Moby, Last Night – Inspired by the streets of NYC comes the “definitive” dance album of now. Somehow, it just doesn’t seem “now” enough for me.
First, I applaud Moby for trying to get Americans to like dance music. We are are resistent bunch and notably gravitate towards the hip hop realm for booty shaking inspiration. Still, there are a precious few (namely me) who still appreciate a good synthesizer well used to get the masses at least nodding their heads. And most often, Europe is providing the Moog and Casio inspired anthems. Moby’s nod to the New York scene is admirable and I appreciate the effort.
That being said, this is no where near the capability of the current club scene in Europe. Call me spoiled, but I can’t imagine any of these songs being played in any night establishment in London and considered cutting edge. The samples and synths feel very dated (I know there is a late ’80s revival underway, but can you really get away with the C&C Music factory sound again? Is that Taylor Dane I hear?) and just not fun enough. The album tries to replicate the full night experience, complete with somber sobering at the end, but I didn’t get enough of the actual “night out” element. Where is the frantic energy? Where is the “Oh my God, this is MY SONG” moment? It seems chock full of pre and post clubbing middle of the road fare, but I wanted more meat.
Plus it felt pretty stodgy. I wasn’t surprised by any of the songs. His sound didn’t seem to evolve that much for the supposed amount of effort he put in catching up to the latest dance scene. Here’s a tip: if I were to go to a club, it would sound and look a lot more like this