so, this new Moby best of...

[joethelion]

just really really left me scratching my head.

I mean - it doesn't make sense that literally there's only one track from his pre-"Play" years (God Moving Over the Face of the Waters)

sure, "feeling so real" is included, but it's the live bside version off of one of his more recent singles

even "Go" isn't the Woodtick mix, or even the version off of "I Like to Score" (which is, essentially how he plays the track live)

it just seems with each passing day, Moby moves one peg lower on my list of enjoyable electronic performers / bands

edit - tracklisting f/ moby's homepage
1. Natural Blues
2. Go 2006
3. Porcelain
4. We Are All Made of Stars
5. Dream About Me
6. New York, New York (featuring Debbie Harry)
7. In This World
8. South Side
9. Beautiful
10. Extreme Ways
11. Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?
12. In My Heart (new mix)
13. Honey
14. Lift Me Up
15. Feeling So Real (Live in London)
16. God Moving Over the Face of the Waters

[bryantm3]

yeah, and there's 6 different versions for 6 different countries. some will have a special version of 'Slipping Away' with Mylene Farmer, some will have a special 2006 version of Go, and some will have a song with some Spanish singer. the tracklisting besides those will also vary. in addition, he said there would be a bonus DVD with "all his music videos" after i petitioned him for years to release such a product, but now, on the best of website, there's this:

Another Amazing Competition
And speaking of free stuff, how about this?! From the week commencing 9th October, if you pop your copies of Play, 18 or Hotel into your computer, for the first time you will be able to access the videos made for each of those albums AND to get you all having a play around with this, anyone in the UK will GET THE CHANCE TO WIN A TRIP FOR 2 TO NEW YORK WHERE MOBY WILL PLAY A PRIVATE GIG IN HIS APARTMENT! What an amazing prize! There will be no more than 10 people in total at this very special evening. You will be joined by 8 other Moby fans from around the world as Moby not only plays a show just for the 10 of you, but he'll even be providing some food for you!

WHAT A BRILLIANT PRIZE!


which, first, doesn't make any sense. how can they make a CD play music videos if we already own it. also, we already have the videos in shitty MPEG format, what's the point? my point in petitioning him for a DVD was to get the videos in a good DVD format, and possibily, in surround sound. in addition, the contest details are very ambiguous and don't even tell you how to enter.


looks like the record company is having a free-for-all over something that really is not going to sell well at all, especially considering moby's last album didn't even go gold in the us.

[joethelion]

well - the prize itself sounds great...

but it totally sucks that it's only for UK fans (didn't actually notice that the first time I read it)

I figure, there must be some sort of tag that gets sent when you access the videos... just like how when you select "get cd track names" on iTunes. I feel that this was done with another band at some point...

well - Depeche Mode did it to access an 'exclusive' website where you could download rare remixes f/ them online... too bad it really didn't work, and in the end - they just made it a link from the main page, then abandoned the whole "special remix page" quickly thereafter

although - I do hope that the videos get released on dvd, but then at the same time -> there are some that are (at best) cheese fests... "Everytime You Touch Me" for example...

and I didn't know his last album didn't go gold in the US... that's kind of sad. But on the other hand - they did absolutely nothing to promote the album. I don't think there was even one single released here... (putting "Beautiful" as an early iTunes exclusive download doesn't count)

Moby's one of those artists that I wish I could get into the studio with... as he definitely makes great songs, but so often - they sound overly dry or need just the slightest bit of tweaking.

oh, and at least the trentemoller remix of "Go" is good (very good, in fact)


...ok - jsut as I was about to submit the reply, my download of the new version of "Slipping Away" just got done downloading...

let's just say... don't spend any money whatsoever on an import for this track

that is, unless you like ultra ultra ultra ultra ultra ultra ultra ultra ultra ultra ultra ultra cheesy trance with some French vocals thrown in, for no apparent reason. I mean... the album version of the track was fantastic.

oh, and on top of it - it's not even new music, I forget which mix it is (b/c I hated it) but it definitely was on the Moby Remixed cd that came with the Hotel dvd... just that this version has french vocals

[holden]

Well, this "best of" is obviously geared toward more recent Moby fans, those that discovered him with "Play" and might not be too interested in his earlier work, eclectic as it is. To be honest, i'd rather listen to this compilation rather than the "1993-1998" compilation, which includes a bunch of bland ambient bits.

I agree that Moby's output has seemed to drop a bit in quality in recent years, to the point where he's releasing whole albums of B-Sides (for Play and 18), 90% probably should have stayed unreleased. Take the bit on the 18 DVD about making a song in a half-hour. i don' doubt that Moby's a prolific and talented producer, but he might be a lil formulaic these days: simple hip hop beat, add three or four chord minor progression, add diva or blues sample vocal. "hotel", despite being a bit less electronic and more organic/rock, is still pretty bland. "beautiful' made about three showings on MTV and disappeared. Blame promotion or lack thereof, but also blame the fact that it's a blah song: "Come on baby, come on now, come on baby, come on now".

All that said, i have enjoyed seeing Moby live as he always soups up the tracks, even those from the past few albums that i'm not crazy about, and digs a lil deeper into his back catalog. i discovered Moby with his 1992 release (just called "Moby" on Instinct records) and have everything else by the guy, but maybe i've just outgrown him. Even his last "voodoo child" release, which was supposed to be underground dance music, didn't capture the magic of the dance music he used to produce.

holden

p.s. does the world need another "go" remix? there's a disc full of versions (like 16 if i recall) of the track with the "rare" CD, and by about halfway through, you start hating that song.

[crank]

Moby at this point is so stuck up his own arsewhole at this point that he's lost in there. After I heard the drivel that was 18 and then, beyond that, Hotel, I gave up. I listened to the tracks on Hotel probably once.

[jOHN rODRIGUEZ]

Hotel? What's that?

[Strangelet]

Well, this "best of" is obviously geared toward more recent Moby fans, those that discovered him with "Play" and might not be too interested in his earlier work, eclectic as it is. To be honest, i'd rather listen to this compilation rather than the "1993-1998" compilation, which includes a bunch of bland ambient bits.

Considering how many greatest hits albums there have been (I like to score, all the b side albums, extended "Play", best of, etc...), you'd imagine that pulling from newer work means you don't risk being redundant. (or making it that much further transparent you're trying to squeeze every dime out of every bleep and blues sample on your hard drive.)

For me what always enhanced the otherwise borderline simplistic music was a raw energy that I took to be born from a maverick mind, this punk veteran philosophy major with a penchant for sex, jesus, and animals. Album cover essays were not as fatuous, spotlight didn't show so many flaws.

Now I find him on a michael stipe level of annoying. So I'd argue that his slow decline in musical importance is on a intimate connection with his slow decline in being the moby I took him to be.

[BrotherLovesDub]

moby hasn't been important since the very early 90's. since then he's been a self-righteous little prick who makes very bland coffee table music.

[Eikman]

who is moby?

[BrotherLovesDub]

we should just call him by his last name: Dick. that would work out better for everyone.