utterly crestfallen. like Frankenstein surveying the collapse of his noble scientific endeavours.
’It seems obvious to me that the world order has shifted with the end of the Cold War.‘ he continues. ‘So archetypes that existed for 40 years are no longer there and the world has suddenly got intricate and complicated and people are looking for simple solutions.‘
In Britain. it‘s called the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act. in the States . . .
‘There‘s this anti~immigration fervour.
In California. a supposedly liberal state.
they‘vejust voted to deny illegal aliens any sort of government services like emergency tnedical services. In San Francisco. one of the most liberal cities in the country. they‘ve just made homelessness illegal. You can‘t have a civilised country and have things like that on the books. There‘s a side of me that doesn‘t see the point in continuing with the institutions that fill our lives.’
‘There’s a side of me that doesn’t see the point in continuing with the institutions that fill our lives.’
Gulp. And the interview hasn't even started yet. But since we're on the subject. how does a techno artist go about addressing the issues that contaminate his mind? Or is the whole point just to shut up and dance?
‘l‘ve always shied away from prosaic music.‘ says Moby. ‘but I‘d really like to address the things l care about because making music for the sake of making music is a waste. There's too many other important things going on tojust exist in this self-absorbed vacuum and make the occasional nice dance record. The world doesn‘t need
Moby: a whale of a talent
just the occasional nice dance record.‘
Nevertheless. music is a passion for Moby, so he figures he might as well go at it hammer and tongs. be it
' composing surging rave epics. skate
metal remixes or covering Joy Division
songs (‘New Dawn Fades‘ appears on
the ‘Feeling So Real‘ single in a faithfully magisterial gothic trance guise). He reckons he releases less than one per cent of his material. That‘s
’ some colossal creative urge you‘ve got
there. Moby. Where is it coming from? ‘In some ways my tastes haven‘t changed since I was eight years old and
t I liked everything I heard. I've never
been able to align my musical tastes with any one genre. I like country and
western music and I like jazz, and I like
disco and I like hip-hop.‘ Moby has already indulged many of
these interests in previous musical
incarnations. from New York punk and metal bands through to the heady Ultra Vivid Scene. Musically. he‘s covering
everything else in one go now but the
performance ethic from his days in
: groups remains.
‘l feel a stage is a really interesting place. and not many people get the
chance to present their stuff on stage: As I have that opportunity. I should try : and do something with it. Most
musicians and bands are pretty boring to watch — it comes from the basic
inherent Caucasian nervousness. Now, because you have a bunch of nervous
performers who won‘t do anything on
: stage apart from hide behind their
equipment, they‘ve made that the new aesthetic. it‘s almost like they‘ve legislated their insecurities.‘
it‘s yet another form of legislation
7 Moby wants to kick against. but this
{ time it's in an area he can very much
have an impact on. Party on. dude. Moby plays The Arena. Glasgow mt Fri
25.
um- Fiery affair
With his long hair tied in a bushy pony tail, straggling red beard and strings of beads, saxophonist Mornington
Lockett has always appeared to be the
odd man out in the context of the Ronnie Scott Sextet. Even if he looks as though he should be in another band altogether, his playing dovetails neatly enough with Scott’s bop- derived musical direction.
There is rather more to his music
than that, however, as anyone who has
heard him play in other contexts will testify. His powerful blowing, seemingly influenced in just about equal measure by John Coltrane and Michael Brecker, has seemed a little unfocused at times in the past, but if his eponymous debut album for Ralph Bagge’s admirable EFZ label is any
. indication, he is approaching a new
maturity and sense of purpose in his playing.
Lockett is one of a number of British musicians benefiting from Bagge’s venture, alongside Dave O’Higgins, whose latest album is just out, Jim Mullen (who plays on a couple of tracks on Lockett’s album, returning the favour for the saxman’s earlier work on Jim’s ‘Into The 90s’ set), Gail Thompson, and Lammas, among others. His album explores a wider
f range of musical directions than his j playing forays north of the border might have led us to expect, and
' .L____.
PREVIEW MUSIC
Mornington lockett
includes a vocal contribution from Sarah Jane Morris on ‘Don’t Go To Strangers’, alongside a number of his own compositions.
All of which makes his latest visit, this time to play with the Brian Kellock Trio, an even more intriguing affair, although the exigencies of the soloist-meets-strange rhythm section situation may shift the emphasis back onto the familiar hard-blowing standards approach. Either way, it should be a fiery affair. (Kenny Mathieson)
Mornington Lockett and The Brian Kellock Trio play The Tron Jazz Cellar, Edinburgh on Wed 30.
MARC MARNIE
Eternally yours . "‘ . ‘“ gut/1
1/
.. GI“: - With hits in Japan, Australia and the USA, as weii as at home, South london quartet Eternal are currently the most successful British female vocal group. Signed to EMI and coming from the same management stable as Dina Carroll and Bad Boys Inc, they have
had priority treatment, like jetting off
to record tracks for their debut album with top American producers. But don’t fall into the trap of thinking of them as no more than an industry creation.
Sisters Easther and Vernie, and
? childhood friends Kelle and Louise,
. made up their own minds to join forces — even though that had been
their manager’s dream in the first place.
‘We were introduced to each other on
a very free basis, not, “Oh, you’re
going to be a band,” ’ says Louise. ‘We all met our manager at different times.
We were all going up there and hanging out together, and he said, “I just thought I’d introduce you guys.” For a whole year, we didn’t do anything, just hung out, wrote songs,
~\ \ \\‘ \. .c it
{NW /’
bits and pieces, sung together, and then in the second year thought that we could get on as a band. We all had a choice.’
Eternal have had the choice, too, to work with the songwriters they wanted; and after their first self- penned single, ‘80 Cood’, are hoping to write half of their next album themselves. Just don’t ask if they’re planning to expand beyond the swingbeat style.
‘I don’t think we’re actually a swingbeat group, althOugh a lot of people say we are. We like it, don’t get me wrong. But when you listen to the Eternal album, there’s not a certain style on there. We’ve got a lot of pop tracks, two out-and-out gospel tracks and there’s a bit of swingbeat. There’s a big mixture, but it’s got that Eternal kind of sound. We always work with harmonies — that's the basis of singing we like working on.’ (Alastair Mabbott)
Eternal play The Usher Hall, Edinburgh on Wed 30.
The List l8 November~l December “>94 33