JAMES ZABIELA: SOUND IN MOTION
Label: Hooj | Release Date: July 2003


'He made me feel sick' was the veteran tech house DJs' verdict on the young upstart he had played with in Europe the week before. It was something to do with the way he attacked the CDJ1000s, scratching into his opening tune, synching up two copies of another, nudging one slightly out of phase for a big flangey effect before slamming the reverse switch on one of the decks for a rhythmically perfect splurge of aural mayhem. It was another good night out down the disco with James Zabiela.

And of those, there's been a fair few of late. Having been immersed in house culture since his pre teens thanks to a dad who worked in a Southampton record shop in the early 90s and came home with armfuls of LFO, Guerrilla, Joey Beltram and the like, James' unique, post-millennial blend of bleeps, breaks and house won him the Muzik mag Bedroom Bedlam comp in 2000, before bringing him to the to the attention of Sasha, Lee Burridge and John Digweed.

That was barely three years ago and now, at the age of 23, after a globetrotting couple of years, James will be settling down to a summer residency at what he understandably considers the best club in the world : 'Space Ibiza.'

So we thought we'd better try and get him to commit to CD a glimpse of what he's been trying to share with half the clubbing world since 2000. And whilst the live Zabiela experience is such that even a faultlessly executed double CD will only ever show part of the picture, we'd like to think we've captured a pretty mesmerising snapshot of a young man on the verge of great things.

If you listen carefully you'll hear the lad abusing Pioneer's CDJ1000s like a junior Jeff Mills for the post-Technics generation - scratches, loops, reverses etc, but that's not what Sound in Motion is about - just a natural by-product of a young, seriously technical DJ let loose on some heavyweight new technology.

The real theme of the album is the Zabiela sound: the jerky rhythms and blurred boundaries between breaks and four four are a JZ signature, but more importantly, in a listening context, so is his quiet determination to keep the melody constantly drifting in and out of the mix. Nothing too dramatic, just an ever ready supply of sparse, spacey riffs and submerged codas to dust the pulsing beats with texture and atmosphere, creating in the process a finely balanced combination of listening experience and DJ mix CD. All mixed 100% live, of course, something that Zabiela was adamant about. No Pro-Tools tomfoolery here.

The album is out on July 14th, with a nice little launch event at Space Ibiza being planned, and a record shop tour at around the same time for those who like to come and get a closer looks at a technical DJ in action, i.e.: those lads you see crowding round James at gigs watching his hands, whilst everyone else shakes their ass - gawd bless 'em!


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2xCD TRACKLISTING
Mixed 100% live, using and abusing 2x Pioneer CDJ1000s, Pioneer DJM600 and 2x Technics 1210s


CD One:
Zabiela Intro - More Than Just Playing Records
Edward Shearmur's - Taxi Ride (JZ DJ Re-Edit)
Sunday Brunch - My World (Nightdrive Mix)
Earth Deuley - Spacial Gathering
Natural Rhythm - Your World
Q6 - Out In The Shed
lanoiraude - J.J Scenario
Animated - Come On
O.C.B - Synchronicity (Spincycle Remix)
Beth Orton - Anywhere (Photek Tek Dub Remix)
Echomen - Thru 2 You (Bushwacka! Remix)
Maffia Soundsystem - Fact Da Floor
Timmy S - He's In The Bar
ODD - Don't Look at Me (Paul Rogers Dub)
Bermuda Triangle - Tay Do 22
Space Manoeuvres - Stage One

CD Two:
Intro
Simon & Levin - Gone
Dave Robertson - Slang For Funky
The Silence - Acid Attack
PJ Davy - Call It What You Like
Halo Varga - Future
PJ Davy - Freezing Point (Dave Robertson Remix)
Aphasia - Acapulco
Dave Brennan - Drink Deep (Zabiela's Vox Version)
Bushwacka! - Break your Face
Star Spangled Banner - Mr Negative (Freestyle Man Mix)
Ebon - Sleepless (Original Tribal Mix)
Ant - Process Cyan
Aidan Lavelle / Mode - Eli

Thanks to progress-sounds.com for the update