Voodoo Child

Richard Melville Hall has periodically revived the Voodoo Child pseudonym for Moby releases that favor straight-ahead techno over his more typical blend of global influences. The alias surfaced initially with the 1991 Voodoo Child 12-inch single, whose cuts were later included on the Instinct Dance Compilation issued under Moby's primary name. Two extended dancefloor pieces filled the 1994 Demons/Horses 12-inch, each running twenty minutes. The Higher single arrived the next year and delivered a deep, throbbing house sound. The alias's first album, 1996's The End of Everything, moved in a different direction, presenting spacious and melodic trance instead of forceful beats and spotlighting the track Dog Heaven. Its tardy American pressing listed both Voodoo Child and Moby on the cover in an effort to reach Hall's expanding audience beyond dedicated dance listeners. Several years of inactivity followed before the name returned in 2003 for the 12-inch singles Take It Home/Strings and Light Is in Your Eyes/Electronics, born from a wish to revisit the club styles of Hall's earliest work. Baby Monkey, the full-length that appeared in 2004, carried the same unapologetically retro atmosphere forward.