Moby: Reprise Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		4.5

Moby: Reprise Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 15, 2021

Some older listeners may recall when the venerable German label Deutsche Grammophon was the refuge of the hoitiest of toities (to coin a phrase which would not have met muster with either artists signed to the label, nor most likely with the audiences buying their albums). But the label long associated with the likes of Herbert von Karajan and/or Ludwig van Beethoven has actually had a rather long history of promoting more avant garde types, and that tradition continues with this really interesting release from Moby, which combines both a CD and audio Blu-ray of Moby's Reprise album, along with Moby Doc, the recent feature length retrospective that actually managed to screen theatrically despite a certain global health crisis.

Sometimes even a dunderheaded critic can, like a broken clock, be right at least twice a day. I'm not sure what the "other" time was, but as I listened to Reprise for the first time, my first thought was, "this has a real Bryan Ferry feel to it," and then was somewhat gobsmacked in doing background research in preparation for writing this review when I stumbled across some online data suggesting that a concert Moby participated in with Bryan Ferry precipitated this project. This is yet another example of an "unexpected" genre musician (whatever genre Moby's eclectic music might be deemed to be pigeonholed into) doing "new, improved" versions of material, now with an added orchestra, but this effort is surprisingly organic sounding, at times haunting and at least occasionally rather gorgeous.

Moby Doc is a kind of, well, Moby-esque reimagining of a "traditional" biographical feature on an artist, if for no other reason than Moby himself did at least some of the filming, and he is a presence as a rather fun and funny narrator. While background information and a basic chronology are offered, it's the documentary's freewheeling visual style which may invite the most attention.

Reprise contains the following tracks:

1. Everloving
2. Natural Blues
3. Go
4. Porcelain
5. Extreme Ways
6. Heroes
7. God Moving Over the Face of the Waters
8. Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?
9. The Lonely Night
10. We Are All Made of Stars
11. Lift Me Up
12. The Great Escape
13. Almost Home
14. The Last Day
15. Porcelain (Acoustic Version)
16. New Dawn Faces (Acoustic Version

Moby: Reprise Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Moby: Reprise is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Deutsche Grammophon with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer (for Moby Doc, the main video offering on the disc), though trying to ascertain a consistent aspect ratio might prove to be a challenge for even someone like Wes Anderson (and, yes, that's a joke). A huge variety of cameras was utilized to capture the imagery, including evidently Moby's own phone and some arguably lesser cameras (when compared to an Arri or Red, anyway) like Canons. The result has an unavoidably heterogeneous appearance, not to mention a veritable grab bag of aspect ratios (as can be seen in the screenshots accompanying this review), but the imagery is typically very sharp and at times almost breathtakingly well detailed. The palette for the "naturalistic" moments does in fact look natural, but as fans of Moby may be expecting, there are a number of near hallucinogenic scenes in the doc that introduce more of a psychedelic flair to the proceedings. Some of the other video on the disc is interlaced.

Moby: Reprise Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Moby: Reprise (the album) features LPCM 2.0 48/24, DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 48/24 and Dolby Atmos tracks, and you simply can't go wrong with any of them. If the "vertical" element of the Atmos track isn't especially evident, it provides sterling fidelity that offers superb support for both the acoustic aspects like the almost folk tinged opening of Everloving, as well as some of the more florid orchestral moments that are part of these arrangements. Vocals are nicely mixed and typically prioritized smartly. Some vocals, like Gregory Porter and Amythyst Kiah on Natural Blues, reverberate with incredible force, as does the entire low end on that particular tune. The Moby Doc, which features its own glut of tunes, has an LPCM 2.0 track which is obviously not as immersive as the actual album, but which sounds great within its more limited context. The documentary features optional subtitles in a number of languages (see our specs above).

Moby: Reprise Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Determining what exactly is a "supplement" on this release may be a matter of personal opinion, but listed below is everything that is not the album Reprise.

• Moby Doc (HD: 1:31:59)


• Making Of offers Moby giving background information on the following songs:

  Porcelain (HD; 8:37)

  
  

  The Lonely Night (HD; 9:03)

  
  

  Natural Blues (HD; 8:45)

  
  

  God Moving Over the Face of the Waters (HD; 6:45)

  
  

  Heroes (HD; 7:59)

  
  

  Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad? (HD; 7:12)

• Behind the Scenes (HD; 8:22) presents a live performance of Natural Blues.


• Music Videos (HD; 11:53) presents the Reprise Versions of the following:

  Natural Blues

  
  

  Extreme Ways

  
  

  Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?

Additionally a CD of Reprise is included. The DigiPack includes some fun photos of Moby, along with an insert booklet that features more stills, an "essay" of sorts (hey, it's Moby, what did you expect?), a track listing and other technical information.

Moby: Reprise Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

This is another audacious effort from the often surprising Moby. Musically, it's actually kind of reserved at times, with an almost stately quality resulting from the additional of larger orchestral forces. The Moby Doc is another animal entirely, filled with visions but a rather knowing and dare I say reliable narrator at the center of it all in the form of Moby himself. This is a really worthwhile package that even those not overly acquainted with Moby may well appreciate. Technical merits are solid, and Moby: Reprise comes Highly recommended.