Last Night - the fifteen track album was recorded in Moby's home studio in Manhattan NY and mixed by Dan Grech - Maguerat who has also worked with Radiohead and the Scissor Sisters. The new album features guest vocalists and includes the original 70's MC Grandmaster Caz one of the writers of Rappers Delight, Sylvia from Kudu, the UK's MC Aynzli and S.O. Simple and Smokey from the Nigerian 419 Squad. EMI. 2008.
After three albums that seemed to find Moby in some sort of creative stasis, Last Night sees the once-restless DJ/producer changing the record and returning to one of his first loves: the heaving dancefloors of his native New York. Soulful, uplifting piano rave is the order of the day here, and while some hallmarks of Play remain--Moby still has a fascination for long, tearful synth lines and sampled vocals, which he drops in here and there, seemingly to yield the maximum emotional response--Last Night still feels like a clean slate. "I Like to Move in Here" shimmies along on a languid house beat that doffs a cap to early hip-hop in the shape of a cameo from MC Grandmaster Caz, one of the writers of "Rapper's Delight", while "Everyday It's 1989" is the sort of overdriven, ecstatic piano house that Moby perfected on his 1995 classic Everything Is Wrong. There's more guest spots in the shape of British MC Aynzli, the Nigerian 419 Squad and Sylvia from dark NYC disco band Kudu, but the most impressive thing about Last Night is the peaks that Moby can reach when he's working alone: see the grand, emotive swell of "Sweet Apocalypse", cold synths and driving beats that, were it released by James Murphy, would be hailed as genius--and rightfully, too.--Louis Pattison
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 3.5 / 5.0
Soundtrack to nothing.:
I have been a Moby fan for a very long time, but the 'creative stasis' referred to in the Amazon commentary above shows no signs of abating. I literally threw this CD away after two listenings because it was - well - boring. Early Moby moved back and forth between beautiful and/or disturbing layers of melody, punctuated by original sounding beats. Around the time that '18' came out, it seemed that Moby had run out of steam. I am all for artists reinventing themselves (think Eno, or Bowie for that matter)... more info
Back to Play and Songs:
This is classic Moby. It seems that after a little experimentation in a different direction with Hotel, this work has gone back to the mesmerizing and rhythmic synth pop with orchestral accompaniment weaving in the background that we heard in Moby Songs and Play. If you enjoyed those former works, you should surely enjoy this work too.
Better than 18 but not PLAY:
The one thing I like better about PLAY is that Moby mixed and engineered that album himself
but not this new one. It is still very entertaining and enjoyable though. Get this one instead of HOTEL
for sure.
This Is the Best Album of 2008:
If you are a club-goer, you are going to love this album. Disc jockeys all around the world will agree that Moby has truly outdone himself this time. There are two #1 club play singles to be found here - "Disco Lies" and "I Like To Move In Here." But honestly, every track is worthy - there is zero filler to be found on Last Night. Forget all you think you know about Moby - this makes Play a distant stagnant memory. I hope my review brings this album up in the rankings - it is deserving of Top Ten... more info
