A map to Moby's music using Play as your compass
Written: Jan 07 '01 (Updated Mar 11 '01)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Fabulous intro to Moby's music
Cons: It only contains 18 of the hundreds of Moby tracks available :)
The Bottom Line: An album that speaks to all and screams to some. This album may be the first you have heard of moby, but it won't be the last.
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| sadida's Full Review: Play by Moby |
This opinion is a little bit different. It isn't so much about Play. It is more about what Play is similar to. I don't think I need to tell you to buy Play if you don't already have it. There are a few dozen opinions already telling you to do that.
For many, Play is the first experience with Moby's music. If this is true of you, and you want to hear more by the man, read on. In this review I will attempt to point you towards some other Moby songs that you may like, based on which tracks you liked off of Play.
Honey - The vocals in Honey are from a song called "Sometimes", sung by Bessie Jones which can be found on a 4CD set named "Sounds of the South". The story behind these southern style vocals is quite long and I won't go into it here. However, "Flower" on the Gone in 60 seconds soundtrack, and also on the V2 records release of Play with added B Sides bonus disc (63881-27085-2) also uses similar vocals. You may also notice old vocals used in other songs on Play. Many of these can be found on that 4CD set mentioned above.
Find my Baby - If you like this one, look no further than Moby's Reversion of the "James Bond Theme". It is a little quicker than Find my Baby but contains similar helpings of driving bass and guitar.
Porcelain - If you enjoy Porcelain's mood and think it would be even better if you could dance to it in a club, check out Mute records import single (LCDMute252). Unfortunately, there isn't a US release of the Porcelain single. Also, a disc that might be a little harder to find, but definitely worth it, is the Mute Records "Into the Blue Remixes" (LCDMUTE179). Into the Blue is a beautiful song off of Moby's essential "Everything is Wrong" from 1995. The "Summer Wind Mix" of Into the Blue will be well appreciated by any Porcelain fan.
Why does my heart feel so bad? [WDMHFSB]- This is one of my favorite tracks off of Play. If you haven't seen the video for this amazing song, track down the Mute Records single release (CDMUTE230). Track 4 on the single is the video for the song. The video is a magical journey of some characters that Moby uses for cover art and autographs. The animation wasn't actually done by Moby, but the animation holds very true to Moby's original sketches. The video makes you feel sad in parts,
and definitely adds a new depth to the song. If you like Trance and you like WDMHFSB, don't delay in finding the Mute Records remix disc (LCDMUTE230). ATB manages to completely flip the tone of the song
into something uplifting and the Ferry Corsten and Subsonic Legacy Remixes
can keep any dance floor pumping.
Finally, check out the track "Shining". You can get it on the Elektra release "Disk"(61838-2). It will tear at your heart just like WDMHFSB.
Disk is a very interesting release by Moby. It is actually a combination CD. It has 3 CD-Audio tracks and the rest of the disc is full of interactive CD-ROM material that you play in your computer. That might not seem like a big deal today, but the CD was released in 1995.
South side - You may have already heard the version of South side with Gwen Stefani on the radio. If not, the V2 single should be easy to find in your local record shop. According to Moby, Gwen recorded this song with him before Play even came out. Unfortunately, Moby didn't have the time to properly engineer the track and found that his solo version was more pleasing to him. Lucky for us, Play has become quite a success and the version with Gwen has finally seen the light of day. Some Moby diehards don't care for Gwen's vocals competing against Moby's, but I actually think it adds to the song, and the song's background elements have been reworked a bit. I personally think it is worth you $4.50 to obtain a copy.
Now a bit of history...Moby actually grew up playing a lot of punk music. Most of the music released by Moby has been electronic dance music, but in 1997 Moby released a heavily punk influenced album called "Animal Rights". "Animal Rights" is an amazing album, but it wasn't expected by Moby fans when it was released.
If you listen to some of the tracks on "Play", you can hear a hint of "Animal Rights" in there. If you like South side, "That's when I reach for my revolver" should be your first entry to "Animal Rights". You can find it on the Elektra release of Animal Rights (62031-2) or try and find one of the many TWIRFMR singles. I prefer the 6-track Elektra release (7559639652) which contains some nice mixes by Moby himself and Rollo and Sister Bliss. It also contains Moby's cover of the old Devo song, "Whip it".
Rushing - Rushing is a good example of the quiet tracks that Moby makes. You can find lots more of these on the B Sides disc to Play. You should also keep an eye out for Voodoo Child's "End of Everything". Voodoo Child is one of Moby's aliases that he releases music under. See later in this review for a discussion of a few other Moby aliases. Moby has said many times that "End of Everything" is one of his favorite albums. This album is great for relaxing, whether it be in the car or getting ready for bed. It's also a great chill out album to listen to on the way home from a Moby concert :)
Bodyrock - If Bodyrock gets you moving, you may want to check out the "Come on Baby" single on Mute (XCDMUTE200). The Eskimos & Egypt mix should satisfy a craving for something along the lines of Bodyrock. That single is also full of gems such as the Crystal Method mix and 2 live tracks.
Natural Blues - Natural blues is a bit unique and hard to compare with past Moby works. The Natural Blue remixes
are a natural choice, but even though I like them, I'm not sure they preserve the flavor of Natural Blues. It may be a bit of a jump, but if you like Natural Blues, I would suggest Moby's "Hymn". "Hymn" is an older Moby track (1994), but still remains in my top 10 favorite tracks. If you can find it, pick up the Mute single (CDMUTE161).
Machete - It's a bit of a stretch, but I'm going to point you to "UHF3" if you like Machete. I have a feeling I may be way off on this one, but Machete is a hard song to match. UHF3 is most easily obtained on the Instinct Records release, "Early Underground" (EX250-2).
7 - Moby's Everything is Wrong also includes short interval type songs like 7, but I'm going to ignore that and tell you to get the "Everything is Wrong - DJ Mix Album, Mixed and Remixed" on Mute Records (XLCDSTUMM130). I don't care if you like DJ mixes or not, if you like Moby, you need this 2CD set. Be prepared for a long search or a high bid on eBay though, because this title is out of print and a highly collected Moby disc.
Run on - Run on, along with Honey and a few others on Play are new territory for Moby. He, and no one else for that matter, hadn't really done anything like that before. One suggestion would be to find the double single from V2 records (63881-27583-2). It contains mixes from both the Run on and Honey singles. 8 tracks in all.
Down slow - Ahh, the soothing sounds of Down slow. First off, there is a full length version of Down Slow on the Mute "Run On Extended" CD (LCDMUTE221). It is a full 6 minute version. Compare that with the 1:30 version included on Play. "Gentle Love", track 3 on The End of Everything is similar to Down slow as well. In fact, the whole End of Everything album fits well with Down slow. If you like Down slow, or any of the other soft Moby songs, you must have The End of Everything.
If things were perfect - I've said it before and I'll say it again, get the V2 records release of Play with added B Sides bonus disc (63881-27085-2).
All you have to do is convince a friend to buy Play and then split the cost of the two disc set with them. That way you get the marvelous B Side collection and they get the priviledge of owning Play!
Everloving - If you like Everloving, check out "living" from Animal Rights. It too has the slow drum beat and guitar. Don't be scared off by the punk songs on Animal Rights. It sounds odd at first, but the slower songs actually mesh very well with the punk to create a surprising cohesive album.
Inside - Inside seems as though is was made from different parts of the End of Everything [EOE] album. In fact if you slow down "Great Lake" off of EOE, it's hard to believe you aren't listening to Inside. EOE is an album full of music like Inside. It is a very beautiful album.
Check out track 4, "J Breas", of the Instinct Records release, Ambient (EX-253-2). Ambient seems to be one of the lesser known Moby works. Take note, most tracks on this album are very quiet and many contain no beats at all. I see this as a positive. It's truly amazing to see the range of music that Moby produces.
Guitar flute & string - Look to EOE's "Slow Motion Suicide" for some more guitar, flute, and string. "Slow Motion Suicide" is over 7 minutes long too, so you get to really fell smooth with the world.
The sky is broken - This recommendation is sort of fun. On the Elektra release of "Everytime you Touch Me" is a track called "The Blue Light of the Underwater Sun". The first couple of minutes of it are a bit like The sky is broken. It has Moby speaking over a very smooth track. After that is a bit of a surprise. I won't ruin it, but I will say that the track takes on a bit of a harder feel :) Moby uses the vocals in The Blue Light of the Underwater Sun to voice a few of his environmental friendly comments. You'll find that Moby is quite opinionated, and I like that :)
My weakness - And finally, if you like My weakness, do your best to find the Elektra release of Animal Rights. On this disc is a song called "a season in hell" which seems to be an earlier version of My weakness. My weakness contains more elements, but the string section in both songs is very similar.
I mentioned earlier that Moby releases music under other names. If you want to fill out your Moby collection, look for the following names. There are others, but these are a good start :)
* Voodoo Child
* DJ Cake
Well, there it is. I hope I can help at least one person discover the amazing library of Moby music that is out there. If you have suggestions other than the suggestions I made here, feel free to post a comment and let us all know.
Ohh, and one last thing, you won't understand the song "Thousand" until you see Moby perform it live :)
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
sadida
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Member: Ryan
Location: USA
Reviews written: 41
Trusted by: 13 members
About Me:
Simplicity is complexity well explained
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