Albums by this artist

Play (1999)

Concerts

October 9, 1999
Empire Polo Field, Indio, Calif.

Moby

Play

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» BRADLEY SMITH | STAFF WRITER

Moby Play V2, 1999 RiYL: Chemical Brothers, Prodigy, Air

Back in 1995, Moby released Everything Is Wrong, breathing new life into a fledgling techno and dance community. By then, techno had become a relatively boring and predictable genre, but Moby infused his music with catchy beats and pseudo-classical piano flourishes. He also wasn't afraid to place mellow numbers right after the "four-on-the-floor" stuff and follow that immediately with a punk/thrash song.

But until Play, Moby had been unable to release a worthy follow up to that landmark album. He released a punk album and some soundtrack stuff, but none of it was nearly as interesting as Everything Is Wrong. With Play, Moby once again mixes up genres and the result is some of the best material the bald-headed guru has ever created.

Since his last outing, Moby has discovered the field recordings of Alan Lomax. He's taken the vocal tracks from these early American folk, blues and gospel songs and set them to big beats and funky piano arrangements. It makes for an interesting combination of old and new that manages to avoid the kitsch element that such a mixture could easily fall into. These are the best songs on the album, especially "Honey" and "Run On." The rest of the record is more akin to the ambient material from Everything Is Wrong.

Unfortunately, the last third of the CD isn't nearly as good as the first two-thirds. For the first eleven tracks, Moby manages to maintain the listener's attention and just about every track is great. But from there on out, all of the tracks are pretty boring and unnecessary. If Moby had just trimmed down the album a little bit, it would be a much improved package, instead it falls just short of greatness.

BRADLEY SMITH |