week:

Silly, but the video-game synths are quirky enough to keep it from sliding into complete cheese-land. Back in 1998, one of the band’s first singles, “Mr. P. Mosh,” was a huge smash here in Mexico, and its straight-ahead hip-hop sound is partially due to their using Cypress Hill’s producer:

If you find yourself in the neighborhood of Mexico’s fourth largest city this weekend, check out Plastilina Mosh at the Parque del Arte.

(Photo used under a Creative Commons license from Guatevino)

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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?

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