moby

Music News You Can Use: Pop-Hop-’n'-B Tidbits

Thursday, October 9th, 2008

Coachella’s coming! Dates have finally been announced for the artsy music fest that brings everyone and their ex-boyfriend’s momma’s uncles out. Spend your college savings for three days of unforgettable, blazing hot magic here.

LA folks, win tickets to see Flosstradamus. Subdrive is giving two tickets to see the Chi-town DJ duo at the Avalon on Friday October 10. The homeboys will be performing alongside Marshall Barnes and Hyphy Crunk. Ch-ch-check it here.

Coldplay and Jay-Z, can I get a wha, huh? Yet another legendary crossover collabo goes down as Coldplay will be releasing a new digital-only EP that will include a remix of their latest single, “Lost!” featuring the Jigga Man himself. The four-track mix comes out November 10.

Hold up, what about Mrs. Jay-Z? Beyonce shows she’s the quite the overachiever once again, releasing two new singles at once. The singles, “If I Were A Boy” and “Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)” are rumored to be just a couple out of 70 songs that homegirl recorded for her latest self-titled album coming out November 18. Can you say perfectionist?!?

Usher reveals tour dates to the ladies. The one-month club hop, dubbed “One Night Stand: Ladies Only Tour” will be catered to women, but men are allowed as well. My question is, who did he think he was catering to in the first place? Catch him in the “intimate setting” at New York 11/3; Chicago 11/13; San Francisco 11/18; Los Angeles 11/19-20; and Las Vegas 11/21. For more dates and ticket info, check here.

Ah, yes, John Legend’s more like it. The singer-songwriter will be embarking on a worldwide tour starting November 19 in Minneapolis. Special guest Raphael Saadiq will be accompanying Mr. Legend for the first leg. Now that’s what I’m talkin’ ’bout! Check out dates here. Legend’s upcoming album, Evolver, drops October 28.

Umm, okay. Chi-town’s finest rapper Common seems to be with the in-crowd these days (walk away from the light!), Weezer breaks five world records in the new “Troublemaker” music video, and Moby starts a punk band. Epic fail for all? You be the judge.

Soap Box: Moby Tells McCain to Shut It.

Friday, August 22nd, 2008

next week i’m going to colorado to dj at a fundraiser and hang out in denver and do one of two things, either:
a-lament the fact that obama is losing his lead in the polls by not standing up to the gop
slander machine.
or
b-enjoy the fact that obama is finally standing up to the gop slander machine.
we (as in ‘we non-republicans’) need to go after the republicans.
they’re sitting ducks.
they’ve had 8 years, and in 8 years they’ve managed to fuck up just about everything they’ve
touched.
even now john mccain talks about how we’re ‘winning’ in iraq.
we’re ‘winning’?
his definition of ‘winning’ is a strange one, i guess he means ‘winning’ in that fewer
u.s soldiers are being killed.
it’s great that fewer u.s troops are dying, but that’s not ‘winning’.
‘winning’ would be american troops coming home because the iraqi government and military
are capable of looking after their own country, and there’s no sign that either of those
institutions are even close to being able to run things on their own.
(more…)

Soap Box: Moby Worries the DNC Will Take It Lying Down

Thursday, August 14th, 2008

oh no. for the third time, oh no.
it’s 2008, right?
or is it? maybe it’s 2000?
or 2004?
my confusion is based on the fact that the republicans are doing it again. they’re using the same smear and attack
strategy on barack obama that they used on john kerry and that they used
on al gore.
and we, the democrats are doing…nothing?
sitting back and taking it like we always do?
sitting back and being the sissies that we always are?
in 2000 they slandered al gore as saying he invented the internet and was an elitist.
and he fought back how?
oh, that’s right, he didn’t.
and in 2004 they slandered john kerry by questioning his military service.
and he fought back how?
oh, that’s right, he didn’t.
and now they’re slandering obama in a hundred insidious and incorrect ways
and he’s fighting back how?
oh, that’s right, he isn’t.
if a bully kicks you in the shins once you should be prepared if he comes
to kick you in the shins again, right?
well, this is the third time that the gop are kicking us in the shins and we still
don’t have shin-guards and we still haven’t learned how to fight back.
that makes it our fault.
yes, in a perfect world the gop wouldn’t be a bunch of lying sacks of shit, willing to spread scurrilous
lies and rumors, but, well, they are.
and we know they are.
and as distasteful as their methods might be, they usually end up winning.
and we’re, once again, unprepared.
they’re kicking us in the shins and all we’re doing is quietly lamenting the fact that they’re
kicking us in the shin.
dear senator obama: FIGHT BACK.
you’re battling a dimwit who doesn’t know the difference between sunni and shi’ite,
who still refers to countries that ceased to exist in 1993(czechoslovakia), and who believes
that iraq and pakistan share a border.
he’s a media darling(appearing on 24, saturday night live, and the late night talk shows
more times than anyone can count).
and he’s a staunch republican who deviates from the gop norm maybe .01% of the time.
so: FIGHT BACK.
we, the rank and file democrats, are tired of being sissies.
we’re tired of the high road.
the high road would be great if it didn’t lead us to defeat every 2 or 4 years.
the high road would be great if it helped us win.
guess what, it doesn’t.
the republicans drag us into the mire and start beating the shit out of us and all we do is say,
‘wouldn’t it be nice if we weren’t getting the shit beaten out of us in the mud?’
fight back and keep fighting until the gop are cowering in a corner.
we are better than them. we are smarter than them. we are younger than them.
and our ideas are better than theirs(stem cell research vs. creationism? we win).
we know how to win, it’s almost as if we choose not to, somehow finding defeat
more comfortable and familiar and patrician than victory.
let’s take the high road after we’ve won, ok?
in the meantime: FIGHT.
you don’t bring a knife to a gun fight, and you don’t bring decency to a fight with a republican(at least not if you want to win).
this might be a strange analogy for a vegan to use, but if you want to make an omelet
you have to break a couple of eggs.
start breaking some eggs.
—moby

Originally posted on moby.com on August 8.