[lbo-talk] Moby - nerd, wuss, or dick?

Percival Myers permaceaem at gmail.com
Tue Feb 26 09:04:06 PST 2008


On Sun, Feb 24, 2008 at 2:24 PM, Doug Henwood wrote:
>
> On Feb 24, 2008, at 1:06 PM, Chris Doss wrote:
>
> > Why do people hate Moby so much?
>
> Because he's pompous and self-righteous and his music sucks.

This explanation fails when it is applied to globally-aware U2/Bono, it probably also fails when applied to other musical performers of similar temperament.

On Tue, Feb 26, 2008 at 1:51 AM, Ben Jackson wrote:


> [Doug's erroneous comment] Pretty much sums it. And amidst all of that
> suck he seems obsessed with presenting himself as some kind of genre-defying,
> multi-instrumental renaissance man. I saw him open for David Bowie
> once and he wouldn't stick to any instrument for longer than a verse.

So?


> He'd play a keyboard part for a moment, sprint across this huge stage
> so that he could smack away furiously at the congas for maybe thirty
> seconds, in a wide stance, head thrown back, and then dash off the
> next instrument. Just preposterous.

I haven't seen many concerts live, but I've seen footage and outtakes from quite a few. Running around on very large stages is common and Moby is a multi-talented musician. As Clara Peller famously said: where's the beef?


> And yet somehow the fact that he'll put a (amateurish, token) rock
> song on a (retrograde) electronic album is supposed to BLOW OUR MINDS.
> Ugh. Eclecticism is the new monotony.

So he isn't the next Bon Jovi or Bono or Mellencamp or whatever. He has a slew, a veritable slew of musical segments in commercials and movies. Do you like the music in the Jason Bourne films? Guess what? The theme is "Extreme Ways" by guess who? No, not The Guess Who. Probably there is some fan site that catalogues and lists all of Moby's contributions to the small and large screens, the point is this: he may be pompous and self-righteous, so what? As such he shares company in a very large club. His music doesn't suck though, millions of dollars have been spent on him that otherwise wouldn't have been, because his music is actually pretty good.

Percy



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