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!!!!!

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