When we started this Moby deep dive, the goal was never to cherry-pick moments or rush toward the obvious destination. It was about context — understanding how an artist gets from the underground to the center of the cultural conversation without losing the thread of who they are. Episode 1335 is where that journey pivots.

Yes, I know we played Play in full a couple weeks ago. And yes, it absolutely deserved that spotlight. But there was never a version of this deep dive where Play didn’t appear again. You can’t tell Moby’s story honestly without placing it exactly where it belongs in the timeline — not as a greatest-hits victory lap, but as the moment where everything he’d been building toward finally locked into focus.

Play wasn’t an accident. It wasn’t a fluke. It was the result of years of experimentation, failures, sharp turns, and deliberate discomfort. The gospel samples, the melancholy, the restraint, the patience — all of it traces directly back to the ambient work, the rave culture, the punk instincts, and the constant refusal to stay put. In this context, Play doesn’t feel inevitable — it feels earned.

From there, this episode moves forward through 18 and into Hotel, documenting what happens after success arrives and refuses to leave quietly. Instead of retreating or repeating himself, Moby widened the frame. 18 expands the emotional palette with collaborators, pop structures, and a sense of reflection that feels older, heavier, and more self-aware. It’s a record about aftermath — about standing in the quiet after the noise and deciding what still matters.

Hotel takes that inward turn even further. It’s introspective, nocturnal, sometimes claustrophobic, sometimes beautiful. The dance floor is still there, but it’s dimly lit now, filtered through memory and exhaustion. Long-form ambient pieces sit beside concise songs, creating a space that feels less like a collection of tracks and more like a place you pass through alone. This is Moby processing the weight of visibility, expectation, and the cost of being heard everywhere at once.

What connects all of this — from Play through Hotel — is intention. Even at his most accessible, Moby never stops pushing against the edges of comfort. He doesn’t chase relevance. He interrogates it. That’s why these records still hold up. They weren’t designed to dominate a moment; they were built to survive one.

Episode 1335 isn’t a conclusion. It’s the midpoint where the arc bends, where success reshapes the question instead of answering it. We’ll keep going — there’s still more ground to cover, more reinvention ahead — but this chapter is essential. Without it, the rest of the story doesn’t make sense.

This is Part Two. And the spiral continues.

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Hour 1

Artist – Song – Time – Album – Label – Year

Moby – Bodyrock – 03:36 – Play – Mute – 1999

Moby – Honey – 03:28 – Play – Mute – 1999

Moby – Find My Baby – 03:59 – Play – Mute – 1999

Moby – Porcelain – 04:01 – Play – Mute – 1999

Moby – Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad? – 04:24 – Play – Mute – 1999

Moby – Rushing – 03:00 – Play – Mute – 1999

Moby – Natural Blues – 04:13 – Play – Mute – 1999

Moby – Machete – 03:37 – Play – Mute – 1999

Moby – 7 – 01:02 – Play – Mute – 1999

Moby – Run On – 03:45 – Play – Mute – 1999

Moby – Down Slow – 01:34 – Play – Mute – 1999

Moby – If Things Were Perfect – 04:18 – Play – Mute – 1999

Moby – Everloving – 03:25 – Play – Mute – 1999

Moby – Inside – 04:48 – Play – Mute – 1999

Moby – Guitar, Flute & String – 02:09 – Play – Mute – 1999

Moby – The Sky Is Broken – 04:18 – Play – Mute – 1999

Moby – My Weakness – 03:37 – Play – Mute – 1999

Moby – South Side – 03:49 – Play – Mute – 2000

Hour 2

Artist – Song – Time – Album – Label – Year

Moby – We Are All Made of Stars – 04:33 – 18 – Mute – 2002

Moby – In This World – 04:02 – 18 – Mute – 2002

Moby – In My Heart – 04:36 – 18 – Mute – 2002

Moby – Great Escape – 02:08 – 18 – Mute – 2002

Moby – Signs of Love – 04:26 – 18 – Mute – 2002

Moby – One of These Mornings – 03:12 – 18 – Mute – 2002

Moby – Another Woman – 03:56 – 18 – Mute – 2002

Moby – Fireworks – 02:13 – 18 – Mute – 2002

Moby – Extreme Ways – 03:57 – 18 – Mute – 2002

Moby – Jam for the Ladies – 03:22 – 18 – Mute – 2002

Moby – Sunday (The Day Before My Birthday) – 05:09 – 18 – Mute – 2002

Moby – 18 – 04:28 – 18 – Mute – 2002

Moby – Sleep Alone – 04:45 – 18 – Mute – 2002

Moby – At Least We Tried – 04:08 – 18 – Mute – 2002

Moby – Harbour – 06:27 – 18 – Mute – 2002

Moby – Look Back In – 02:20 – 18 – Mute – 2002

Moby – The Rafters – 03:22 – 18 – Mute – 2002

Moby – I’m Not Worried at All – 04:13 – 18 – Mute – 2002

Hour 3

Artist – Song – Time – Album – Label – Year

Moby – Hotel Intro – 01:55 – Hotel – Mute – 2005

Moby – Raining Again – 03:46 – Hotel – Mute – 2005

Moby – Beautiful – 03:11 – Hotel – Mute – 2005

Moby – Lift Me Up – 03:19 – Hotel – Mute – 2005

Moby – Where You End – 03:22 – Hotel – Mute – 2005

Moby – Temptation – 04:55 – Hotel – Mute – 2005

Moby – Spiders – 03:45 – Hotel – Mute – 2005

Moby – Dream About Me – 03:21 – Hotel – Mute – 2005

Moby – Very – 03:42 – Hotel – Mute – 2005

Moby – I Like It – 03:46 – Hotel – Mute – 2005

Moby – Love Should – 03:51 – Hotel – Mute – 2005

Moby – Slipping Away – 03:39 – Hotel – Mute – 2005

Moby – Forever – 03:39 – Hotel – Mute – 2005

Moby – Homeward Angel – 05:50 – Hotel – Mute – 2005

Moby – 35 Minutes – 05:20 – Hotel – Mute – 2005

Moby – Swear – 06:41 – Hotel – Mute – 2005

Moby – Snowball – 04:25 – Hotel – Mute – 2005

Moby – Blue Paper – 06:07 – Hotel – Mute – 2005

Moby – Homeward Angel (Long) – 10:57 – Hotel – Mute – 2005 [fade out]

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Rolling with Scissors airs live every Tuesday from 2–5 AM on 89.9 FM in Madison and streams at wortfm.org. Missed it? You can catch the episode for two weeks after broadcast at archive.wortfm.org or at rwsradio.com.

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