SOUNDWAVE : 89 : DANIEL FUZZTONE

Today’s guest deejay is danielfuzztone.

daniel’s mix is important to me for several reasons.

One reason is that I meant daniel through Soundwave guest deejay Michael Donaldson (listen to Michael’s mix here) when he posted an interview with daniel on his Micro.blog. Initially, I read the interview simply because it was on Micro.blog, a cool social media network I am a member of. But what hooked me was the interview itself and daniel’s exploration of sound through this music.

The other reason today’s show is important to me is that while I love all the mixes on Soundwave, and I mean that, daniel’s mix hit me in all the right places. He included some familiar and precious tracks from the likes of Miles Davis, This Mortal Coil and Skinny Puppy. This is stuff I immersed myself in the 80s and 90s, so it felt like putting on a well-worn sweater. But daniel’s mix included a lot of stuff I had never heard of before, like Oliver Coates, Besombes & Rizet, and Angelo Badalamenti. It was a perfect blend of the familiar and unfamiliar that his mix provided just under an hour’s with of dopamine hits.

The final reason is that I listened to daniel’s mix many places (while working, walking my dog, doing the dishes, etc.), but the place that had the most significance was in my car while driving my grandkid to day school. The experience is already special because I enjoy watching all the adults delivering their most precious of cargos and seeing the love and concern on their faces. daniel’s mix heightened and already tender experience.

daniel has words of his own regarding today’s mix below.

Join us next weekend when our guest deejay will be Sean Slight.

See you then!

danielfuzztone

Like much of the ambient-drone music I produce, this mix was born from a live performance and then manipulated in the digital domain via Audacity. Nothing beats the hardware-software hybrid.

While I’ve DJed for three decades years — including two long stretches of college radio — my skills were a bit rusty, to say the least. I wanted to showcase some of my long-time favorite artists — Brian Eno, Boards of Canada, Spacemen 3, Jean-Michel Jarre — along with several newer ones (and maybe even a few you wouldn’t necessarily think of in the ambient realm).

I performed the set in real time using two MacBooks as playback decks, connected to a cheapo RadioShack DJ mixer from the ’90s.* Recorded in Audacity. Numerous field recordings and samples were also added at this stage — including a mix-long drone of processed shortwave static.

The result is a dark, noisy vibe with bursts of melody, strands of light, and even occasional beats. It’s mysterious and romantic, a droning, pulsing soundtrack from the past 50 years. Enjoy and #DroneOn

— danielfuzztone

POST-SCRIPT: Look for several back-to-back releases in early 2022 via Bandcamp, as well as a live performance in January.

*Due to the lo-fi-meets-hi-fi nature of the recording, you’ll occasionally hear pops and ticks from some of the aging gear. Relax. It’s all part of the ride.

danielfuzztone “Prima Facie”

Brian Eno “Triennale”

The House in the Woods “Bucolica”

Mark Pritchard “?”

Miles Davis “In a Silent Way”

Steven R. Smith “Awake”

William Basinski “The Wheel of Fortune”

danielfuzztone “Nishiki 10-Speed Dream”

Boards of Canada “XYZ”

Cult48 “Deep Calls to Deep”

Gong “Magick Mother Invocation”

Besombes & Rizet “Evelyse”

Godspeed You! Black Emperor “The Dead Flag Blues”

Skinny Puppy “Fritter (Stella’s Home)”

This Mortal Coil “Acid, Bitter and Sad”

Sonic Youth “Providence”

Windy & Carl “Antarctica”

danielfuzztone “Transient Response”

Tim Hecker “Celestina”

Oliver Coates “Honey”

My Bloody Valentine “Glider”

Spacemen 3 “Ecstasy Symphony”

Terry Riley “Poppy Nogood and the Phantom Band”

M83 “Birds”

Jean-Michel Jarre “Equinoxe Part 1”

Emerald Web “The Dragon’s Gate”

Angelo Badalamenti “The Voice of Love”

Yo La Tengo “Shortwave”

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