Moby has long been a musical wanderer, lurching from vegan punk rock to earworm sample-heavy electronic pop to techno. This is reflected in his diverse selection for his Baker’s Dozen albums list, which includes music that seems united by certain common themes – refusal to compromise, genre crushing, a progressive outlook, and in a fair few cases, a passion for the sonic landscape of New York. Moby at first insists that his list is "subject to change, and I tried to pretend that someone’s holding a gun to my head, that made it easier." Halfway through, though, he changes his tune. "By the way, talking about these records from childhood, it’s so much fun, because every record we talk about I sort of get to re-live in my head."
Moby made his selection by bringing into play certain rules. "I gave myself time limits, I tried to pick records that influenced me in my teens," he explains. "If the criteria had been much broader, like my 13 favourite records of all time regardless of genre, that would have been more challenging, but I gave myself slightly more limited criteria. These are the ones that I couldn’t imagine making music today without having been inspired by them."
Click the image of Moby below to begin the Baker’s Dozen countdown of his favourite albums, which includes hunting down obscure Bunnymen side projects, and having tea and playing guitar with David Bowie.
