On Thu, 17 Feb 2000, Andrew Duke wrote:
quoted 13 lines i think it is apalling that white men like
> i think it is apalling that white men like
> moby and fatboy slim and others bastardize black
> standards/spirituals/classics to make their
> "electronica" shite. how can that be "music
> for the year 2000?" (my quotes) heck,
> anyone with access to the Lomax compendiums
> can make money off the backs of dead black
> *musicians* and *artists* (i'm stressing the
> words on purpose). it takes some ethics
> to *not* do this, but fatboy, moby, et al
> seem content to toss all sense of morals et al
> out the window when it comes to making
> radio friendly poplectronica.
95% of what is discussed on this list is music by white folks that was
born out of music by black folks. Western music in general has a
not-so-proud tradition of taking the music of blacks and indigenous
peoples and watering it down a bit for a white audience.
Not saying that it's RIGHT, just saying that this is nothing new. As
technology has changed, it's now possible to actually use the original
works as part of the new composition as opposed to finding a white artist
who "sounds black - but not *too* black" (i.e. Elvis) to interpet black
music for acceptance by whites. But the premise is basically the same.
All that being said, though - I don't view what Moby has done on "Play" to
be as morally repugnant as what happened in the early days of rock & roll
because unlike the 50s, "real" black music is actually being played on the
radio/TV/etc., and is actually being listened to by white people. Hip-hop
culture is massive and has crossed the colour lines sucessfully - even
though some will argue that it took Aerosmith teaming up with Run DMC to
do so. :) White people don't *have* to bring black music to whites, 'cause
black people are now able to do it themselves.
And to be honest (and at risk of losing my IDM-d00d street cred), I think
Moby's "Play" album is fucking great. And this is coming from someone who
has hated nearly every note the guy has recorded previous to this record.
I still think that he's a bit of a knobhead in a lot of ways, but I think
he has a true respect for the original music that he borrowed for the
album, and I don't think he had any ulterior "getting rich off the backs
of dead, black artists" motives. Whether you like him or hate him, you
have to admit that Moby's track record proves that he does whatever the
hell he wants/enjoys regardless of the resulting commericial
success/failure.
Greg
--
Greg Clow - greg@stainedproductions.com -
http://www.stainedproductions.com
feedback monitor - electronic & experimental radio/reviews/interviews
http://www.stainedproductions.com/feedback/
158 Close Ave. 2nd Floor - Toronto, Ontario M6K 2V5 - Canada
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