From: owner-mobility-digest@lists.xmission.com (mobility-digest) To: mobility-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: mobility-digest V1 #362 Reply-To: mobility Sender: owner-mobility-digest@lists.xmission.com Errors-To: owner-mobility-digest@lists.xmission.com Precedence: bulk X-No-Archive: yes mobility-digest Monday, April 5 1999 Volume 01 : Number 362 Re: (mobility) Re: mobility-digest V1 #359 (mobility) Czech Run On review, CONTEST (mobility) RUN ON, and PLAY (mobility) rur playlist (non moby) (mobility) xero products for sale (it will make you feel good) (mobility) hmm Re: (mobility) RUN ON, and PLAY (mobility) Run On = April 13th? Re: (mobility) hmm Re: (mobility) hmm (mobility) Play: the script ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 02 Apr 1999 12:36:05 -0500 From: dredmond@bsumail.idbsu.edu (Daniel Redmond) Subject: Re: (mobility) Re: mobility-digest V1 #359 >A few of you are fortunate enough to receive advanced copies of 'Play'. >I think traffic will increase here when it becomes available >commercially (someone said June 1?) True, traffic will most likely increase around June 1, but I predict that around the "rest of the world" release date (mid-May) traffic will peak...I know I plan to either direct-order from mutebank or see if one of the independant CD stores here managed to get a copy... Hell, it worked for my Honey singles... daniel "returning to semi-lurk mode, cap'n!" btw - Play comes out mid-May (probably the 18th? or am i mistaken again...) and Episode One comes out on May 19. Interesting, no? I'll most likely be in heaven those two days... ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 02 Apr 1999 12:50:27 PST From: "Steve Giles" Subject: (mobility) Czech Run On review, CONTEST So far there are only _2_ participants entered in the review contest. Those flame wars must've really trimmed our membership, or else you're all asleep. You get a chance to win a free Moby record (UHF) in exchange for sharing your thoughts on Moby's music, the very reason you came here in the first place! Come on! You've got all weekend yet, so let's hear from YOU. =) Does anybody speak & write Czechoslovakian on this list? All the translation engines I could find for Czech to English were defunct, and I'm not about to do it manually. Czech Run On RCD review http://www.infima.cz/pareniste/vrunon.htm Czech Singles Reviews (2x Honey, JBT, Run On) http://www.infima.cz/pareniste/vinyls.htm Main page, reviews Beaucoup Fish & Resident Evil 2. http://www.infima.cz/pareniste/uvod.htm - -S Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 2 Apr 1999 22:41:50 -0600 From: "Ruben A. Blanco" Subject: (mobility) RUN ON, and PLAY Hello all, Does anybody have any suggestions on how an ordinary person can pick up Moby's new releases: Run On (singles and remixes) and the Play releases from the USA? I have written to Mutebank and it's hard to get a response. CDNow and other Internet Music stores I don't have any experience with ordering from them. I ordered the TWIRFMR Disk1 from CDNow and I have been waiting over a month to get it now (backorders). I only have Blockbuster Music, Best Buy, Camelot, record stores where I live. (Pretty pathetic, I know). Release date for the USA is around June 1st (?) , I don't think I can wait that long. Keep the reviews coming about the new Moby releases. Ruben ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 3 Apr 1999 13:59:29 -0800 From: "K Bergstrom" Subject: (mobility) rur playlist (non moby) R U Receiving? was on much music last night. it was actually a pretty good show. looks like they're starting to listen to my demands for more richie hawtin... hehehehehe no moby tho :( but at least they played honey last time. anyway, this is the playlist, for all those people who forgot about its new timeslot. push upstairs-underworld (underworld tour dates) richie hawtin interview converge- plastikman midnight in a perfect world- dj shadow money greedy-tricky broken homes- tricky L.B.P.- frontside temper temper- goldie lady shave- gus gus (gus gus tour dates) teardrop- massive attack my kingdom- future sound of london atom bomb- fluke (cut) ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 3 Apr 1999 16:40:49 -0600 (CST) From: theShackofXaq Subject: (mobility) xero products for sale (it will make you feel good) hellow fellow moby freaks! as you may or may not know, i produce my own music. you may have heard my strange remix of "hymn" on the "thanks" cd. well, most of my music is nothing like that. i do more BT and paul van dyk like progressive house. i like to think that all of my songs tell a story while making your bootie move, or at least you toes tap. i don't claim to be as amazing as BT or moby, but i think you get the idea of what the music sounds like. i've sent some cds of to record label land and gotten a great responce, but no deals...although one small label said they'd like to do something, but were out of money for the year. so! what the deal is is this. you can get one of my self made cds (i have 2) for only $7, which includes shipping. the only reason i'm charging anything is because i want to get a 12" pressed, and the only way i'm gonna get one is by doing it myself. both cds are over 70 minutes and are 8 songs each. "sweets" is xmcd001 and "no sound in space" is xmcd002. i think both of those titles says a lot about the music on the cd. this is music mostly for the mind and less for the dance floor, but it's not endlessly repetitive bleeps and blops, but very deeply layered strings and warm fuzzy sounds over a driving (most songs are around 140 bpm, not blistering i know, but not slugish either) beat. the drums are usualy pretty minimal, with a few exceptions. think BT meets "the end of everything" with more guts. so, if this long ego trip hasn't convinced you to buy one or both of my cds, please feel free to write to me for more details. if you DO want to get something (did i mention free stickers?) you can write back to me privatly or just send a check to: Zac Bentz P.O.Box 1112 Proctor, MN 55810. i think there may be a few people on this list who have heard my music in the past. this new stuff is better, and on cd, so of better quality too! so, enough from me. [xaq] "i think a lot, but it never helps me, so i stop. but i really enjoy thinking." Masafumi Sanai-photographer ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 03 Apr 1999 18:30:58 EST From: David J Bass Subject: (mobility) hmm Sorry for taking you time. I'm a new Moby fan and I really like his stuff that has alot of fast melody, like on the Feeling so real remixes. Anyway I was wondering if anybody could recommend anything else like that. Thanx, Nerf-bomb@juno.com ___________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com/getjuno.html or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866] ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 03 Apr 1999 17:03:07 PST From: "Steve Giles" Subject: Re: (mobility) RUN ON, and PLAY >Does anybody have any suggestions on how an ordinary person can pick up >Moby's new releases: Run On (singles and remixes) and the Play releases >from the USA? As an ordinary person, (non-music industry is what you mean, right?)I've befriended some people in New York and various places in Great Britain that will pick up CDs I request for me. In bigger cities, you have lots of music journalists, which means promos. Many are sold to used stores, and that's how I have the 1st Run On CD. (from England, a Mute single in this case) For things I can't find on promo, I buy them after the official release. CDnow has Honey, and so do all the other large retailers I'm sure. Local stores vary, for instance, Tower in Bloomingdale, IL, has 6 or 7 copies of Honey #1 for $5 each, while the one in Schaumburg never orders anything vaguely electronic except for Fatboy Slim, Chemical Brothers, and all of Luke Vibert's pseudonyms. (too much Wagon Christ & Plug) Very strange. If you want to buy them physically, from the store, you'll have to wait for the Honey/Run On single from V2 unless you know a store that will import Moby. I recommend getting it online. >I have written to Mutebank and it's hard to get a response. They promote and release well for Moby, and their German site, once it's completed, will be very attractive, but the English one is shamefully ugly and out of date. Also, it took mutebank about a month and a half to respond to a request of mine. I've never tried the phone order system, but don't bother with ordering via email, unless you have lots of patience. >CDNow and other >Internet Music stores I don't have any experience with ordering from them. >I ordered the TWIRFMR Disk1 from CDNow and I have been waiting over a month >to get it now (backorders). Try smaller, independent stores with REAL PEOPLE you can write/talk to and confirm that the item you want is in stock. Search on yahoo for 'techno music store', and try different combos with 'house', 'vinyl', and 'jungle' in there and you'll have ample stores to browse. These two stores are friendly, and I've had great transactions with them in the past and have been very pleased. They have lots of Moby, too. :) http://www.alternativemusic.com http://www.vvinyl.com >Keep the reviews coming about the new Moby releases. I'll review the Run On 12" next week, and others have promised Play reviews. I'm looking forward to them, too! Speaking of reviews, enter the contest, people! - -S Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 03 Apr 1999 19:02:30 PST From: "Daniel Lee" Subject: (mobility) Run On = April 13th? I went out to buy a copy of Run On today, and the people at the CD store told me that the release date had been pushed back to April 13th. What's the deal, yo? I thought it was supposed to have come out on March 29. Oh, and Kristy, what's the scoop on those ILTS posters? You wanted me to remind you, so I am. Cool. Dan (I anxiously await Thanks 2!!!) Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 4 Apr 1999 18:39:33 +0200 From: "Van Eijck" Subject: Re: (mobility) hmm >Sorry for taking your time. Hey, that's what the list is for! Feel free to ask anything you want to know about Moby! > I'm a new Moby fan and I really like his >stuff that has alot of fast melody, like on the Feeling so real remixes. >Anyway I was wondering if anybody could recommend anything else like >that. > >Thanx, Well, I think you already know some of them, but the only ones I can think of right now are: - - Bring Back My Happiness (Extended Mix) - - Everytime You Touch Me (especially the Pure Joy Mix!) - - Next Is The E (I Feel It) - - Into The Blue Remixes ( the Simple Mix and the Spiritual mix) - - Move (Original and the Disco Threat Mix) - - Hymn (This Is My Dream and the European Mix) - - All the tracks Moby made under the name Barracuda have nice melodies. (they are on the albums Early Underground and Rare (the collected B-sides) I hope I've helped you out a bit... Bart van Eijck ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 04 Apr 1999 14:33:19 EDT From: David J Bass Subject: Re: (mobility) hmm Thanks for the suggestions Bart. I will look into them. Dave Bass ___________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com/getjuno.html or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 05 Apr 1999 10:04:25 PDT From: "Michael Matos" Subject: (mobility) Play: the script Get it? Little pun there, kids. Yeah, I know it sucked. Anyway... :-) Track by track descirption of Play: 1. HONEY You know it, you love it. 2. FIND MY BABY Same idea as "Honey," with old blues-guy sample saying "I'm gonna find my baby, WHOO! before that sun goes down." There's a slight pause between "That" and "Sun" which adds an off-kilter rhythmic feel. Shuffling breakbeat and acoustic guitars: think early Madchester (e.g. Stone Roses, Primal Scream, Happy Mondays) as a root source. THere is also an electric slide guitar about halfway in, and one of those ubiquitous four-chord string arrangements just to let everyone know it's Moby. More electronic effects are added as the song goes on; in short, a nice thumbnail folk-to-techno aural history lesson. I don't much care for the song's beginning, and I end up really really liking it by the time it's finished. 3. PORCELAIN Opening with a four-chord backward-string motif, and quickly a breakbeat and then a bassline under it, this is a piano-based ballad with vocals by The Man Himself. He whispers, barely there, and though the lyrics are extremely simple ("I never meant to hurt you/I never meant to lie/So this is goodbye") they're REALLY affecting, methinks. (Took a couple listens to figure this out.) One of his most beautiful offerings, the bridge is like watching the sunrise from a different angle. Sublime stuff. 4. WHY DOES MY HEART FEEL SO BAD A piano figure opens, with a husky gospel-sounding vocal (Teddy Pendergrass? that's who it reminds me of) fading in and out: "Why does my heart feel so bad? Why does my soul feel so sad?" Another shuffling break underpins this one; Strings and pianos and wordless female vocals galore here. Kinda nice, but not amazing. 5. SOUTH SIDE I've got real problems with this one, Moby's attempt to write a "rock anthem." It's a "song" song, with verses and choruses and a bridge and everything, lyrics included. The melody is really pretty nice, especially the chorus (well, that's really the only melody, the verses are chanted/rapped/spoken/monotone). The problem is twofold: First, I don't much care for the words. "Here we are now going to the south side/I pick up my friends and we hope we won't die" is clumsily put no matter how genuine the truths it's trying to get across are, and most of the rest of them aren't much better. And second, I don't like Moby's singing on this track. He's not a singer even at the best of times, but he knows how to make his voice work for him: witness "Revolver" and "Porcelain." Here he's just singing, and he sounds constipated. I for one don't like it. 6. RUSHING Think "First Cool Hive." This type of cut has become a staple for Moby, and he hasn't lost his touch, at least on this one. Piano like "Hymn," female "hey yeah" like the sunrise awakening you, strings like wispy clouds. Nice. 7. BODYROCK Another real problem for me. Compared to the Fatboy Slim-style big beat Moby is obviously emulating with this cut, this track (with live rhythm and wah-wah lead guitars riding chunky hip-hop rhythms as some anonymous b-boy chants "Rock y'all, nonstop y'all, to the beat y'all, bodyrock y'all") sounds anemic. It's almost embarrassing, to be blunt about it. You can hear what he's trying to do, you root for him to do it, and after 8 listens all I can say is that as much as I wish it weren't so, he doesn't come close to doing it. A dud. 8. NATURAL BLUES More of that blues-over-breaks shit, but this time he's got an androgynous voice singing "Ooh lord, my troubles so hard/Don't nobody know 'bout my troubles with god." And it's WONDERFUL. Basically, the songs in this vein are variations on the same basic theme, but it's a damn good theme, and Moby milks it the way he milked distorto-guitar aggression on AR and joyous-disco-house on the Instinct singles and MOVE. This might be my favorite track of this kind on the album. 9. MACHETE Fast, acidy techno--finally! Very commercial sounding--think Underworld, only lighter on its feet and less self-consciously arty. Moby sings on this one, and very well; there's an emotional edge to his voice that I really like. The lyrics are the usual "I'm feeling alienated, somebody love me" stuff that we all know and love about the man. 10. 7 A one-minute-two-second sketch; guitar playing occasional blues fills over a drum machine that's been left inside an underground parking tunnel. Filler, but effective filler. 11. RUN ON By this time you all might know this one, but if not, here goes. It's a gospel song from the '30s or '40s, sampled nearly wholesale and put atop a breakbeat and insistent piano pulse. The lyrics are about how you should reap what you sow and if you screw your fellow man (or her woman, in the more literal sense) the "Lord almighty's gonna cut you down." I love it, a lot--it's as good as "Honey," if not better. 12. DOWN SLOW 1:35 trip-hop thing, and lemme tell ya, I wish it were longer and explored some more terrain. I just got done reviewing a couple of trip-hop compilations, and most of them have one or two good tracks and a whole lotta filler. And the thing is, it all sounds so similar that it's hard to tell the good from the ugly. This sounds like it'd be a great example of the genre if it were given time to develop. Maybe he'll remix it--or maybe one of you should... 13. IF THINGS WERE PERFECT A bass pulse opens it, with a slightly echoed sample of someone singing "Give me summer..." thrown on top a couple times. The beat comes in gradually, along with some scratching. Moby then mutters some spoken-word. "Nothing here but the quiet on the street/And now I open my eyes to this/Isolated when I work long, hard hours." Sounds like he walked around NYC at about 4 AM and wrote down what he saw, filtered of course through his poetic sensibility, and recited it over a half-finished track. This is not a complaint; once you get used to the words, you can throw 'em in the background and treat 'em like texture. An OK track which a lot of you may love. 14. EVERLOVING Last week, when I got the album, I decribed there being "too much picking-the-acoustic-guitar-sitting-in-the-wheatfields" stuff on PLAY, and this is the song I was thinking of. I'm not a fan of acoustic picking for its own sake generally: there should be a melody or something interesting going on to hold my attention. I have loved--LOVED--Moby's ambient stuff in the past, but this is just way too goddamned New Age for me. 15. INSIDE A pulse with flickering glow-riffs on top of it; if you liked the beatier moments of Ambient, you'll like this. I like the first half, when intriguingly vague decaying wisp-strings form over the slow organ pulse. But when the piano comes in and plays high single notes, again it's all just a little too Muzak to suit me. 16. GUITAR, FLUTE & STRING More Muzak. Don't like. Moby's ambient stuff has absolutely NO EDGE on this record--nothing to make you actually want to pay attention to it, it's the kind of stuff that ambient detractors laugh at. And they should! It's soft-edged and terribly uninteresting. I'm talking even mushier than The End of Everything--there's little of the plaintive, astringent feel that typifies the best of Moby's softcore. I miss it--and I hope he gets it back. 17. THE SKY IS BROKEN Ecology seems to be the theme of this spoken-word-over-ambient-hip-hop cut. It's pretty nice. But again, it's not all that intriguing. I do enjoy it, though, more than I usually do this kind of thing--even the piano plinks that are beginning to sound like doodles instead of melodies work for me. 18. MY WEAKNESS Ghostly gospel/choral voices (reminiscent of the stuff in the European Edit of "Hymn" and "Novio") set a languid rhythmic feel, and there are no beats here. Reminiscent of "The Sky Falls and the Rain Shudders," too. Keeps building with strings. I really really really like this one. Overall, Play sounds like Moby's making music for fun instead of because he feels like he's got something to prove. And that's the problem with it: there's no sense of danger, no edge, no sense of the intensity that I and so many of you respond to. It's a lazy-sounding album, and though a lot of it is enjoyable, it's got way too much filler on it. I hate to say it, but after 10 listens, Play may be my least favorite Moby album ever. I certainly hope it remains so. Michaelangelo Matos Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ End of mobility-digest V1 #362 ****************************** ------------- To unsubscribe from this list, send mail to majordomo@xmission.com with the line "unsubscribe mobility-digest" in the body.