New album: “Innocents”
Artist: Moby
Label: Arts & Crafts
Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
After hitting pay dirt with the albums “Play” and “18” at the turn of the century, Moby’s shovel malfunctioned on his 2005 release, the tepid “Hotel.”
Apparently sensing that some reshuffling was in order, Moby waited another three years before releasing the well-received dance collection “Last Night.” His following releases — “Wait For Me” and “Destroyed” set the tone for his new album, the introspective ‘Innocents’.
Moby is still pretty much pulling the one-man-band trick, but he has stepped outside of his usual circle of friends for vocal help this time around. Wayne Coyne (Flaming Lips), Mark Lanegan (ex-Screaming Trees) and Skylar Grey each turn in vocal performances that lend a newfound sense of soul to Moby’s synthetic compositions. Content to rely primarily on female gospel-flavored vocals in the past, this new cast of singers elevates Moby closer to his 1999-2002 level of creativity than he’s been in a while.
Coyne and (especially) Lanegan might seem at odds with the Moby mission statement, but the combinations work. Lanegan sounds like he ate a pack of cigarettes just before crooning “The Lonely Night,” but imagine a Robert Mitchum voice-over from a 1940s detective film with an electronica soundtrack. It looks good on paper and it oozes comfortably around the ear. Coyne’s status as a confirmed space cadet adds a level of sweetness to the angelic “Perfect Life.”
As for the instrumentals, “Everything That Rises” recalls the icy feel of the work Michael Rubini and The Reds did on Michael Mann’s “Manhunter” soundtrack, as well as Moby’s own “God Moves Across The Water” which was featured in the Michael Mann film “Heat.”
“Going Wrong” is a slice to horror-jazz straight out of Angelo Badalamenti’s “Twin Peaks” score, while “Saints” and “Long Time” recall gospel/electronica Moby of yore.
Most of “Innocents” will satiate the Moby faithful, and the new collaborators will probably bring a few of the uninitiated into the fold.
Classic album: “Straight Up”
Artist: Badfinger
Label: Apple
Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5
Badfinger should have been one of the most commercially successful pop bands of the 1970s. Sadly, the management at the Beatles’ Apple Records label was in a shambles and the band never got the push (or royalties) it deserved.
Released near the end of 1971, “Straight Up” featured a few singles so strong even mismanagement couldn’t kill it off. Aided greatly by producer Todd Rundgren’s attention to detail, guitarist/singer Pete Ham’s “Day After Day” and “Baby Blue” became massive hits. Each song featured catchy refrains and thick, hard rock arrangements that inspired bands such as Cheap Trick and The Raspberries.
Giant singles aside, the deep cuts on “Straight Up” are no slouches. Joey Molland’s “Suitcase” is a superb Fender Rhodes workout that alludes to the business troubles that would eventually do the band in. Tom Evans’ melancholy “It’s Over” is an epic of nearly “Hey Jude” proportions, and the group written “I’ll Be The One” tries to end things on an up note, but there is an unease in the lyrics that points to rough terrain ahead.
The band’s connection to the Beatles eventually became an albatross they could never quite shake. Instead of focusing on the great songs Ham and his band mates Joey Molland and Tom Evans were writing, journalists were only concerned with what type of toothpaste George Harrison used. Throw in shady dealings by a manager that was later in life a convicted felon, and you have one of the great tragic stories of modern music.
Badfinger sold lots of records but never saw any of the money. Pete Ham’s suicide in 1975 drew a line under Badfinger’s golden era, although the music created during that brief run is still featured in film, TV and commercials to this day. Anyone looking for a shortcut to Badfinger’s commercial triumphs is urged to seek out Capitol Records’ 2001 compilation “The Best Of Badfinger.”
Jon Dawson’s album reviews appear every Thursday in The Free Press. Contact Jon at 252-559-1092 or jon.dawson@kinston.com. Purchase Jon’s book “Making Gravy In Public” at jondawson.com.