- James Zabiela is a DJ whose recognition has grown rapidly in the last year. He has been labeled as Sasha’s protégé in his rise to fame, but while that may flatter some DJ’s, it is more of an insult in my opinion to James, as he has developed a style of his own. In fact some would say that his recent sets have been surpassing the quality of the more known DJ’s of the circuit. His recent Essential Mix again demonstrated that Mr. Zabiela will be around for a long time to come, and that his rise to the top will come to an end sooner rather than later. His first step in establishing himself in the cd mix market comes in the form of GTDJ001.
The mix starts of as silky as possible with the smooth baseline of Prime Time TV’s mix of “Creating Living” by Erotic Sardines. The electro stabs of “Devil Square” by Wally Lopez & Dr Kucho keep the mix in a state of smooth flowing house but when the speed garage like baseline and break beat patterns of “Pretender” by Red Star kicks in, you can tell James is changing the direction of this mix. We are well and truly in the world of Zabiela’s twisted breaks with the brilliant “Stoned” by Disco Assassins. Another detour is taken with the excellent Tiny Elvis dub of “Tempted”, a movement to the lighter and more progressive territory of Zabiela’s repertoire, which is followed by perhaps the moment of the mix, Dan Goodall’s “Trippid”, an emotion filled track awash with hypnotising soundscape. The Thomas Schumacher remix of Monika Kruse “Route 27” is reminiscent of Funk D’Void’s heavenly Diabla. The mix then concludes as it started, smooth as silk with Zabiela’s very own mix of Royksopp’s “Remind Me”.
James Zabiela’s first official release is a fantastic stepping-stone. It should provide the boost he needs to firmly establish himself in the upper echelon of UK DJ talent. It should at least leave a footprint in the minds of house and breaks fans alike, as it is a single disc full of baseline mayhem, twisted breaks and emotion evoking madness.
Tracklisting:
1. Erotic Sardines - Creating Living (Prime Time TV Mix)
2. Vinyl Line - West Station
3. Wally Lopez & Dr. Kucho Pres. La Factoria - Devil Square
4. Sound Alliance - From Home
5. Red Star - Pretender (Dub)
6. Sound Alliance -The Hit (Hexadecimal Remix)
7. Disco Assassins - Stoned
8. Primary Sequence - Strange Things Happening
9. Tiny Elvis - Tempted (Tiny Elvis Dub)
10. Dan Goodall - Trippid
11. Monika Kruse @ Voodooamt - Route 27 (Thomas Schumacher Remix)
12. Röyksopp - Remind Me (Zabiela’s Ingeborg Mix)