Play

He may have been overtaken in the trendy stakes by the likes of Fatboy Slim and David Holmes - mainly due to a disastrous second album where he attempted to become a "serious" musician, man - but with Play, Moby is back to his best. In fact, it's as good as anything in the genre I've heard all year, including You've Come A Long Way Baby.

Moby's third album is part original compositions and part reworkings of old forgotten soul, swing, blues and gospel classics. The opening 'Honey' sees our hero take Bessie Jones' 'Sometimes' and drag it howling into the '90s; 'Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?' features soaring vocals from the Shining Light Gospel Choir; while 'Bodyrock' is a Beastie Boys-ish slice of in yer face, slapstick funk, with heavy sampling from 'Love Rap' by Spoony G and the Treacherous 3 (No, I have't a clue who they are either).

Of his non-sampled material, 'Machete' is a pumping dancefloor anthem, while the almost dub 'Porcelain' or the brilliant 'South Side' are more mellow affairs. The latter is edgy, urban dance noir, where you can almost see the neon glow, as Moby conjures up a Bladerunner-esque soundscape. Still, for all its futuristic tendencies, 'South Side' still contains a chorus as uplifting as Liverpool coming back from two down to draw with The Filth.

It doesn't always work, though: 'If Things Were Perfect' is a little too dreary for these ears while tracks like 'Rushing' and 'Everloving' seem unnecessary additions to what is already a long album.

With Play, though, Moby has proved that far from being merely an influence on the (admittedly talented) modern crop of dance gurus and remixers, he still has the skill and the temperament to challenge both his contemporaries and his listeners. And unlike some of his peers, this musical chameleon hops into bed with so many different genres that he never sounds boring.