Chrome-domed Moby has ditched his signature style for stripped-down art of the music and culinary kind.
This week he has both a CD (“Hotel,” V2, 2 ½ Stars) and a cookbook (“Teany Book,” Studio, 3 Stars) out, showcasing his interest in versatile beats and vegan food.
On the album, the studio whiz is flying without samples for the first time in his musical career.
That’s good and bad for the hometown vegan. “Hotel” is just OK – a little repetitive and lacking the pop punch of “Play.” After 2002’s downhearted “18,” many expected this disc to be Moby’s big comeback masterpiece. It isn’t.
But it isn’t a bad record either. A more focused album may have delivered the kind of greatness that could have launched Moby from cult hero to superstar. Yet his safe, nothing-too-radical approach will satisfy most fans and earn him a wider pop following with radio play.
The songs range from uplifting anthems like “Raining Again,” and “Beautiful” to mush-mouthed ballads including “Love Should,” and “Forever.” After listening to these and the final instrumental track “Homeward Angel,” you’d swear his name was really Mopey, not Moby.
Of all the music on this diverse album, it’s the dance track “Very” that stands above the rest. That’s probably because Moby stays truest to himself – with a goal to make people shake, not buy records.
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“Teany Book,” Moby and Kelly Tisdale’s book about their Lower East Side café, is a lovely journey into the “stories, food, romance and, of course, tea” of “teany.”
Like the cafe, it’s a little cutesy (particularly Tisdale’s and Moby’s opening dedication), but the mix of tales of tea, a dubious history of the Lower East Side, the origins of the teany concept and the recipes (as well as health tips) will leave readers with a sweet, homey feel – and inspire them to brew a strong cup and start chopping vegetables.
Readers may benefit from “dr. moby’s” homemade tea-based mouthwash or hangover cure (water, aspirin, juice, tea and salty, rich, healthy food like teany’s cashew butter sandwich) or “lovely kelly’s” tea-based facial steam.
There are various playlists scattered throughout (a chill morning set includes Brian Eno, Billie Holiday and Yo La Tengo), as well as an explanation about why the only rule at teany is no Moby music (because it makes him feel self-conscious).
But beyond those inviting chapters, the book’s gems lie in the recipes for food and cold drinks such as lavender lemonade and peach tea milkshakes.
It includes very doable recipes for any apartment dweller, including sandwiches and a killer rich and creamy vodka sauce, made with tofu instead of heavy cream.