A veteran of so much more than just making music, Richard Melville Hall has reached the stage of his career where philanthropy is upper most on his list of important subjects; having auctioned off much of his old equipment for charity recently, monies raised from All Visible Objects will go to worthy causes as well.
In the two decades since the multi-million selling Play made him a peculiar star, Moby has been experimenting with everything from house to hardcore and this dexetrous ability to flit between genres is also the most obvious feature here, ravey opener Morningside rubbing shoulders with the more sophisticated Forever and a functional cover of Roxy Music’s My Only Love.
Some of the negative heat around All Visible Objects was the legitimacy of including of two pseudo protest songs, Rise Up In Love (Ecstacy, all-in-this-together vibes) and Power Is Taken, on the latter of which the Dead Kennedy’s D H Pelligro’s growls some street verses on direct action against the system. Whilst commentators gently mocked the naivety, in what feels like the decades that have transpired since the track was made, now every voice, no matter what the context, seems important.
This tendency towards good intentions is at a broader level All Visible Objects achilles heel. It’s a record on which Moby isn’t quite phoning it in, but retracing his steps constantly. This lack of cutting edge is perhaps understandable, but it means that filing it under anything other than non-essential would only be charity of a different kind.
You can read the full review here.
The Voice Of Unreason 