James Zabiela – The Masters Series Part 15 - Life

Zabiela's goal for this album was to create a set of EDM that sounded like one giant song. Thematically, he tried to make the energy, mood, and drive cohere throughout the entire set, and for the most part, he succeeded.

Unlike his previous Renaissance album -- an emotionally charged set that lost a lot of its gumption with some schizophrenic mixing, sampling, and track positioning -- this album is definitely fully realized. It maintains a creamy-smooth, liquidly-haunting atmosphere of dark, tech house from the first track to the end. The two discs even merge seamlessly if you play them back to back.

Normally, I go into detail on the track selection and set progression, but that doesn't seem terribly important here. If you sample a few of the songs and don't jive with their mood, you won't like the record, since it pretty much doesn't skip a beat from start to finish. Zabiela keeps things interesting, of course. There's a sense of story-telling going on. And there are some parts that are more memorable than others (the thirty minute block on the first disc from "Fog" to "Radiance Trigger" is absolutely phenomenal). All in all, this is a great buy.

A few problems, though. First -- and this may seem like an overreaction -- the vocals on "Really Love Ya" from Disc 2 are just horrendous. The song already sounds like a cheap, early-nineties retread of cheesy R&B/pop, but the vocals hammer that home and take a whole lot of the pulse out of the set Zabiela's crafted. The other problem is one that first revealed itself in his previous Renaissance album, and that's the pretentious, mostly meaningless vocal samples Zabiela scatters throughout the record. I don't know if it's JZ himself or someone else, but these snippets of gumball philosophical nonsense are truly embarrassing -- "If it can be imagined, it can be realized." -- and they make the music seem a lot more pompous than it needs to. JZ needs to learn that if the music is inspiring and well-done, people will draw their own truths from it without having to have this kind of Freshman Philosophy 101 stuff spoon fed to them.

I was thrilled when he dropped a Dao De Jing quote in here and it totally fit the atmosphere and groove rather than detract from it.

Not usually a fan of too much spoken word in DJ mixes (especially the cheesy stuff such as singing about or to Gaia), but it works here.

Stellar mix, truly unique in the Renaissance series.

"The ancient masters were subtle, mysterious, profound, responsive.
The depth of their knowledge is unfathomable.
Because it is unfathomable,
All we can do is describe their appearance." (Chapter 15)

some moments of that mix make it one of the most memorable things I've listened to in my entire life.
and that voice - it perfectly fits the music.

Nosaj Thing – Fog [what an atmosphere!]

Herman - Change of Mind (James Zabiela Re-Edit) / Moderat -Out Of Sight [ "there is no reality in a dream..." and Sascha Ring's dreamy voice.. very atmospheric]

the last minute of Radiance Trigger (Rescue Remix) [just can't find words .. with these voices of mom and kid.. I just feel inexpressible deepness and cosmos there]

James Zabiela – Burnt Bridges [ "Life is best seen as a gift/You're already dead, so why not enjoy it?.." ]

Ruxpin - I Saw Her Standing There ["our deepest desire os to leave a legacy of love and light.."]

Siopis - Really Love Ya (James Zabiela Re-arrange) [a very touching piece of music]

Hardfloor – The Life We Chose (ERP Remix) [no comments needed actually.. pure acid]

and Spooky's No Return (Josh Wink Acid Vocal Remix)(Additional Vocal Edit) that makes you move in your chair

been listening to these pieces sooo many times..
I feel uniqueness in this mix I think it will grow on me later.
that's why I give it a 5/5.
Thank you, JZ (and artists of course).