RB Deep in the Mix: James Zabiela – Balance 029

“James has an uncanny knack of making everyone in the crowd feel as though he’s DJing just for them. Once the music starts, it’s not him and them: its everyone.” We couldn’t agree more. James Zabiela is a rare breed of artist. Over the past two decades, he has become something of a heritage act, despite still being younger than most of his peers currently sharing that title. His technical abilities are top of the line and his live performance have cemented him into the hearts of electronic music lovers the world over.

This week’s RB Deep in the Mix belongs to no other than music maestro James Zabiela, who recently did an exclusive mix for Balance.

https://soundcloud.com/balanceseries/james-zabiela-balance-029-act-1-preview-edit

It’s a surprise that James Zabiela is only just now making a mix for Balance, but better late than never! Composing this perfect mix was a feat that took an entire year, imbuing the mix with a sense of emotion and life. Zabiela said it’s,

“Something the listener could get lost in. Some people know me for my technical noodling but this really had to be about the music, whilst still challenging myself technically. My focus was very heavily on melody and combining songs that would have ‘conversations’ with each other. My mission statement to myself with this project was that I wanted to make something that was rich and textured. It went from being a ‘just a simple mix CD’ to quite the cathartic exercise with the music that accompanied me. It wasn’t a quick process; neither was it pain free.”

He begins the mix, Act 1, with tracks from B12 and Sasha & Digweed. The tracklist only continues to amaze as he includes work from Grandbrothers,  HOLOVR,  Merrin Karras and Pev & Kowton. Check out the entire tracklisting below.

Tracklisting

1. Sapphire Slows – Silent Escape [Mundus]
2. Kornél Kovács – Szikra [Studio Barnhus]
3. Barry Lynn – Alpha Tauri [Touch Sensitive]
4. Earlham Mystics – Truth [Notown]
5. B12 – Untold [Central Processing Unit]
6. VC-118A – Face the Waves [Lunar Disko Records]
7. Grandbrothers – Bloodflow [City Slang]
8. Sad City – Steady Jam [Emotional Response]
9. Talaboman – Safe Changes [R&S Records]
10. Francisco Branda – Hyena [Traumuart]
11. Ecco Foul – Gloss [Ecco Foul]
12. Pye Corner Audio – Dead Ends [I Love Acid]
13. HOLOVR – Into Light [Further]
14. Debussy – Reverie 68 [Second Story & Appleblim Rework) [Decca]
15. Island People – Distance 7 [Raster]
16. Oddhoody – The Deep [Electronic Tapes]
17. Merrin Karras – Void [A Strangely Isolated Place]
18. Pev & Kowton – Junked [Hessle Audio]
19. Davis – Plenitude [Live at Robert Johnson]
20. Ozel AB – Positronic Dreams [Workshop]
21. OOBE – Crush Mind [Blueberry]
22. Courser – Distances [Electronic Emergencies]
23. James Zabiela – Vines [Balance / Born Electric]
24. AAAA – Jazz D [Omnidisc]
25. ARCHITECTURAL – Cubismo 8.2 (Lost in Buenos Aires I) [Architectural]

You can catch James Zabiela this Sunday, December 10th, at Shady park as part of our TreeHouse Sunday’s series. Grab tickets here.

Connect with James Zabiela: Facebook | Twitter | SoundCloud