The Record from Hackensack, New Jersey • 107

The Record tjtXRmiSmT October 22, 1999 MUSIC 17 SK uu a ea Instltiti fir Public Lima-ship Cm ILLS The Institute for Public Leadership is a nationally run women's political empowerment program that teaches you valuable how to's on running for public office and managing campaigns. Fir more erte register call wmw 1201)481-2224 ssss lobbyist Jennifer BecK YWCA Bergen County Co-Sponsored by League of Women Voters of Northern Valley Vhat's JhuHabaloo wm mbmi I 11 i 1 Bin 1 1 nri at 1 agents and down home if MHKsworfd-class events Moby's latest CD, "Play," which samples African-American vocals from the field recordings of 'Sounds of the South," may be jarring at first, but It's unlike anything previously released. Moby's second coming good limes, trshovngagourmerm- on. night and tearing -mo a steamed crabs the next. Attending 15 2 At on e.bition at the Walters mi Gallery, then viewing alien bunn.es at the American Visionary Art Lj He's resurrecting the blues Museum, it's high art and hair 1 1 tj riawn.

Where hip. happening, -ft 'i 1 1 1 MUSIC PREVIEW MOBY: 9 p.m. Thursday. The Roxy, 515 W. 18th Manhattan.

$23 advance, $25 day of show. (212)645-5156. W. quaint and quirky (neet Baltimore style. Call for your free Baltibaloo Vocation Planning Guide and things up! in.

adds up to a cohesive musical journey but a journey major record labels found too risky to take part in. Back when Moby was the poster boy for techno in America, his first major label album, "Everything Is Wrong," was named Spin magazine's 1995 album of the year. Moby says the attitude of his label, Elektra, was strictly ho-hum. "By the time 'Everything Is Wrong' was named album of the year," he explains, "Elektra had labeled it a catalog item. Which meant there were no copies in the stores.

We went to them and said, 'Look, maybe this is a good time to promote They said no. At Elektra, if you're not Busta Rhymes or Metallica, you don't get any attention." By last year, Moby wanted a divorce. Elektra granted it for a price. "They wanted to keep me," he says. "They ended up charging me quite a lot to leave.

I bought my freedom." Moby began to take demo versions of songs on "Play" to other labels. "Everyone was interested," he says, "but they were confused. I don't fit into a niche. They want something that fits neatly into one format. And they want to hear a hit single.

No one wants to take a risk." Moby finally signed with V2, a fledgling label willing to release a CD that sounds unlike anything ever released. Oddly enough, it has helped restore him to the good graces of the dance culture he had angered. "I made some records that I knew people in the dance music community would hate," he says. "Now I've made one that isn't a dance record, but has elements the dance community can embrace. And they have.

They've welcomed me back. That makes me happy." Deer Mountain Day Camp Your Child's Summer Home 63 Call Hollow Road. Pomona, NY 1 0970-2702 OPEN HOUSE Saturday, October 23rd 11AM -4PM (Rain date: Sunday, October 24th 11AM -4PM) EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT AVAILABLE By LARRY KATZ Entertainment News Service You expect unexpected moves from Moby. Just when he had emerged as America's great techno-pop hope, spindly, bald-headed Moby alienated his dance-loving fans and confounded the music industry by putting out a CD of harsh punk-flavored rock, 1996's "Animal Rights." He followed it the next year with another abrupt shift: "I Like to Score" was an album of atmospheric scores to movies both imaginary and real (notably a hit reworking of "The James Bond Theme from the "Tomorrow Never Dies" soundtrack.) But his latest and best release, "Play," grabs your attention with something you don't expect to hear from Moby: soul-stirring gospel and blues singing. That's because the best vocals on "Play" aren't by the thin-voiced Moby.

He borrowed them from dead and forgotten African-American singers from the Deep South. Which either makes Moby very smart or as some people have already accused one more white guy ripping off black culture. "I can understand how someone can make that case, because on the surface that's what it is," Moby, 33, says from his Manhattan home. "I'm taking African-American vocals that were recorded a long time ago, and I'm recontextualizing them and putting it out as my own work. But my motivation is really just a deep and respectful love of this source material.

I know that by doing this I've exposed more people to these original recordings. And I think that's exciting." The original recordings Moby appropriates are from "Sounds of the South," a treasury of field recordings collected by legendary musicologist, Alan Lomax, that -were released as a four-CD boxed set in 1993. "I wish I had a good story about how I discovered these recordings," says Moby, who grew up as Richard Hall in Darien, and is "Moby-Dick" author Herman Melville's great- great-grandnephew. "The mundane truth is that a friend loaned me 'Sounds of the I loved it I found some of these great a cappella Vocals, sampled them, and wrote songs aroundthem." What Moby wrought is startling. Powerful vocals by Bessie Jones, Boy Blue, the Shining Light Gospel Choir, and others are surrounded by Moby's propulsive modern arrangements.

If jarring at first, hearing these voices from the past forcefully thrust into the musical present becomes more engaging with every subsequent play. Moby doesn't just sample African-American voices on "Play." He sings several songs, too. He takes an old school rap by Spoon and the Treacherous 3 and fashions it into the CD's hip-hop-fueled single, "Bodyrock." He also weaves sweeping instrumentals reminiscent of his movie-score work throughout. Somehow it all 25 Landscaped Acres 6 Heated Pools for Dally Instruction 25 Indoor Bldgs Rec Hall 7 Tennis Courts Beach VolevbaD Strmt Hocksv Low Rooes Uaoic Zio Lina Clirrtoina Wall Arts Crafts Ceramics Cooking Sewing Rocketry Woodworking Photography Game Room Puppetry Radio Computers Nature Pioneering Ponies Golf Horseback Riding Music Drama Dance Special Events Bowling Roller Skating Lata Nights Towel Service Optional Camp Lunch Nursery Program Teen Travel Program CfT Program Experienced Staff 3:1 Camper To Staff Ratio Boy i Girls Ages 3 to 15 Supervised Air Conditioned Door to Door Transportation Mel, Rita Roberta Katz Owners Directors (914) 354-2727.