I’ve been waiting for Moby’s new album since Hotel came out over three years ago, and I finally got my wish today. So here’s my (somewhat haphazard) review of Moby’s Last Night:

It seems like every single anticipatory review of Last Night mentioned the fact that it’s “more dance-oriented” than Moby’s previous work. That Moby somehow found a “new voice” in this album. Honestly, I think that’s crap. I’d still call this an “electronic” album, with a heavier emphasis on the bass line, making it border on the Dance category. Actually, I think Last Night was more of a return to the almost obsessively alternative Moby from a decade ago. With heavily sampled vocals (which come close to seeming improvised), songs like “Everyday It’s 1989″ and “Live For Tomorrow” could have almost come off of his 2002 album 18 (see, “One of These Mornings” and “Sunday (The Day Before My Birthday)”).

Something that intrigued me about Last Night was it’s concept: Moby wanted to recreate the experience of a night in NYC - all the different events and emotions you can go through in 8 short hours. Part of this involved recreating the vast array of experiences, possible. However, Moby seems to have lost a bit of his commitment to the vividly varying melodies which made Hotel such a pleasure to listen to straight through, opting instead for the repetitive electronic drum beat which lost its appeal about fifteen minutes in. Even after listening to it all afternoon, I’m having trouble distinguishing the last 8 or 9 tracks - they simply sound too similar.

Admittedly, Last Night has some nice attributes, thanks to Moby’s unashamed loyalty to his somewhat unconventional musical style. Most pop artists use vocals as the center-piece of the song, whereas dance artists use their beats and stutters as the frontmen. But Moby has created a marriage of the two camps, in many ways using vocals as simply another instrument in his orchestra - a pleasing style, which unfortunately requires some getting used to. The distinguishable lyrics to “The Stars,” for example, consist simply of “I see the stars,” repeated several dozens times. If you’re looking for a sing-along track, you’ll find very few in Last Night.

Yet some of my favorite tracks were simply the ones that broke outside the boundaries of most music I hear on the radio. The simple yet beautiful melody of “Ooh Yeah,” the purely instrumental “Mothers of the Night” (which says more without words than most songs do with vocals), and even the powerful, angry, and hurt monologue from “Disco Lies” (I felt like I was in a gay club in 1982) were all memorable and can easily get stuck in your head.

All things considered, I was a little disappointed in Last Night. I became a bit too fond of signing along with 2005’s Hotel, and the beat-intensive dance album Moby’s created here just doesn’t lend itself to that style of rocking out. But, taken for what it is (a dance album on the slightly more innovative side of the spectrum), Moby has created another work of art for his genre. Just don’t be surprised if you find yourself reaching for that “skip track” button every once in a while to escape the slight monotony.

Over the past year or so, I’ve experienced Facebook’s “relationship status” from many different points of view. First, I was on the oblivious end of a profile who’s owner - according to Facebook - was single (but actually in a relationship). Later on, my first boyfriend claimed he was single for the first month of our relationship, since not everyone knew he was gay. My profile has stated that I was single when I’d actually been in relationships for weeks - sometimes it would just say “In a relationship,” whereas other times it would specify with who. And I’m not even getting into the options of “It’s complicated” “In an open relationship” and “Looking for whatever I can get” which so many people haphazardly throw upon their profiles.

I started thinking about this yesterday when Shawn Decker asked me about the change he recently noticed in my relationship status on Facebook. “Ah, yes…” I thought. You and about 85% of my 292 Facebook friends probably noticed that… Now, I definitely won’t say that’s creepy, and it’s not like I mind, either. I just find it incredibly interesting how Facebook has changed the way we interact with each other. And it’s not just teenagers, either - it seems like everyone from 14 to 40 has a Facebook now. And they can all be notified at the click of a button that “Michael Strickland is now listed as in a relationship” or “Michael Strickland and Oliver Twist have ended their relationship.” Because I obviously wanted the latter plastered over 292 feed walls…

And not only that - but can you imagine me trying to come out to 292 people? Given, many of them would likely have been informed even 20 years ago by word of mouth, but what about my DC friends? My friends that don’t go to CHS? My friends in their 30s and 40s? Even my cousins! Without Facebook, not many people would actually know (unless, of course, I’m far more popular and gossip worthy than I thought).

I’ve written about this before - I just really like thinking about the impact of the internet on face-to-face social interaction - and I’m certainly not saying it’s a bad thing (most of my accomplishments have been digital in some nature). But in the mean time, before I end up writing my college thesis paper on this topic or something, here’s some interesting articles I found on this topic. I like the last one for no other reason than it keeps using the phrase “the Facebook”:

Love in the Age of Facebook
Til Facebook breakup do us part
Facebook Break-Up Tips for Relationships that Never Existed
Crossing Boundaries: Identity Management and Student/Faculty Relationships on the Facebook