Moby mesmerizes with electronic groove

March 9, 2001
Web posted at: 5:54 p.m. EST (2254 GMT)

By Helyn Trickey
CNN

(CNN) -- "I want to make music people can fall in love with and use as sort of the soundtrack to their everyday lives."

Soft-spoken and slight of build, Moby quietly called his well received album "Play" a fluke and wondered aloud why more of his contemporaries aren't taking chances with their music.

"The most exciting music, from my perspective, is made by musicians who are willing to experiment with different genres," he said.

Moby certainly played mad scientist with his latest offering and most successful record to date. With "Play" he capriciously mixes early 20th century African-American folk music with electronic sounds and an emotive hip-hop beat.

AUDIO Listen to Moby! "Natural Blues" 15 sec. WAV sound "Porcelain" 13 sec. WAV sound "Southside" 17 sec. WAV sound    VIDEO CNN's Worldbeat interviews the energetic musician Moby Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)

The result is an album that is at once soulful and hypnotic. Simply put, these tunes get under your skin.

"'Play' is a modest, charming little record built on a few simple ideas, and a winner on its own low-key terms," says sonicnet.com. "Moby has made the first electronic blues album."

On first listen, "Play" may sound "frantic," according to CDNOW.

Ultimately though, the album emerges as an "eclectic and coherent work where Moby accesses an array of sounds ... the result is his most powerful and insightful album to date, and one that is free of the pretentious edge that has often plagued his material."

Those aren't bad reviews for an album that wasn't getting much attention from radio or television a little over a year ago. Today, the album has sold more than 7 million copies and garnered a Grammy award nomination for Best Dance Recording.

Moby says the record was in danger of fading altogether until interest from television and film people put his work back in the public eye.

"We wanted people to hear this music, and that was the only vehicle that we had."

Electronic roots

Moby was born in Harlem, New York, to a musically oriented family. The liner notes in his albums and on his Web site ensure that his fans know he is a Christian, a philosophy major in college and a confirmed vegan.

Classically trained in many different instruments, Moby ultimately found his identity in the punk rock and alternative music scenes. In 1990 he turned heads with the techno-inspired single "Go."

By 1995 he was ushering in the alternative dance scene with "Everything is Wrong," an album that furthered his cult-like reputation in the New York music scene.

	STUDIO TOUR
Moby took Worldbeat on a tour through his home studio. This is a digital mixing desk. The sound goes through the computer and Moby manipulates it through the mixing desk

With "Play," Moby returns to his roots.

With electronic music, he explained, "you have access to so many different sounds. If you're in a rock band, you have guitar, bass drums and vocals. Whereas, if you're working with electronic instruments, you have every sound imaginable as part of your sound palette."

Has all the hype over "Play" gone to the philosopher's head?

"I always think of success as the domain of other people," he said. "I always think of myself as an underdog of sorts."

"I think maybe there is some big conspiracy or hoax and the truth is it's only sold 80 copies, but for some reason, people are pretending that it has sold a lot just to fool me."

The biggest misconception about his music, he added, is that he samples many of his sounds from other musicians. In fact, Moby plays most of the instruments -- drums, guitar, keyboard -- himself, adding some vocal layers or textural sounds to round out each song.

For now, Moby is back in his bedroom-turned-studio composing his next musical move.

"It's an interesting process, you know? Is it going to be a hugely successful record that everyone loves -- that makes people cry on their way to work? Or is it going to be an obscure record that no one buys and ends up collecting dust in secondhand stores. At this point I have no idea," he said.

CNN.com's Grammy special
DJ Moby finds inspiration in old Southern music
DJs rise from party-spinners to superstars

Moby.org
Moby-Online (official site)

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