JZ

The constant references to Zabiela as Sasha's protege don't give him enough credit; Zabiela has eclipsed Sasha. I don't dispute that Sasha's production skills are top quality, but his live performances lack something. They increasingly sound like the work of only a good -- not great -- DJ.

Zabiela on the other hand, well, Zabiela is one of the few DJs who can excite me these days. He's got Sasha's ability to innovate, a Qbert's ability to manipulate records, and his own proprietary mix of chunky, grooving basslines.

Perhaps he's not the most forward thinking DJ, but I've not been disappointed so far. I look forward to hearing his sound evolve and mature.

In my opinion James has a very unique style with choosing his trax & mixing. It is true minimalistic art on music with a lot of hidden details in trax & mixes. He is not your typical Top 10 mainstream DJ. That makes him even more special. I hope it remains like that! Now I understand why he got a lot of support from Sasha! His style his a crossover from different Genres. James, keep up the good work.

What strikes me about James's Mixes is not only their technical brilliancy but how unique the music is. Maybe I don't listen to enough tech house (which I guess is what you could classify his music). It's glitchy, it's breaky, it's solid beats, whatever he puts on his CD music sounds like something completely new. The live stuff I've heard has a little more recognizable stuff, but this is different. And as I listen more and more the more addictive it becomes.

If the second apprentice of Sasha isn’t the living proof that djing can be more than just playing records then I don’t know who is. James is redefining what being a dj is. His style is fun techyacidbreakbeatmashup with heavy doses of fitly baselines, but you have to see him live to understand anything anyone has ever told you about this guy. His live manipulation of both vinyl and digital music is indescribable. Sure, you’ll hear you local djs saying words like “I’m a dj’s dj cos I play vinyl on two tables with my mixer and I do it the old fashion way.” Well, that’s nice and all, but if you want to see the progress and full potential you can get out of that gear then look now further. You will never see a pair of decks the same again once you see how James handles and abuses them like no other.