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Moby's Hotel

Moby, a Harlem-born multi-instrumentalist, got his first four-track recording device in 1983, but it wasn't until 1991 and the critically acclaimed album Go, Moby's debut solo release, that the world was introduced to the artist's techno-tinged production skills. A former club DJ, Moby has gone on to make a name for himself as a great producer, collaborator (hooking up with the likes of Gwen Stefani, Elton John, and Angie Stone), and jack-of-all-trades musician. Taking full advantage of his skills, Moby's new album Hotel is a mixed bag of styles, influences, beats, and instrumentation, on which he plays every instrument himself, save one. The live drumming duty was given to Scott Frassetto, a buddy of Moby's.

The album opens with the instrumental and appropriately titled Hotel Intro, setting the mood for the next song, Raining Again, which features Moby's signature vocals, a catchy chorus, keyboard play, and big beats that have become synonymous with his music. Interestingly, what is missing from the tracks of Hotel that was heard in his past works are lifted snippets. Hotel is sample-free.

Although his work has often leaned towards electronic, there's always been an element of guitar, an instrument Moby first picked up at age 10. With Hotel, a fine example of his nifty six-string distorted guitar work appears on Beautiful, where both acoustic and electric guitars back up an infectious radio-ready chorus of Look at us we're beautiful. Further demonstrating his diversity, Beautiful is followed by a double-shot of retro/new wave grooves on the back-to-back cuts Lift Me Up and Where You End. A slowed-down tempo with whispering vocals comes next in the heart-tugging ballad, "Temptation," a fitting New Order cover that pleads Up, down, turnaround / Please don't let me hit the ground / Tonight I think I'll walk alone / Find my soul as I go home.

Another friend of Moby's, Laura Dawn, helps out with vocals on several numbers including Very, one of the finest moments on Hotel and a song that harkens back to the days when disco was king. Picture an updated electronic disco combination of Blondie's Atomic and Donna Summer's I Feel Love.

Moby may do his work out of his home office, but as seen on Hotel, that doesn't make him any less prolific or creative Ч his latest offering is a double-disc. The second CD, tagged Ambient, is comprised of 11 instrumentals that work on equal levels as a music bed or music to listen to in bed while drifting off to sleep.