Moby

Although several tracks are based on field recordings made by folklorist Alan Lomax in the early 1900s, one cannot overlook Moby's daring and brilliant success with Play (1999). Abandoning (thankfully) his brief flirtation with alternative rock, he turned to gospel and blues, coming away with a fresh sound and vocal highlights that put him in the pop spotlight.

Since he put New York on the techno map with the seminal 1990 trance track "Go," Moby
has gone on to become a decent punk rocker, a virtuous ambient doodler and an even
better soundtrack composer. But his calling remains convention-twisting, explosively
emotive dance music. With Play, electronica's outspoken icon bounces back to make the
true successor to his club-centered 1995 landmark, Everything Is Wrong. Where... More >

I doubt the hyperactive little imp sat down and "composed" here. There are no reports he even strove to unify à la DJ Shadow. And Endtroducing . . . is the reference point nevertheless. It's because Moby still loves song form that he elects to sample Alan Lomax field recordings rather than garage-sale instrumental and spoken-word LPs. But though the blues and gospel and more gospel testify not just for song but for body and spirit, they wouldn't shout anywhere near as loud and clear without the mastermind's ministrations--his grooves, his pacing, his textures, his harmonies, sometimes his tunes, and mostly his grooves, which honor not just dance music but the entire rock tradition it's part of. Although the futurist's dream of Blind Willie Johnson that opens this complete work was some kind of hit in England, here it'll be strictly for aesthetes. We've earned it. (Grade - A+)