NME Chief Sides With Satan

NME's editor Conor McNicholas launched a shamelessly wicked crusade against God-fearing music makers this week, telling the Guardian "the problem with religion is it's never cool'.

"At the heart of all religions, there's the notion of control and that's the opposite of rock & roll," the one-time Muzik editor sneered. "It (religion) ends up being the least rock & roll thing you can think of," he mocked.

McNicholas' evil comments appeared in a feature examining the rise of "quietly Christian' artists like R&B crooners Daniel and Natasha Bedingfield and matched the kind of treatment that born-again dance don Moby had to endure during the early part of his career.

The famously puritanical producer was ridiculed relentlessly until Play turned him into a massive pop star 1999, at which point both the media and Moby radically reconsidered their positions.

"What I've come to understand is that indulgence can lead to epiphanies (miraculous breakthroughs in understanding) more times than abstinence," Moby told The Observer in 2000.

"My old quasi-celibacy is a good example," he explained. "I was celibate for the wrong reasons. I was celibate for the same reasons as I was a vegan and didn't drink - because it made me feel superior," he confessed.

Moby also admitted he'd adopted the distinctly decadent habit of counting up his lovers, though insisted his total remained "under 50'.
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• Conor McNicholas
• NME
• Satan