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I COVER STORY : MOBY f you had the luxury of compiling a wish list of gab-gifted guests for the Perfect Dinner Party , you could do a lot worse than inviting techno-jazz-pop-ambient-symphonic Renaissance man Moby . Personally – without even touching on his four-decade , genre-jumping musical career — he has a true wealth of achievements to discuss , including his photography exhibits , two memoirs , the recent documentary film Moby Doc , his vegan restaurant Little Pine ( and subsequent Little Pine cookbook , and its attendant diet-centered flick Punk Rock Vegan Movie ), plus the topic nearest and dearest to his heart , animal rights activism itself . But in a compositional context , where to begin ?
The man ’ s early more punk-scrappy endeavors ( an actual Animal Rights album back in ’ 96 ), worldwide breakthrough Play in ’ 99 , his later ambient and techno experiments , his lengthy roster of collaborations , or his regular diversions into film scoring ? Even a logical inroad – Resound NYC , his latest and second orchestral release for classical imprint Deutsche Grammophon offers a cornucopia of potential topical detours , such as his choice of vocalists to sing his reimagined catalog chestnuts – the former featuring Mark Lanegan , Kris Kristofferson , Jim James , Nataly Dawn , Skylar Grey , and others ; the latter boasting cameos from Gregory Porter , Amythyst Kiah , Margo Timmins , Damien Jurado , and Nicole Sherzinger . And with Moby , almost any inquiry leads to a fascinating , often labyrinthine yarn . By Tom Lanham .
HELLO , MY NAME IS RUSSELL OF SPARKS
A rolling stone gathers no moss , it ’ s been said . And that makes perfect sense to vocalist Russell Mael and his keyboardist / composer brother Ron Mael , a couple of fun guys ( rim shot , maestro !) that have spent their entire five-decade-plus career as the idiosyncratic alt-rock duo Sparks staying in perpetual pinball-caroming motion over 24 stylistically-diverse albums . 2021 ’ s The Sparks Brothers , a detailed documentary on the group , lovingly directed by longtime ultra-fan Edgar Wright , nary a lichen has had time to take root . And the Maels didn ’ t rest on their new cinematic laurels over lockdown , either – they got even busier , crafting a brainy new record dubbed The Girl is Crying in Her Latte , which was promptly snapped by their old imprint Island . Not bad , considering that both Maels – who still look eerily Dorian Gray youthful – spoke to Tom Lanham .
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File
Hello My Name is Russell from Sparks .
CinemScopes
Indiana Jones leads the June film pack .
Spins
The Bollweevils , The Smashing Pumpkins , Paul Simon and more .
Media
WGN 720 ’ s pioneering GM .
Calendar
1300 shows and 3000 bands , it ’ s IE ’ s live music calendar .
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