D:FUSE
Begin (System Recordings)
You’d never guess, listening to this gorgeous, ethereal solo debut from Austin’s most successful global export, that the progressive house/trance DJ/producer D:Fuse got his start 15 years back as one-half of the clangy industrial outfit Culture Industry, walloping Austin’s ears at long-gone dives Backstreet and Ohms. A decade on and suddenly it was “overnight” success and world tours with Perfecto and DJ godhead Paul Oakenfold, champagne, chauffeurs, Ibiza, and loping coils of sinewy deep and progressive house. Then silence of a sort, at least in the suddenly underground-again Austin rave circuit. Begin is the sound of a DJ all grown up, the full extent of emotional and vocational maturation, as if happy hardcore and candy ravers had just been someone else’s bad dream. Lead single “Everything With You,” bathed in Motorcycle’s Jes’ soothing vocals and D:Fuse’s lovestruck lyrics layered atop a buttery smooth house groove, sets the tone, which is remarkably consistent throughout – unlike almost every other previous self-produced DJ solo outing in recent memory. There’s nary a throwaway track on Begin. From the club-ready trance of “Other Side” (with 29 Palms Pete Lorimer) to the stripped down and unadornedly positive vibe of gentle closer “Letter to a Friend,” Begin is far and away D:Fuse’s best work to date, 12 tracks that resonate far beyond that ever-darkened dance floor and out into the real light of real life.
This article appears in February 4 • 2005.