(no subject)
I wrote this up for Ravelizards and decided to post it here and a few other places as well.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sometimes I hear music James puts together in a mix and it all feels like he made it just for me. But isn’t that why we are fans of his work? Because we all feel that connection to the music he brings to us, for us. He doesn’t let us down in this new mix. My friend Kurt (a silent Rave Lizard) said it was the best thing he’s every heard James do, and not only that, it surpasses his previous mixes. I agree. Last years Masters Series opened and new door in James work, and I’m glad he continued to step through.
Where as the last Masters Series gave us slivers and tastes of the things James experiences, these two CDs are allowing us to experience James. “Life” is aptly titled. It is more than just his day to day. It is his deep and wide. It’s his heartbeat and his thoughts. It is complex, intimate, personal and utterly wonderous. There is an essence of soul here that isn’t in any of the other Masters Series pieces, or any of his other mixes. This is quietly, deeply epic. It’s on a level previously unseen and unheard.
Buy this mix. You will listen to it now, in a year, in ten years and when you are old and the snow has fallen over your brow and settled there for all time.
Disc One
(Snowflakes falling slowly, everything slows down, as if to say listen, this is for you, this is for us)
*Lusine - Operation Costs
Lovely floating turning mid-tempo track. Slightly funky in some of it’s elements like the augmented vocal. Excellent opener and truly sets the mood for the rest of the 2 CDs.
*Pedram - Lost In Trans
A bit funkier and definitely dancier. Highly enjoyable. Still carries with it an easy going positive vibe. I love when the drums pick up a bit more and then the melodic element comes in.
Nosaj Thing - Us
Nosaj Thing - Fog
Both of the Nosaj tracks have more of a minimal feel than the previous two. They definitely pull out the feeling of a chilly walk through falling snow, everything quiet and soft. When everything has that tender sparkling sheen of ice crystals. These are very intimate tracks and they continue the emotional sweetness of the mix.
*James Zabiela - Burnt Bridges
This track starts off with a very nice low toned easy beat and then at each steps builds a bit more, almost like climbing a spiral stair way. It winds up and up and up. Sometimes when I listen to it I have the feeling of falling upward, like a slow floating updraft take off in flight. Almost like embers of a fire glowing and floating up into the air. It’s gorgeous and in headphones it’s mesmerizing.
Street Sounds - Life Is Best Seen As A Gift
“We get to a point where we question ourselves, what we’re doing with our lives, we compare ourselves to people around us, and what society says we should be doing. It’s important to break free of this. Life is best seen as a gift. You’re already dead so why not enjoy it, and live to your highest potential. “
“Everything has always been alright and will continue to be.”
And then the beginning of the next track drops in and it’s emotionally powerful.
*R3volve - Bootpacker Alpha
As a HUGE fan of Mike’s work, I wasn’t the least bit surprised at how amazing this track is. It is classic R3volve material. Gorgeous layered funky breaky techy house at it’s best.
As an aside: I would love to know exactly what the child sampled is saying. I can make out pieces and I get the gist of it for the most part, but I’d still love to have the details. Small humans are awesome and fantastic.
Mondkopf - Libera Me (is this supposed to be ‘Libera Me’ or ‘Liberate Me’?)
I am kind of unable to tell where Bookpack ends and this track begins. They mesh so well together and that either says amazing things about James mixing skills, amazing things about the two tracks - or both.
Quality stuff! Heavy hitting and richly deep.
Change Machine - Everything Slows Down
(I am unable to make out the first few words)“…dreamlike, seemingly psychedelic experiences, where the universe conspires, and brings together a moment, a feeling, a song….snowflakes falling slowly, everything slows down….everything slows down….” And the words slow down and blend right into the next track.
*ASC - Porcelain
When this track came in I went, “whoa!” Very Aphex Twin, Massive Attack sounding slow trip-hop element track. It is primarily broken beats and rhythm elements with a very simple but exquisite melody layered over it.
*Reason Or Romanza - Radiance Trigger (Recue Remix)
If I went “whoa!” with the previous track I went “OH MY FREAKING GOD!” to this track. It is probably one of my favourites on this mix. (In fact this three track segment is probably one of my fave segments out of any of James mixes previous.) This track has boarderline drum & bass elements without being heavy and dark like real D&B. Instead this track is bright and glittering like sunshine on water balanced by evenly tempered lower elements. And then at one point it does a wind up and just EXPLODES like a thousand bursts of dandelion seeds caught surging up into the wind.
*Ruxpin - A Sunrise (And They Turned To Stones)
And then James drops this in and I was just….GONE. More intricate rhythm elements, funky breaky bits with fierce pushing fast skating feel. This has got to be what carving down a slope on a snowboard must be like. Fast, slippery, and shifting with a sense of flying at a hover just above the surface of the snow. BRILLIANT. Thrilling. Love it.
False Dream
“There is no reality in a dream, and yet while we dream we believe in reality. We believe in the reality of the things we see in the dream. After we wake up we recognize the falseness of the dream and we laugh at ourselves. When a man wakens to reality he realizes in that moment of enlightenment that his normal experience of things was as unreal as in a dream.”
Herman - Change Of Mind [James Zabiela Re-Arrange]
Smooth easy going track that continues that feeling of floating or walking through falling snow.
Moderat - Out Of Sight
Great track. Fun to move to. It’s got a sweetly emotional vocal with some funky elements. Not sure why but it reminds me of holding hands with good friends and bouncing to good music.
*Peter Benisch - Skymning
Richly textured amazing track that climbs and soars, then just drums out rhythm and coasts. Love the guitar pieces. Another fave track.
Boys Noize - Heart Attack
This bit is simply epic and amazing and it flows so well into the next sound sample it’s ridiculous. It’s like they were created together. I can’t even put it into words how fabulous this all sounds.
**Clapping And Drummin In Defensa **
I am completely unable to hold still for any of this as it transitions into the next track.
(I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard street drummers or cultural drumming and I’d wished I could have recorded it and used it in a mix. A personal thank you to James for finally doing it for me, and making it as earth shakingly epic has I always imagined in my head that it should be!)
Ellen Allien & Apparat - Do Not Break, Street Sounds, Ruxpin - I Saw Her Standing There
Boom! Crawling with classic Zabiela elements, scratching, sounds and rhythms. I dare you to sit still during this track. Actually I Triple Dog Dare you. You will fail. James wins this round easily.
Our Deepest Desire
“Our deepest desire is to leave a legacy, of love and light.”
(Somewhere in here is a recording of what sounds like a street musician playing a classical piece on an electric guitar and James’ manipulation of it is incredible to hear.)
Disc Two - Afterlife
Sally Shapiro - Swimming Through The Blue Lagoon
Wonderful mood setting piece.
Whatever Can Be Imagined Can Be Realised
“Whatever can be imagined, can be realized”
*Vince Watson - Long Way From Home
Builds beautifully and then drops in these deep bubbling sounds and elements. I can’t wait to listen to this loud and big in my car as I drive on the highways.
Harmony, Simple And Beautiful
“Harmony, simple and beautiful “
*Siopis - Really Love Ya [James Zabiela Re-Arrange]
Oh wow oh wow oh wow. This is an exceptionally amazing track and James brings it in beautifully. It brought happy smiling tears to my eyes when I first heard it. You will just have to hear it and find your own words for describing it.
D-Pulse - New Poetry (Unreleased Version)
Another track that starts with Zabiela classic elements. Lovely melodic pieces woven into its fabric. Lavish and rippling like a low waterfall in a river…until big layers of sound wash over you and take you away.
Transformation
“For thousands of years man has sought transformation, the key to existence. This is what drives us.”
Phil Kieran - Never Ending Mountain (James Zabiela Re-Arrange),
It picks up here with deep wobbly but clean undertones and then builds and builds and builds rising, bouncing elements that ricochet off the insides of your head. And then it climbs and drives more.
Gui Boratto - I Feel Love (Robert Babicz Earth Remix)
I’m a fan of Gui Boratto so I instinctively loved this track. Bouncy bumping and fun as hell to dance to. Has a deep growly undertone to it that I find really sexy.
James Zabiela - Blame (Masters Version)
This made me explode when I heard it live at Avalon. This version starts out with classic Zabiela vocal crackling bits and then reels over diving into a deep smooth clear space…and then ….it teases and teases as it builds itself up to float, pop and crackle like rippling lighting. And THEN it drops itself right down deep into your head and your soul. At one point it has this sassy swagger to it too. Amazing. (I would love to pick up the version he uses in his live sets)
I’m going to stop here. The rest of the tracks I haven’t mentioned have all become personal favourites and they are utterly amazing. The rest of the mix is just as gorgeous, epic, fun, mesmerizing, bouncy, excellent and epic as what I have mentioned so far.
But like Life, you just need to discover and experience the rest for yourself.
“What I do for certain, there’s much more than this. Whatever can be imagined, can be realized. It’s what we can’t image…that I’m interested in.”
Humbly,
-em
(btw, the ending "hassle" recorded bit is really funny and cool)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sometimes I hear music James puts together in a mix and it all feels like he made it just for me. But isn’t that why we are fans of his work? Because we all feel that connection to the music he brings to us, for us. He doesn’t let us down in this new mix. My friend Kurt (a silent Rave Lizard) said it was the best thing he’s every heard James do, and not only that, it surpasses his previous mixes. I agree. Last years Masters Series opened and new door in James work, and I’m glad he continued to step through.
Where as the last Masters Series gave us slivers and tastes of the things James experiences, these two CDs are allowing us to experience James. “Life” is aptly titled. It is more than just his day to day. It is his deep and wide. It’s his heartbeat and his thoughts. It is complex, intimate, personal and utterly wonderous. There is an essence of soul here that isn’t in any of the other Masters Series pieces, or any of his other mixes. This is quietly, deeply epic. It’s on a level previously unseen and unheard.
Buy this mix. You will listen to it now, in a year, in ten years and when you are old and the snow has fallen over your brow and settled there for all time.
Disc One
(Snowflakes falling slowly, everything slows down, as if to say listen, this is for you, this is for us)
*Lusine - Operation Costs
Lovely floating turning mid-tempo track. Slightly funky in some of it’s elements like the augmented vocal. Excellent opener and truly sets the mood for the rest of the 2 CDs.
*Pedram - Lost In Trans
A bit funkier and definitely dancier. Highly enjoyable. Still carries with it an easy going positive vibe. I love when the drums pick up a bit more and then the melodic element comes in.
Nosaj Thing - Us
Nosaj Thing - Fog
Both of the Nosaj tracks have more of a minimal feel than the previous two. They definitely pull out the feeling of a chilly walk through falling snow, everything quiet and soft. When everything has that tender sparkling sheen of ice crystals. These are very intimate tracks and they continue the emotional sweetness of the mix.
*James Zabiela - Burnt Bridges
This track starts off with a very nice low toned easy beat and then at each steps builds a bit more, almost like climbing a spiral stair way. It winds up and up and up. Sometimes when I listen to it I have the feeling of falling upward, like a slow floating updraft take off in flight. Almost like embers of a fire glowing and floating up into the air. It’s gorgeous and in headphones it’s mesmerizing.
Street Sounds - Life Is Best Seen As A Gift
“We get to a point where we question ourselves, what we’re doing with our lives, we compare ourselves to people around us, and what society says we should be doing. It’s important to break free of this. Life is best seen as a gift. You’re already dead so why not enjoy it, and live to your highest potential. “
“Everything has always been alright and will continue to be.”
And then the beginning of the next track drops in and it’s emotionally powerful.
*R3volve - Bootpacker Alpha
As a HUGE fan of Mike’s work, I wasn’t the least bit surprised at how amazing this track is. It is classic R3volve material. Gorgeous layered funky breaky techy house at it’s best.
As an aside: I would love to know exactly what the child sampled is saying. I can make out pieces and I get the gist of it for the most part, but I’d still love to have the details. Small humans are awesome and fantastic.
Mondkopf - Libera Me (is this supposed to be ‘Libera Me’ or ‘Liberate Me’?)
I am kind of unable to tell where Bookpack ends and this track begins. They mesh so well together and that either says amazing things about James mixing skills, amazing things about the two tracks - or both.
Quality stuff! Heavy hitting and richly deep.
Change Machine - Everything Slows Down
(I am unable to make out the first few words)“…dreamlike, seemingly psychedelic experiences, where the universe conspires, and brings together a moment, a feeling, a song….snowflakes falling slowly, everything slows down….everything slows down….” And the words slow down and blend right into the next track.
*ASC - Porcelain
When this track came in I went, “whoa!” Very Aphex Twin, Massive Attack sounding slow trip-hop element track. It is primarily broken beats and rhythm elements with a very simple but exquisite melody layered over it.
*Reason Or Romanza - Radiance Trigger (Recue Remix)
If I went “whoa!” with the previous track I went “OH MY FREAKING GOD!” to this track. It is probably one of my favourites on this mix. (In fact this three track segment is probably one of my fave segments out of any of James mixes previous.) This track has boarderline drum & bass elements without being heavy and dark like real D&B. Instead this track is bright and glittering like sunshine on water balanced by evenly tempered lower elements. And then at one point it does a wind up and just EXPLODES like a thousand bursts of dandelion seeds caught surging up into the wind.
*Ruxpin - A Sunrise (And They Turned To Stones)
And then James drops this in and I was just….GONE. More intricate rhythm elements, funky breaky bits with fierce pushing fast skating feel. This has got to be what carving down a slope on a snowboard must be like. Fast, slippery, and shifting with a sense of flying at a hover just above the surface of the snow. BRILLIANT. Thrilling. Love it.
False Dream
“There is no reality in a dream, and yet while we dream we believe in reality. We believe in the reality of the things we see in the dream. After we wake up we recognize the falseness of the dream and we laugh at ourselves. When a man wakens to reality he realizes in that moment of enlightenment that his normal experience of things was as unreal as in a dream.”
Herman - Change Of Mind [James Zabiela Re-Arrange]
Smooth easy going track that continues that feeling of floating or walking through falling snow.
Moderat - Out Of Sight
Great track. Fun to move to. It’s got a sweetly emotional vocal with some funky elements. Not sure why but it reminds me of holding hands with good friends and bouncing to good music.
*Peter Benisch - Skymning
Richly textured amazing track that climbs and soars, then just drums out rhythm and coasts. Love the guitar pieces. Another fave track.
Boys Noize - Heart Attack
This bit is simply epic and amazing and it flows so well into the next sound sample it’s ridiculous. It’s like they were created together. I can’t even put it into words how fabulous this all sounds.
**Clapping And Drummin In Defensa **
I am completely unable to hold still for any of this as it transitions into the next track.
(I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard street drummers or cultural drumming and I’d wished I could have recorded it and used it in a mix. A personal thank you to James for finally doing it for me, and making it as earth shakingly epic has I always imagined in my head that it should be!)
Ellen Allien & Apparat - Do Not Break, Street Sounds, Ruxpin - I Saw Her Standing There
Boom! Crawling with classic Zabiela elements, scratching, sounds and rhythms. I dare you to sit still during this track. Actually I Triple Dog Dare you. You will fail. James wins this round easily.
Our Deepest Desire
“Our deepest desire is to leave a legacy, of love and light.”
(Somewhere in here is a recording of what sounds like a street musician playing a classical piece on an electric guitar and James’ manipulation of it is incredible to hear.)
Disc Two - Afterlife
Sally Shapiro - Swimming Through The Blue Lagoon
Wonderful mood setting piece.
Whatever Can Be Imagined Can Be Realised
“Whatever can be imagined, can be realized”
*Vince Watson - Long Way From Home
Builds beautifully and then drops in these deep bubbling sounds and elements. I can’t wait to listen to this loud and big in my car as I drive on the highways.
Harmony, Simple And Beautiful
“Harmony, simple and beautiful “
*Siopis - Really Love Ya [James Zabiela Re-Arrange]
Oh wow oh wow oh wow. This is an exceptionally amazing track and James brings it in beautifully. It brought happy smiling tears to my eyes when I first heard it. You will just have to hear it and find your own words for describing it.
D-Pulse - New Poetry (Unreleased Version)
Another track that starts with Zabiela classic elements. Lovely melodic pieces woven into its fabric. Lavish and rippling like a low waterfall in a river…until big layers of sound wash over you and take you away.
Transformation
“For thousands of years man has sought transformation, the key to existence. This is what drives us.”
Phil Kieran - Never Ending Mountain (James Zabiela Re-Arrange),
It picks up here with deep wobbly but clean undertones and then builds and builds and builds rising, bouncing elements that ricochet off the insides of your head. And then it climbs and drives more.
Gui Boratto - I Feel Love (Robert Babicz Earth Remix)
I’m a fan of Gui Boratto so I instinctively loved this track. Bouncy bumping and fun as hell to dance to. Has a deep growly undertone to it that I find really sexy.
James Zabiela - Blame (Masters Version)
This made me explode when I heard it live at Avalon. This version starts out with classic Zabiela vocal crackling bits and then reels over diving into a deep smooth clear space…and then ….it teases and teases as it builds itself up to float, pop and crackle like rippling lighting. And THEN it drops itself right down deep into your head and your soul. At one point it has this sassy swagger to it too. Amazing. (I would love to pick up the version he uses in his live sets)
I’m going to stop here. The rest of the tracks I haven’t mentioned have all become personal favourites and they are utterly amazing. The rest of the mix is just as gorgeous, epic, fun, mesmerizing, bouncy, excellent and epic as what I have mentioned so far.
But like Life, you just need to discover and experience the rest for yourself.
“What I do for certain, there’s much more than this. Whatever can be imagined, can be realized. It’s what we can’t image…that I’m interested in.”
Humbly,
-em
(btw, the ending "hassle" recorded bit is really funny and cool)