In My Room: Drawing meaning from my record collection ... with artist commentary.
(The second in an occasional series)
MOBY
Albums released: Nine (plus six compilations)
Latest: "Hotel" (V2)
Act’s CDs in my collection: Five (includes one compilation)
Vinyl: 0
Digital Only:Two
Overlap: 0
Favorites: "Play" (1999) and "Everything is Wrong" (1995). "Wrong" got me hooked; his live shows at the time were mesmerizing despite the fact that the dance crowd only wanted faceless performers; and "Play" was about as good it got in terms of inventive sampling.

Moby has returned to DJ'ing, hosting a monthly event called Degenerates at the Hiro Ballroom with the latest one taking place Thursday (Nov. 15).
"Slowly I have to come to admit that I don't like touring," says Moby, who has finished his next album, which Mute will release in March. "DJ'ing provides an instant connection with the people and it give me an opportunity to to play more dance music."
Dance music seemed to be a thing of the past for Moby. He transcended the genre with "Everything is Wrong" and then appeared to get wrapped up in dogma; suddenly he was friendly face of hard beats, androgyny and veganism.
He was bold enough, as a live performer, to embrace a punk mentality - anyone who saw him play "Sweet Home Alabama" on guitar won't likely forget it - and discard the locked-in nature of his recordings.
Then cane "Play."
"When that was released, I was a has-been," he notes,"even though it was the first release of mine to really sell. I was surprised as time went on, that the story about how every track was licensed became 'every track was licensed to a commercial.' Eighty percent of the licenses were to indie films. Most of play went to movies with only a small percentage to TV shows and advertising."
His favorite usage out of placements in nearly 70 released films?
One of the first: Michael Mann's "Heat." His "God Moving Over the Face of the Waters," a track from "Everything is Wrong," plays over the climax of the movie and the credits. "Of all of them, that's what I'm most proud of," says the former film student.