Jonathan Lisle’s “Regime Change†is a true masterpiece mix ... ever since the first time I heard it ... gave me those goosebumps few mixes have ever given me ... His exquisite track selection and superb mixing skills are trully that of a surgeon ... he plays with your head and your emotions in a journey of melodic beats and then again uplifts you with the right amount of breaks ... an experience few djs can so seriously provide ... If you guys have access to soulseek ... look for “Regime Change†or his “Bedrock Brighton Warm-up session of November 1st, 2002†... you will understand what I mean if you weren’t lucky enough to catch him live during WMC ... his closing set at the P:M Sessions WMC party is still one of my favorite ever closing sets ... The following is a review of his “Regime Change†mix ... the author, KS, came close to giving Jonathan the right credit ... he came short thou ... enjoy ... +++++++++++++++++ "I am fortunate to have heard this mix 10 or 12 times through now – and whilst that is not my point it does raise one issue that needs quickly dealing with. Jonathan and I are friends. We have been for 2 years. We met through a message board and cemented our friendship through, discovering we’ve been at the same (Sasha) parties over the last 10 years, acknowledging NE 2 disc 1 as THE god to be worshipped, and a shared passion for ‘emotional’ breakbeat music. Every now and again Jonathan puts together a mix CD – and I’m often amongst the first to hear them. On only two previous occasions, “Loose Cannon†and “Bedrock 3rd Birthday 3 deck edit,†have I ‘gone public’ and written ‘reviews’ of his mixes – no matter how good subsequent CDs have been I’ve felt it best to let others give their opinions on them. Well, “Regime Change†forces my hand I’m afraid – and if anyone wants to question whether I write what follows simply because I’m biased then they are welcome to try…………….. “Regime Change†is the mix equivalent of Seb Coe’s 800 metre world record run in 1981 – it has shifted the standard up again – and similarly not by mere fractions of a second. This has smashed the previous best. This really has upped the ante, raised the bar, increased the stakes etc. Fvcking hell folks. It is only 45 minutes long – Jonathan did this mix because he was short-listed in the ‘best breakbeat DJ’ category at the recent ‘BreaksPoll’ awards – every nominee was asked to submit a 45 minute mix with the winners’ mix being broadcast on Radio 1. So we’re not talking about a long mix here. But what we are talking about is regime change. Regime change is a ‘buzz phrase’ coined recently by the press to describe the not particularly hidden intentions of the ‘Coalition of the Willing’ who are poised to impose their will on the nation and people of Iraq. We in the West are once more about to be treated to nightly bulletins (no pun intended) detailing how the innocent brave of the Coalition are doing in their mission to overpower the innocent brave of Iraq. Presumably the improvement in technology since ‘Desert Storm’ will now enable us to see in ‘Super Slow Motion’ as another of our missiles finds it ‘target’ – and presumably this time around, from your own choice of camera angle ? Maybe, if they borrow some of the technology of our sports broadcasters, we’ll be able to see how fast the missile was going when it struck and what would have happened if it had struck the intended target and not one of our own ‘installations’. Maybe even phone voting for ‘explosion of the day’ …….. ? No matter – regime change is on the collective agenda big time. And ‘Regime Change’ sums it up to a fvcking tee. Mix CD’s need good tunes on them – check; they need good programming of those tunes – check; they need those tunes to be well mixed – CHECK; and then, if you’re really, really lucky they will have an underlying mood that gives context to the tunes, programming and mixing. BANG – ‘REGIME CHANGE’. Sinister keys and sweeps bring you to an affected female vocal that utters, “‘there will be no Armageddon; there will be no sudden ending; we will see our children grow; and theirs grow after them; for 50 years we have waited the future with a mounting sense of fear; our path to the next Millennium seemed certain to be lit by the bright lights of a nuclear conflagration; but now as we raise our eyes we see ………………………………. and her sentence stretches out for the next 45 minutes. So what do ‘we see’ ? Well the world of ‘Regime Change’ is a dark one. It holds up a mirror to the current state of global tension and demands that you listen to the reflection. The backward loops played early on hint at both familiarity and discomfort. Then we’re into three copies of a very dark mood indeed – ‘annihilating’ clashes in your ears with the earlier female vocal reassuring that ‘there will be no conflict’ – the two voices argue – ‘annihilating’ vs ‘no conflict’ – again and again. And again. And three copies of the same record spin in phased phrase almost insignificantly in the background. Fvcking hell man. “War is coming ……†“Stones aren’t safe on earth any more ……†And yet; somehow, this is NOT a suicide soundtrack. There’s an underlying energy in the beats and a tension in the chords that refuses to let your spirits drop. The scene is set. Several copies of the next tune fight each other for supremacy – it’s kind of pointless to speculate how many copies there are – they are fighting it out for your entertainment – just sit back and ‘watch’. Phasing snares ricochet around the speakers like bullets in a Lone Ranger episode – simultaneously adding to the tension and increasing the wonderment. Simple ‘nightmare’ keys loom into sight and the ‘annihilating’ vocal is back – the bass line is as simple and as sick as it gets – one filthy note repeated in batches of 5 repetitions – it is hypnotic, and it is offset against more phasing snares. One underpins the other but one is never quite sure which is which. That bass line finishes and ‘the white man’ poses the next question. Snatches of vocal begin to combine again – suddenly ‘the white man’ is ‘annihilating’. Again. ‘Nothing out here – but the underground’; ‘the white man’; ‘annihilating’; ‘the underground’; over and over – sentences forming from phrases – records talking to each other. But like I said earlier – this isn’t ALL dark – the white man may well be annihilating the underground – but the underground, ‘is where I dance’. And then the challenge – ‘where do you dance ?’ – and before you can answer, you know damn fvcking well where you dance – you dance wherever this record is playing – you can’t help yourself; “where do you dance ?â€. “I dance in the underground…….†Now who’s ‘annihilating’ …………….. ? Half an hour in – 15 minutes left. Up a gear as we move through the next mix – and seeing as we’re now dancing the mood seems to have lightened a touch as well. Don’t get me wrong – this is still moody and powerful, it’s just no longer the musical meltdown it was. Oh no, hold on the voices are back …. ‘I need to ask you something …..’ ‘Spiritual; Secret; Darkness; Nightmares’. And the ubiquitous ‘Annihilating’. And then, after the darkness the light. After the war the peace. After the argument the making up. An uplifting, imploring vocal about fundamental human needs – “I need you – I miss you – I love you – And I live for the look on your face†And the tension of 40 minutes explodes like a laser guided emotion bomb into a gorgeous tune to which words of mine cannot do justice. This mix shouldn’t be track marked in my opinion – it doesn’t need it – it has transcended it. In the same way that only a few other mix CD’s do, this one only really works in its entirety – if you haven’t got at least 45 minutes to spend on it – don’t bother. I guess people will want a track listing too – I will make do without one - what Jonathan has done with this is way much more than ‘a track listing’. Politics and music don’t mix eh ? They do on Jonathan Lisle’s turntables. Respect KS"
