Moby – Hotel : Ambient – 3x LP Vinyl

Ten thousand early CD copies of Moby’s 2005 album Hotel were packaged with a bonus disc, Hotel: Ambient — an assemblage of restrained, atmospheric, and predominantly beatless tracks. Moby obtained the rights to that extra set and, in late 2014, wisely gave it a separate release as a digital download with three bonus tracks. A triple-vinyl edition was released a few months after that. The material, heavily inspired by Brian Eno’s early ambient releases — certain parts of Music for Airports and On Land, for instance — is among the producer’s best and most nuanced work. It evokes a mix of comfort and slight alienation, and is pleasurable whether placed in the background or heard through total immersion. The bonus cuts, including the gently swarming “May 4 Two” and a 16-minute version of the weightless and elegiac “Live Forever” are enhancements rather than completist lures.

A1 Swear 6:40
A2 Snowball 4:26
A3 Blue Paper 6:07
B4 Homeward Angel (Long) 10:57
B5 Chord Sounds 7:25
B6 Not Sensitive 3:10
C7 Lilly 3:54
C8 May 04 Two 8:11
C9 The Come Down 5:18
D10 Overlands 6:49
D11 Live Forever 7:15
D12 Aerial 5:48
E13 Spaired Long 7:51
E14 Live Forever (Long) 15:39