Highlights In The Area:One Hangar

I remember seeing Moby, Aphex Twin and a couple of others on the See The Lights tour many years ago. I always hated Moby after that, because he pinched my then-girlfriend's bum. (It was only later that I realized she probably facilitated it. Slut.)

Anyway, despite that long-standing hatred, the one thing I couldn't deny was that the man was one truly keen showman. That Moby guy could really get asses shaking, even if they were those of my trampy exes.

Well, now that he's taken his ass-shaking to a whole new level and made electronic music ubiquitous in car commercials and 20-something house parties, we figured we'd better give you the lowdown on some of the folks that will be coming into Toronto's The Docks on July 22 for Moby's Area: One festival.

Here's some hot tips:
The New Deal: By now you've probably heard of The New Deal. They're gonna be huge in this weird Grateful-Dead-of-electronica way.

The Roots: These guys do this full-band hip-hop jazz thing and one of their guys was on the show, OZ.

Outkast: You will never see girls dance as crazy as they will to "Bombs Over Baghdad." Bet on it.

The Orb: Dr. Alex Patterson is crazy. Which in music industry circles equals hella-cool. At an Orb show I went to years ago kids were literally sticking their heads into the speakers and waving their hands in the air like it was a religious revival. If that doesn't hook ya, nothing will.

Rhinocerose: Yet another of these groovy French house acts, they're kinda what Dee-Lite would be if they had been more serious. One band member is a psychologist and another makes educational CD-Roms.