James Zabiela’s Renaissance Masters Mix Blog – Part 1

On the plane now as Trentemoller's 'Always Something Better' comes to an end and the female air steward from British Airways can be heard commanding all electronic devices to be turned off and headsets removed (08.48). As I obey and take off my 'phones you can hear her words suddenly come into clarity (08.55) but then I mash up her voice with my internal plug-ins (you have to use your imagination whilst listening to this...)!

The flight is finally approaching its destination, Milan, which is signaled by a distant Italian voice making a landing announcement (09.06) although it's muffled beneath the delays and reverbs going on inside my headphones. Her voice reminds me of the advertisements for the off-world colonies in Bladerunner. Back into a car (09.31), transferring from the airport, speeding down the express way to the sound of Kuriaki whose synth lines are, in my opinion, fittingly reminiscent of a certain Italian composer, Vangelis.

13.30: A Hungarian scientist speaks about the possible distance that teleportation allows things to travel and at the same time we're transported musically in tempo and feeling. 'The way of life can be free and beautiful', now we're somewhere else… these freethinking words aim to provoke as we continue our journey... Taken from the 'Beautiful Place EP' comes Boards of Canada's 'Amo Bishop Roden' (18.32). I actually discovered this track when I was ill once, feeling kind of sorry for myself at 4am, not able to sleep. I hung my head out of the window and rain was pouring onto my face. I'm not saying this is how anyone should listen to it, but I'll never forget that feeling the track gave me the first time I heard it. Its tortured strings almost sound like they themselves are sick, but the bass notes lift the composition (much like the droplets of rain did on my feverish face). Does that sound too poetic?! We're back into the film noir of Bladerunner here: 'Lost in time like tears in the rain', Roy Batty's words that come near the end of the film and, sadly, his short lifespan. To capture and reflect this mood I made a field recording of rain from my bedroom window at 4am, which can be heard during the mix transition beneath the two tracks.
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