james zabiela on a bender (photo by grete hjorth-johansen)

Monday notes: Prog-house prodigy James Zabiela (above) DJs, VJs, remixes, produces and collaborates (most notably with Nic Fanciulli). Now he has taken to singing. His new "Perseverance EP," out this month on Renaissance, features the British DJ on vocals on the EP's tracks: "Human," "Perseverance," "No Other Way But Down," and "Phaser Fire." "I would never dream of performin these tracks live," he states. "They're not full vocal songs. I just thought they made a nice addition to the tracks. And what better way to convey a thought or feeling that to actually say it?"

-Gene Graham, director of the Mel Cheren documentary Godfather of Disco, confirms that the West End label founder died Friday afternoon at Cabrini Hospice in New York as a result of complications from AIDS. "Very sad, but he's much better now," says the director. "I sense that Mel will be with us for a long, long time."

-The New York Times checks out a party, "1992" that celebrates that year's hip-hop music and fashions.