James Zabiela

Initially catching a break as an opening DJ for progressive figurehead Sasha, UK DJ/producer James Zabiela funneled an interest in acid house's tightly pitched trills and the instant editing potential of the Pioneer CDJ decks into a blissfully slick sound that's both sci-fi and hi-fi. Digitally assisted by MIDI controllers,...

By Tony Ware

June 18, 2009

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Initially catching a break as an opening DJ for progressive figurehead Sasha, UK DJ/producer James Zabiela funneled an interest in acid house's tightly pitched trills and the instant editing potential of the Pioneer CDJ decks into a blissfully slick sound that's both sci-fi and hi-fi. Digitally assisted by MIDI controllers, samplers, and a laptop, Zabiela's tightly edited sets are like electromagnetic conversations between funky aliens and precise androids, their cosmically reverberating melodies carried by tech-scored house and aroused breakbeats.

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