Monday Top Five

Passion Pit photo courtesy French Kiss records

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This week, a couple tunes good for indie dance parties, a surprising and hilarious mashup, a Brooklyn duo takes an eventful trip to Times Square, and Kate Bush fans have a new artist to worship.

 

 

 

1. Passion Pit – “The Reeling” (from Manners out May 26 on French Kiss)

This Boston-based band charmed me (and lots of other people based on their Top 30 ranking on iTunes) with their quirky “Sleepyhead,” but I was wholly unprepared for the raucous good time that is “The Reeling.” Tinkly ’80s-style synths are offset by stomping rock drums, and the sing-along chorus is irresistible: “Oh, noooo!”

2. Bon Jovi vs. Nina Simone – “Like a Life on a Prayer” (Mad Mix Mustang mashup, download at his web site)

Usually, the point of a mashup is to be amused at the transformation of both sources, but I’d never heard this Nina Simone track before. However, it’s perfect with the Bon Jovi lyrics, and the track ends up sounding like a Mark Ronson souled-up retro-remix, with some Austin Powers silliness thrown in.

3. Matt & Kim – “Lessons Learned” (from Grand out now on Fader)

Sure, it’s a YouTube stunt, jump out in an apparently freezing-cold Times Square and strip down to the altogether for everyone to see. But the odd emotions on the Brooklyn duo’s faces as the camera lingers on them, and the strange ending, gives the video an obtuse mystery.

4. Bat for Lashes – “Sleep Alone” (From Two Suns out now on EMI)

The English singer-songwriter otherwise known as Natasha Khan has taken a major creative leap forward on her second full-length, whose title supposedly refers to two sides of her own personality. The album’s stylistic breadth and lyrical coyness is reminiscent of Kate Bush, but “Sleep Alone”‘s shimmering synth lines remind you it’s 2009.

5. Basement Jaxx – “Raindrops” (from The Return of Basement Jaxx, release date TBD)

The UK combo were, at one point, on top of the world; “Where’s Your Head At” straddled underground house music and alt-radio like nothing since Daft Punk. But recently, they seemed to have lost the plot, making shrill, nonsensical pop-house. But “Raindrops” is both a return to eclectic, joyous form and a surprising step outside their comfort zone, with weirdly psychedelic and prog-rock touches.

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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