Tuesday, 12 July 2022

Somewhere Around

I've got a few Moby mixtapes in the cassette compilation archive. However, instead of one of those, here's a brand new selection of lesser known (and admittedly lesser played) tracks and versions, spanning 1992 to 2011. 

There's a track apiece from Moby's debut self-titled album (repackaged and recompiled in 1993 as The Story So Far) and follow-up, Ambient. "Thrash metal" album Animal Rights included some much calmer moments, represented here by Living, and initial quantities came with a bonus CD of ambient pieces, Little Idiot, the track Old opening today’s selection.

The beats pick up with Sandpaper, from 2011's underrated Destroyed album, then moves up another gear with Oil 1, which featured in slightly longer form in the 1997 film remake of The Saint, starring Val Kilmer. I remember the soundtrack, but I have completely forgotten the film.

The selection closes with two of Moby's hits, albeit in slightly different versions. First off is his own remix (as Voodoo Child) of Twin Peaks-sampling breakthrough hit, Go. The version here is an edit from Go: The Collected Mixes, fourteen (!) variations of Go in a single, one-hour mix, which was packaged in 1996 as a bonus CD with cash-in compilation Rare: The Collected B-Sides. 
 
Lastly, the "audition version" of the third of seven (!!) singles from the ubiquitous 1999 album Play. I love Bodyrock, which is built around a sample of Love Rap by Spoonie Gee and the Treacherous Three and a guitar line apparently inspired by What We All Want" by Gang of Four. Whilst the parent album will set you back a whopping 25p on Discogs these days, in the early 2000s I also picked up the DVD Play: The Videos for peanuts online. The multiple versions of Bodyrock are fun to watch and the audition version is hilarious, featuring a cast of, let's face it, middle-aged Dad dancers who may not have had "it" in the first place, let alone lost "it". However, the video also served by introducing the world to the unique talents of Phizzo Jobson.

The video for Bodyrock that I originally saw on TV back in 1999 ended up looking quite different.

On reflection, even back in the day, whilst I thought I had the moves of the dancer in the second video, to friends and fellow clubbers, I suspect I bore more resemblance to the motley crew in the audition version.
 
1) Old (1996) 
2) Sandpaper (2011)
3) Oil 1 ('I Like To Score' Version) (1997)
4) Stream (1992)
5) 80 (1993)
6) I Like To Score (1997)
7) Another Woman (Album Version) (2002)
8) Nearer (2003)
9) Living (1996)
10) Go (Voodoo Child Mix) (DJ Edit) (1991)
11) Bodyrock (Audition Version) (1999)

1992: Moby: 4
1993: Ambient: 5
1996: Animal Rights: 9
1996: Animal Rights / Little Idiot (Limited Edition): 1
1996: Rare: The Collected B-Sides (1989-1993) / Go: The Collected Mixes (Limited Edition): 10
1997: I Like To Score: 3, 6 
2001: Play: The Videos: 11
2002: 18: 7
2003: 18: DVD + B-Sides: 8
2011: Destroyed (Deluxe Edition): 2
 

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