By Ryan Menard
The addition of techno-nerd pioneer Moby to the Springfest roster will round out an already diverse night of music.
While Moby’s melancholic electronica is miles from the other artists’ styles, he joins Mos Def and Less Than Jakefor the April 9 show. All three scored their personal highs on the Billboard charts in the last three years.
Though Moby has yet to match the success of 1999 hit single “South Side,” a pop favorite featuring a chorus from Gwen Stefani, his 2002 album, “18” reached No. 4 on the Billboard 200 and the album’s single, “We Are All Made of Stars,” was a club favorite. With his newest full-length, “Hotel” set for a March 22 release, the techno virtuoso isn’t slowing down.
Moby’s electronica career has received mixed reviews, simultaneously praised for bringing the underground musical form to the mainstream and criticized for making it too radio-friendly.
Either way, he has consistently kept listeners guessing. His songs range from strict rave-loving club beats and disco-tinged dances to dirty guitar rock and bluesy ambiance to even sugary-sweet pop anthems.
Though some are skeptical of the competence of a musician who programs his tracks, Moby writes and performs most of his samples and sings on many of his songs, and will play every instrument on his upcoming record. His live shows even play out more like rock concerts, with the rockstar hugging his microphone or noodling on his guitar alongside a bassist, drummer, string section and DJ.
First recognized for writing the British Top 10 hit “Go” for the theme of the David Lynch television series “Twin Peaks,” he worked his way from a club DJ to one of the few recognizable faces in techno in the early ’90s. Before releasing an album, he remixed songs for some notable artists, including Michael Jackson, Brian Eno and Depeche Mode.
Moby soon broke into his own catalogue with a song that was simultaneously a British hit and a Guinness Book record – “Thousand” holds the record as the “fastest single ever,” clocking at about 1,000 beats per minute. He released three albums on smaller labels before his critically-acclaimed major label debut, “Everything is Wrong,” and a subsequent slot on the Lollapalooza Tour in 1995.
Two records later, Moby dropped his multi-platinum surprise hit “Play” in 1999, supported largely by the success of “South Side” and the dozens of advertisers that borrowed from the record for commercials, including American Express, Nissan and Fox network television previews. Though selling fewer albums, 2002’s “18” broke the Billboard 200 Top 10 for the first time.
