Ho ho ho. On this very day of Christmas Eve 2010, Playmate DeeJay Rhiannon busts her latest mix PornStep with the new underground sounds of dubstep.

DeeJay Rhiannon – “PornStep”…

Artist: Deejay Rhiannon
Title: PornStep (DJ mix set)
Year: 2010
Comment: Intro edits & mastering by Hashmoder (Omar Hash)

Deejay Rhiannon – “PornStep” (mp3)
http://homepage.mac.com/cavecybernation/DJRhiannon_PornStep.mp3 (link path)

In Rhiannon’s own words…

PORNSTEP

No this mix does not commemorate any kind of pornographic performance debut.  Playboy is where I start and finish my nude modeling escapades.  My naked a$$ isn’t going beyond the 2-D realm anytime soon.  PornStep is simply the title of one of the tracks in this mix — which one exactly is very obvious.  And, word of warning, the track right after that one is likely to make you vomit.

DUBSTEP

To me, Dubstep is pornographic.  It’s like dirty obnoxious animal sex.  And I love it!  My manager says that I look like I’m having an epileptic fit when I dance to Dubstep.  I can hardly disagree.  My eyes glaze over, my legs and arms flail like a 90’s candy raver, and I become completely unapproachable.  I would imagine, however, that having an epileptic fit does not leave you with an afterglow reminiscent of a mind-blowing orgasm, like dancing to Dubstep does.  It’s incredibly empowering to connect with ‘extra-large’ music like that (it is my theory that if Dubstep wore clothing it would wear size XXXL).  I recommend that all who haven’t yet dabbled in a Dubstep dance floor do so immediately.  It is incredible.  So much so that upon seeing me dance at the “Church” Sundays Dubstep night in Pomona, my manager was inspired to book me there for the very next Sunday to open for the insanely awesome DJ/Producer APX-1.

MY DEBUT SET

Ummm… Flattering offer but… This is a hardcore local, underground scene.  It’s a tight-knit group of well-educated regulars and resident artists, a family, a culture.  If I was going to pop up out of nowhere and lay down a live DJ set for these people, I was going to have to do some serious homework!  So that’s what I did.  Prior to that day I had only really listened to Dubstep, I had never attempted to mix it at length or with any kind of sincerity (my manager didn’t mention this little detail to the promoter of course).  But I didn’t let him down.  In less than one week I became a Dubstep DJ and put together this set of tracks for my live debut set.  Well, the first two thirds anyway, the rest I just added for the sake of including them in the mix so I could listen to them without pause in between while driving.

TRACKS

This is basically a collection of the main tracks I’ve been jamming to in my car for the past year or so.  If you are a Dubstep connoisseur you have probably already heard most of these songs.  My goal was to compile and blend my favourites, not to be cutting edge or even that underground, though bits of it are.  The first half is nitty gritty and explores the cockles of your cockles: bass, filth, womp, grime, explicit sexual lyrics and all that fun stuff.  Then there’s a taste of that yummy dub reggae stuff, and I couldn’t exclude my fave track by the biggest midget in the game, Lady Sovereign.  The last bit gets deeper and more vocal, but still hot as f#ck.  The last few tracks are guaranteed to have you writhing in your panties.

TECHNICAL STATS

40 tracks in 80 minutes.  No I was not on speed nor any other kind of illicit drug when I recorded this mix.  I was simply… playing quick mash-up.  It was really fun.  There’s plenty I would change and tighten up if I had more time to prepare and re-record it but I had to get it out in time for the holidays for reasons disclosed in the first track.  So, bringing this monologue to a close… Friends and fans, here’s wishing you a Merry Dubstep Christmas and a bangin’ New Year!!!!!!

THE HASHMODER

Thanks again to the grand master Omar Hash for sound-designing the intro and mastering this entire mix like the true Jedi Knight he is.  Hit him up for all your audio engineering needs folks!!     Hashmoder’s contact page here.

DeeJay Rhiannon’s Current & Previous Mix-Sets…

CLICK HERE to view all of Rhiannon’s mix-sets listed in one page

It’s been five long years since DJ Veronica made a new mix set. She was over here at my home-studio less than two weeks ago, having her latest mix-set It’s About Time mastered. It took me over 10 days to come up with and edit a really super cool intro at the beginning of the mix, after the mastering was finished. I super spliced and edited two tracks together with my own voice on the vocoder on top of it … plus a lot of audio engineering and automation, such as the panning. The two tracks used as intro were (1) Grace Jones – “Slave To The Rhythm” and (2) Kano – “It’s A War.”

DJ Veronica – “It’s About Time”…

Artist: DJ Veronica
Title: It’s About Time (DJ mix set)
Year: 2010
Comment: Intro edits & vocoder by Hashmoder; mastered by Hashmoder (Omar Hash)

DJ Veronica – “It’s About Time”" (mp3)
http://homepage.mac.com/cavecybernation/DJVeronica_ItsAboutTime.mp3 (link path)

From DJ Veronica to you…

After spending 17 glorious days and nights in Whistler during the 2010 Olympics, I became motivated to make a new CD.  Now this is something that I used to do just about every month back in the 90s, and I have released many CDs in the past, but for some reason, which to this date I cannot explain, I have not made a CD in five years.

When my girlfriends and I were at the Chalet, apart from numerous suitcases of clothes and ski equipment, we also brought up all the sound gear and set it up in the living room where one could mix a CD and look out onto the snow-covered trees while the living room transformed itself into a dance-floor.  With audiences such as Team France and Team Mexico and a few local Whistler DJs, the party never stopped.  Sarah-Hannah and I had some great mix sessions together and we often could not stop well into the wee hours of the morning. Having DJ Rhiannon as your little sister is also a great motivator for me as she is always putting out killer mixes!

Whenever I would hit the slopes or the patio of La Bocca it seemed there was always a soundtrack coursing through my mind.  I was again inspired.  And I mean really inspired.  I have been playing out at nightclubs for over 13 years in places such as New York, Hong Kong, Spain, Australia, Seattle, Oregon and I have held many residencies of course in my hometown of Vancouver, but for some reason the urge to make a new mix faded a bit…but it’s now back with a vengeance!

When I came back from Whistler, I put this mix together one evening over a glass of wine while my little dog Hana watched me curiously, and occasionally jumping up for me to lift her up and do a little dance with her.  I think she likes this mix, and I hope that you do too.  It’s perfect for driving in the car or listening to after the club at an impromptu after-party.  It’s not exactly what I play out at clubs, as I usually play a little harder, but this is a collection of what I am really into now, and I can say that without a doubt this is the best mix I have ever made. A big thanks to Hashmoder for taking the time to master this CD.  You’re the best…

…DJ Veronica

DJ Veronica Photo Gallery…

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Another new mix from Deejay Rhiannon.  She was over here at my home-studio less than two weeks ago, having her latest mix-set Suck My Tech mastered by me.

Deejay Rhiannon – “Suck My Tech”…

Artist: Deejay Rhiannon
Title: Suck My Tech (DJ mix set)
Year: 2010
Comment: Mastered by Hashmoder (Omar Hash)

Deejay Rhiannon – “Suck My Tech” (mp3)
http://homepage.mac.com/cavecybernation/DJRhiannon_SuckMyTech.mp3 (link path)

From Rhiannon to you…

MY SISTER

(DJ Veronica) thinks this is “the most hilarious mix she’s ever heard.”  And she’s heard some weird shit.  I didn’t mean for it to be “funny” really, but quirky, ok sure.  Perhaps this is my reverse-psychological reaction to the monotonous obnoxious drone that is mainstream music here in California where I recorded this recent mix.  Ok, I shouldn’t generalize.  There is plenty of great underground music to be found here.  I just haven’t found it yet.  At least not in LA; San Francisco, no problem.  Perhaps that’s why I was intuitively more drawn to the Golden Gates than the Hollywood Hills.  Speaking of which, I almost called this mix “Holly wood If She Could.”  Why?  Well maybe I feel like Holly, who would play funkier, heavier, more complex music in L.A. if she could; that is, if she didn’t fear being boo’d off the stage by a ravenous horde of Kanye West & Beyonce worshippers.  Now don’t get me wrong, I like Beyonce and many other top 40 artists, but I also like AC Slater, Klaus Hill, and Bjork.  Am I a freak of nature?  Is it some special gift to have the capacity to appreciate more than one or two genres of music?  Or is it that the majority of people have unwillingly let themselves be ear-fucked by the hypnotizing effect of excessively repetitious radio airwaves?

THE HASHMODER

Hashmoder himself asked me to write a little something about what this mix means to me, and how I put it together, etc.  The truth is that I actually never planned on making a new mix at the time; I was just testing out my Vestax CD-RW recorder to see if it survived the move.  I warmed up after a few mixes and off I went.  None of the tracks were put in order or play-listed together prior to recording the mix.  For me, the magic happens when I get completely pulled into the music and let everything else go.  At that point, I trust my intuition to lead me to the next track, and so on.  Sometimes I select a song and for a split second think, “Crap! This is not going to work!!” — but I go for it anyway.  More often than not I’m pleasantly surprised.  In fact I discovered the live mash-up of Cicada’s “Things You Say” with Dubfire’s “Roadkill” while I was playing a gig in Mexico City.  Ok, I have to make a side-note here: Mexicans PARTY.  And they love good house music.  Apparently the Governator is worried about the immense influx of Mexican immigrants to California.  If this is the case, Please tell me where they are exactly so I can open up a club smack in the middle of their makeshift American Zocalo!  I’ve yet to find their level of enthusiasm & passion for underground house music in California.

SUCK MY TECH

Self-explanatory really!  Meant to be more humorous than anything.  I admit there is a tad bit of “fuck you” in there somewhere… probably to all the people who give me appalling song requests.  And to my dear old dad who hasn’t spoken to me since he heard the shocking news that I shot a Playboy centerfold ^{(download PDF file)} to advance my career.  Come on pops, it was no secret!  If you bothered to glance at your daughter’s website once a decade you might have had a heads-up!  Anyway, the real truth is, “I’m just a lady bug.”  ;)  Thank you Larry Tee for explaining it so well.  How this track relates: I love the entertainment industry and all the contrived glamour, name-dropping, and beautiful bullshit that comes with it, but it’s what I do, not who I am.  It’s a character I play, and that I adore certainly, but I try to separate my exterior identity — the social identity that can be recognized, used, and altered by people you don’t even know — from my interior identity — the unique identity that is mine and mine only to share with whom I choose.  And in this case my public identity is that which I’ve created for my career: Playmate, DJ, Lyricist, etc.  My private identity, the person I am when I’m at home, is similar to the one described in that song (Lady Bug is the 6th track).  Anyway, Eckhart Tolle explains this stuff far more eloquently than I.

23 TRACKS IN 63 MINUTES

Very telling of the new DJ culture I find myself in.  I trained myself as a House Mouse DJ in Vancouver.  Long, seamless mixing was the goal, averaging 4 minutes or more per track usually, creating a smooth, fun vibe on the dance-floor.  Since being exposed to a far more hip hop-inclined DJ scene my sets have become progressively busier, more compact and faster-paced.  It’s a new style from that which I’m used to, but I’m enjoying the challenge.  Averaging less than 3 (sometimes 2) minutes per track, I can’t help but think this style is representative of the A.D.D. generation that we DJs are now serving.  The film industry entertains the same public; and mainstream film producers continue to develop bigger/better/busier movies using technology, not to mention smoke-&-mirrors, to keep its audience’s attention and distract them from their nagging restlessness.  I think us DJs are being faced with the same challenges, at least those of us that serve the mainstream crowds (unfortunately I am sometimes one of them).  In this DJ culture quick-fingered Turntablists are gods.  But I’m holding my own the best I can.  ;)  The little underground house DJ lost in Hollywood… .

I never got into depth about what each track or blend means to me.  I suppose that’s because I didn’t release record this for myself.  I did it for the pleasure of my friends and fans, like every other mix.  I’ll use it for promotional purposes of course, but ultimately it was inspired by the simple desire to feel a certain way:  funky, bouncy, dirty, fun, sexy, thoughtful… ?   As long as it affects the people that listen to it in some way I’ve done my job. So ENJOY!!  And finally, HUGE THANKS to Hashmoder for mastering this mix like Cesar Milan masters bad-ass bitches, with ease and prowess.   Thank you Omar!!!!!

Rhiannon Photo Gallery…

DeeJay Rhiannon’s Current & Previous Mix-Sets…

CLICK HERE to view all of Rhiannon’s mix-sets listed in one page