Head Spins: Danny Daze

It's doubtful that DJ Danny Daze loves the road above all else, but he sure seems to be on it a lot. Mondays at Tabu in Vegas, Saturdays at either Slide in San Francisco or Pittsburgh's Privilege, the cat's back and forth from the airport more times in a week than most folk are in a year. And that's not even counting the Playboy parties he's played, from Managua to Beverly Hills.

Despite all of the traveling, Miami is still the man's home, and it's here that he plays the most — Full Moon and Ultra way back when; the Fifth, Cameo, Funkshion etc recently; and, of course, Rokbar and the Forge right now.

And as you might suspect, Daze produces music too. Everything from ambient to discotech, which just so happens to be the name of the duo (with Joe Maz) featured at Crooklynclan.net.

But as impressive as is Daze's résumé — and his residencies — it is the young gun's patented set list of just about every hip style of music that you could imagine that keeps him in demand. It's a mash that mixes old-school classic house with Georgio Moroder and Miami bass, throwing in some commercial and adding a dash of Detroit ghetto tech just to keep it keeled.

What do you expect from a cat who claims 2 Live Crew's "Me So Horny" and Dolly Parton's "Jolene" to be two of his all-time faves, cites everybody from Rammstein to the Isleys on his MySpace page, and is currently cranking his car around to the sound of Anthony Rother's Pop Killer? Add his continuing regard for Two Lone Swordsman and Simian Mobile Disco and his insistence that Erasure's "Give a Little Respect," George Krantz's "Din Daa Daa," and India's "Love and Happiness" work on any floor anywhere and you've the makings of one well-rounded spinner.

Make that insanely well-rounded. Like the globe that informs his every rotation and the flow that beats cleanly among genres, Daze leaves a floor dizzy with delirium. Why the hell else would New Times readers make him '07's Best? And why would every one of his peers drop his name when asked which DJ they dug?

Yet when it comes down to the first kick, we all owe a debt to Daze's mother, who not only was prescient enough to buy the Magic City-born and -raised slinger the mobile setup that put him in the game to begin with (at 13!) but she gave him his name, a nom de guerre that is sure to echo in infamy, so long as there's a nightclub with two turntables and Serato Scratch Live.

Danny Daze's Current Top 5

Giorgio Moroder — "The Chase"

Kraftwerk — "Numbers (Anthony Rother Remix)"

Guy Gerber and Shlomi Aber — "After Love"

I-F — "Space Invaders Are Smoking Grass"

5 Aaron Carl — "Down"

Download Danny Daze's mixes at www.myspace.com/djdannydaze.