Moby: Play - The B Sides Vinyl 2LP

Collected rarities from the Play sessions on vinyl for the first time! According to Moby: “The B Sides is a collection of songs that weren't quite appropriate for Play, but that I still love enough to release as B-sides. Some of these songs might not be instantly accessible, but I (immodestly) think they are all quite special.” True, there are no huge collabs with Gwen Stefani here; this comp plays like a gentler, slightly more experimental run-through of the Play pedigree with fewer vocals and more atmosphere. It starts off with blues/gospel clap-a-long “Flower,” one of Moby’s biggest tunes of all time (which I actually thought was on Play until today). Once that’s out of the way, there’s actually some interesting stuff going on, suggesting an alternate timeline where Moby released this instead of Play and stayed underground: the 135 bpm pulsing trance / techno of “Running” recalls the old raver Moby, “Spirit” is a sunny slice of Hollywood soundtrack drum & bass, “Flying Over The Dateline” sounds like some vintage Artificial Intelligene-era Warp bliss. Or if you’re just sick and tired of “Porcelain” (shout out to A$AP Rocky and his embarrassingly shallow crates) check out the majestic “Summer” or “Sunspot.” Initially available only on CD; this is the first time the full album has ever been pressed on vinyl. 11 tracks total, spread over 4 sides of wax with printed inner sleeves, released by Moby’s own Little Idiot imprint.

• double vinyl pressing
• printed inner sleeves
• first time on vinyl
• music label: Little Idiot 2018

reviewed by big dumb man 06/2018