This review appears in Washington Square News.
Moby describes his seventh album, Last Night, as an effort to condense an eight hour night in New York City into 65 minutes. And like any eventful club-hop, the record has its ups and downs as well as moments of unpredictability, as evidenced by its juggling of various dance-oriented genres, including hip-hop and disco.
Although Moby uses a variety of guest vocalists, from rappers to divas, he follows a consistent template by looping vocals and adding instrumentation. These practices give the majority of his album a repetitive feel, but the production is interesting enough to keep things fresh - for the first part of the album, at least.
Opener "Ooh Yeah" begins with a voice repeating the track's title thrown into the mix but later features a hook that makes it resemble a contemporary pop song. "I Love To Move In Here" is even more compelling, with string samples, rapping, turntable slices and soulful singing.
Unfortunately, the last third of the album drops into ambience, perhaps a conceptual reference to the calm at the end of the night. But there just isn't enough that grabs the listener, particularly compared to the livelier first half. Undoubtedly, Last Night can never equal Moby's watershed moment, Play, an album that sold nine million copies. But there's still plenty of material here to appeal to those fans.
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MP3: Moby - I Love To Move In Here
MP3: Moby - Disco Lies
MySpace: Moby
Official Site: Moby
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