Moby Songs 1993-1998

Personnel: Moby (guitars, keyboards, bass guitar, drums); Nicole Zaray, Myim Rose, Kochie Banton (vocals).

Five years may not seem like such a long time, but in the career of electronica innovator Moby, it's time enough to have traversed a wide range of styles, as documented on this anthology. The various facets of the eclectic Moby's vision are explored here, from the straight-up club beats of "Go" to the elegant, balladic strains of "Into the Blue," where former Hugo Largo chanteuse Mimi Goese lends a hand.

Moby gets '70s retro-funky, complete with wah-wah guitar, on "I Like to Score," while semi-classical piano ostinatos and orchestral washes set the tone for the regal "Hymn." Breathless breakbeats propel the highly danceable "Feeling so Real," and the influence of Philip Glass-style minimalism is felt strongly on "God Moving Over the Face Of the Waters." What becomes apparent over the course of MOBYSONGS is that whether Moby is delving into techno, ambient, funk, or anything else, it's his distinctive structural sensibilities that provide a common thread.