BEVERLY HILLS, California -- There must be something in all

those books he owns about balancing superstar projects with street

credibility.

After producing "Early Mornin' " for Britney Spears' In the Zone, Moby is dropping an underground techno record under an alias.

As Voodoo Child, a moniker he used during the mid-'90s, the dance-music

maestro is releasing Baby Monkey on January 27. "It was fun making a record without having to worry about any commercial pressure," Moby said recently. "I don't expect it to sell anything. There aren't any singles, and we aren't going to make any

videos. No promotion, just a nice dance record."

The idea to revive Voodoo Child came during the year and a half Moby

was touring behind 2002's 18 (see [article id="1459759"]"Moby Congratulates Eminem,

Makes Aliens Drunk And Fat"[/article]), a more commercial follow-up to his break-out album, Play.

"We went to after-show parties almost every night, and it invariably

involved listening to house music and techno until 5 in the morning,"

Moby explained. "So when I finished the tour, I decided to make a sort

of anonymous underground dance record and put it out under a different

name."

Moby enjoyed diving back into the kind of music he was making when he

started in the business, although he felt a bit lost in a style that

has expanded into dozens of subgenres over the last decade.

"I'm probably kind of stunted," he said. "Anyone who really knows dance

music will probably listen to Voodoo Child and think how hopelessly out

of date I am, but it was fun to make and hopefully people will like it."

As for the Britney record, Moby said it shouldn't have shocked fans who

followed his career closely.

"I used to do a lot more production and remix work," he said. "I've

worked with Metallica, Aerosmith, Ozzy Osbourne, the Beastie Boys,

Prodigy and David Bowie. I've worked with a lot of people, so I thought

it would be interesting to work with Britney and have another

interesting name on the résumé."

Moby plans to keep producing, so long as the artists who approach him

meet his qualifications.

"I like people who can sing really well," he said. "Working with

someone like David Bowie was amazing because he has such a unique

voice."

The producer will not, however, collaborate with any artists when he

starts his next Moby album in the coming months. Past albums have

featured Gwen Stefani, Sinéad O'Connor and MC Lyte.

"This whole trend of celebrity collaborations feels more

marketing-driven than music-driven," he explained. "What do people love

more, music or marketing? So for my next record I'm probably not going

to have any celebrity collaborations. I'd rather just make music for

the love of music and not worry about the marketing."

Though he's in no hurry, Moby hopes to release the proper follow-up to

18 in September.