Moby
Play
After a brief hit with rave anthem "Go", Moby remixed various artists throughout the nineties, largely unnoticed until in 1999 he savoured sustained success by squeezing Sounds of the South inside his S3200 sampler, supplementing the songs with slick sounds, subsequently sourced in a series of shows, cinema, and adverts. So many adverts.
This isn't a million miles away (more like three and a half thousand) from Fatboy Slim, who had enjoyed success the previous year for similarly recontextualising stellar vocal performances by overlooked Black American artists. At least Camille Yarbrough got paid.
Don't get me wrong, Play and its two sequels sound great. They just exploit systemic racism to let a white guy take all the credit (both recognition and profit) for essentially remixing other people's songs. Though they are excellent remixes, polished in a way that can only be achieved with an expensive home studio. It's just that people like Vera Hall arguably deserved a better legacy than her heartwrenching songs being used to sell products.
Equipment list
Circa Everything Is Wrong
- Akai S950[1][2]
- Akai S1000[1][2]
- Alesis ADAT[1][2]
- Alesis QuadraVerb[1]
- Boss SE-50[1]
- Casio CZ-101[1][2]
- Proteus/3[1]
- Roland Juno-106[1][2]
- Roland Jupiter-6[1][2]
- Roland TB-303[1][2]
- Roland TR-606[1][2]
- Roland TR-909[1][2]
- Serge Modular Music System[1][2]
- Technics SL-1200[1][2]
- Yamaha NS-10M monitors[1]
- Yamaha SPX900[1][2]
- Yamaha SY22[1][2]
- Yamaha SY85[1][2]
Additions circa Play
- Akai S3000[2]
- Akai S3200[2]
- E-mu Proformance[2]
- Roland TR-808[2]
Selected discography
- Play, 1999
- 18, 2002
- Hotel, 2005
References
- Everything Is Wrong Moby, 1995
- "Recording Moby's 'Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?'" Tom Flint, Sound On Sound, Feb 2000
External links
Interviews
- "Recording Moby's 'Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?'" Tom Flint, Sound On Sound, Feb 2000
Retrospectives
- "Unnatural Blues: How Moby's Play Predicted the Collapse of the Music Industry" Ed Gillett, The Quietus, May 2019
- "All Play and No Work: How Moby's Bestselling Album Damaged Electronic Music" Ryan Diduck, Fact, May 2019
Artists: Aphex Twin | Autechre | Derrick May | Fatboy Slim | Juan Atkins | Kevin Saunderson | Kraftwerk | LFO (artist) | Man Machine | Moby | Nine Inch Nails | Orbital | Richie Hawtin | The Future Sound of London | The Prodigy | Underworld | Vladimir Ussachevsky | Wendy Carlos | William Orbit | Zoë Blade
