DJ Irene

by Jason BirchmeierDJ Irene released mix albums at a dizzying pace beginning in the late '90s. Just as dizzying was the pace of her mixing, which found her working through anywhere from 30 to 40 tracks during a given mix album. Much like Bad Boy Bill, Irene favored house music, but tended to make her records sound "hard" by pitching them up and mixing them quickly. And again, much like Bad Boy Bill, she connected better with the younger rave scene than the older club scene as a result of her style and perhaps her eccentric character. In particular, Irene attained substantial success on the West Coast, where she was based in Los Angeles. Beginning in 1997, the "Global House Diva" released multiple albums every year, with 1998 being a particularly busy year for her with four releases. Though initially tagged as a hard house DJ, Irene changed her style over the years, incorporating more progressive house and trance into her sets, along with the occasional rave classic ("James Brown Is Dead") or popular song-of-the-moment ("Heaven Scent"). No matter what the occasion, though, Irene always emphasized fun rather than snobby elitism and her growing fan base certainly appreciated the sentiment, consistently buying her multi-annual releases.