Last Night (2008) by Moby

Last Night is Moby's best work since Play This work was released at the beginning of the year. It is surely one of the best album of the year.

If you are true fan of Moby going back to the early underground days in the early 90's, and you have stumbled across this review; you will probably see me as a poser. You would be right. I only got into Moby with Play, which I think is one of the best album of the nineties; up there with U2's Achtung Baby and Radiohead's OK, Computer. I never went back and really explored Moby's pre-Play works. I have been up-to-date since then though.

The cover looks like an American Apparel add. It is all 80's retro, except that the 1980's never had such high resolution digital pictures.

Moby gives his mission statement like he does with all his releases. This time Moby is trying to gives the listener a taste of what is was like going out in New York during his youth. He regales us with tales of sneaking out from his elitist Connecticut suburb and taking the Metro-North rail into the city on a school night during high school.

Moby a habitual night owl, continues to describe the surreal world of night. He gives a very sober account, but you wonder what he might have been on during those time, as raves are not known for being drug free.

Must Download:

ooh yeah
Disco Lies
the stars

Like most good Moby works, you don't hear him sing so much. There are loops of Black soul singers in much of the work. Some of it does remind you of previous releases. In the song live for tomorrrow reminds you of When its cold, I like to die, but this time the structure is much more sophisticated which leads to a beautiful ending.

Through much of the album I can't help feeling that I am listening to something new, but familiar. It has the uncomfortable feeling of something you like but are not used to. Your mind has to adjust. Once your ear adjusts, you're into it.

I find that this work doesn't go very well with the rest of CDs in my collection. Maybe this is because I have no 80's dance music that Moby's is trying re-interpret. I say "try" because this so NOT 80's music. It is more 90's retro than 80's. The song hyenas like his contemporaries Air, French Band, and there is something updated in here too.

Last Night would have made a perfect follow up to Play. Somehow tracks from this CD could have gone well next to The Strokes or The Killers.

In the end Moby sounds like Moby, and he does a very good job. He creates a very good album too.

Maybe Eminem is right that nobody listens to Techno, but maybe they should.