Moby Ambient

Moby's most unified and understated album, and all the better for it, Wait for Me is a morose set of elegantly bleary material, quite a shift from the hedonistic club tracks of Last Night. Dominated by instrumentals, "Shot in the Back of the Head" is the most evocative of the bunch, seemingly pulled from an unreleased David Lynch film scored by the Afghan Whigs circa Gentlemen - a lament from a dustbowl, full of mournful slide guitar and dewy electric piano. Other than "Mistake" - a glum neo-post-punk rave-up that, despite its cathartic release, remains downcast - Moby leaves the vocals to a series of women (neighborhood chums, apparently) who each contribute to one song. The smoky 3-a.m. gospel whispers from throwback soul singer Leela James on "Walk with Me" steal the show.

Long Ambients 2 is the sixteenth studio album by American electronic musician, songwriter, and producer Moby, released on March 15, 2019. It is the sequel to his previous ambient album, Long Ambients 1: Calm. Sleep. (2016). He had struggled to find music that helped him sleep better, so he decided to compose himself. He intended the music to also help people calm down, reduce anxiety, and aid in their own sleep issues.

Go: The Very Best of Moby is not the career-spanning compilation implied by its title. Instead, it's based around 1999's Play, 2002's 18, and 2005's Hotel. With the exception of Everything Is Wrong's ambient epic "God Moving Over the Face of the Waters," Anders Trentemøller's fresh mix of "Go," and a rough-sounding live version of "Feeling So Real," nothing here references Moby's output prior to Play. The one new track, "New York, New York," is a fun Giorgio Moroder-inspired throwaway featuring Debbie Harry.

Go: The Very Best of Moby is not the career-spanning compilation implied by its title. Instead, it's based around 1999's Play, 2002's 18, and 2005's Hotel. With the exception of Everything Is Wrong's ambient epic "God Moving Over the Face of the Waters," Anders Trentemøller's fresh mix of "Go," and a rough-sounding live version of "Feeling So Real," nothing here references Moby's output prior to Play. The one new track, "New York, New York," is a fun Giorgio Moroder-inspired throwaway featuring Debbie Harry.

Co-credited to the Void Pacific Choir - a name derived from a D.H. Lawrence quote - These Systems Are Failing is only slightly more collaborative than Moby's solitary ambient work, and its effect is the opposite of that. Fully energized and tightly concentrated, the producer's first studio album in three years is a concise and infrequently relenting set of songs that rail against those who have caused emotional and planetary harm. Moby revisits his punk and post-punk roots with a needling attack. Battering programmed drums, searing synthesizers, and torrents of rhythm guitar serve as prodding backdrops for his belting, often multi-tracked vocals. (The actual choir, a seven-member group including Moby, appears on two songs.) All the chanted choruses and seething verses over riotous rhythms evoke an apocalyptic glam-punk protest of sorts…