London, UK. (Top40 Charts/ Renaissance Dance UK) -
James Zabiela returns to his spiritual compilation home to confirm the mounting buzz surrounding his first Masters Series.
Ask anyone what their favourite compilations are and, invariably, James Zabiela's ALiVE and Utilities will feature amongst them. Then, ask anyone what their favourite compilation series is and, invariably, Renaissance Masters Series will also crop-up. Put the two together and you have the recipe for one of the most eagerly anticipated dance compilations of 2009.
'I'm delighted to step-up and join the ranks of The Masters Series,' says an ever-humble JZ, 'It's produced some incredible comps over the years and, albeit nervously (lol!), am relishing the opportunity of joining its ranks.' 'After recently completing the comp' I can't wait for it to hit the shelves. I haven't done a solo compilation in over two years so I really went to town on it,' he adds.
And he isn't kidding... James has produced two incredible discs that differ, yet compliment each other perfectly. Disc One - Down is what James describes as an 'audio travelogue', an intricately produced collage of beautiful electronica over-laid with his own 'field recordings', a suite of ambient sounds and spoken word that represent both his journeys on the road and in the air, and time and thoughts between gigs. The result is one of the most beautiful, unique mixes to emerge in recent years.
Disc Two - Up transports the listener to the club and is where James has chosen to feature 2 new original productions: a mix (Darkness.2) of the much-hyped 'Dark By Design' that he's been road testing around the world in '08 and a brand new Luke Dzierzek remix of 'Perseverance', which he's also edited exclusively.
Finally, we couldn't sign-off without giving a shout to James' wider, exciting track selection, which features Trentemoller, Modeselektor, Boards Of Canada, Paul Woolford, Apparat, Extrawelt, plus many more...
A technical wizard and with a love of all things sci-fi, James Zabiela is at the forefront of new DJ/production talent smashing the glass ceiling of the global superstars. He's played to a room full of suited Japanese businessmen when showcasing Pioneer's latest equipment, in front of 60,000 people in South America and just about every imaginable situation in-between.
From the beginnings of winning a bedroom DJ competition to Sasha personally signing James to his UK DJ agency Excession things have skyrocketed. Armed with his fully loaded laptop, effects units, CDs and other box of tricks, James has created his own place on the scene.
He holds residencies at Space-Ibiza and Pacha-New York and had successful compilations on Renaissance as well as EPs and singles.
Following the success of his previous singles, 'Robophobia' and 'Weird Science', Zabiela released his latest single 'Human' in July 2007. In February 2007, Zabiela teamed up with Nic Fanciulli to create ONE+ONE, 2xCD mix compilation featuring a stellar track selections as well as new songs produced by Zabiela and Fanciulli.
With the likes of Sasha, Royksopp and Depeche Mode calling upon him for remixes, Zabiela's 2006 re-rub of 'Seal Clubbing' by Charlie May vs Sasha spent several weeks at No 1 in both the Beatport and DJ Download sales charts.
In 2006 James was awarded the People's Choice accolade as 'Best International DJ' at the Australian Dance Music Awards.
In 2007 he was awarded the Best British DJ at the DJ Mag Best British DJ Awards.
