Much like the Mona Lisa, the enigmatic duo, DEFCON, are a multi-layered phenomenon and their latest creative offering doesn’t disappoint. Straight out of the gates with a rocket is an ingenious mix of three breakbeat head-melters - James Shinra’s ‘Gritti’, Aloka’s ‘Concave’ and Drexell’s ‘Seven’. Deep, dark and scary, you’d better check nan’s strapped down as this musical mash-up is taking no prisoners. Now firmly in orbit, ‘District Battle’ by Creasol and ‘Random Alias’ by Automat maintain cruising speed. We’re only 14 mins in and on the fifth track - this is mixing at its finest. Next up is PRZ’s ‘The Zone’, an apt title for where DEFCON are at, a breakbeat masterpiece that segues beautifully into techno with Rene Wise’s ‘Pleasure Note’ and R3NY’s ‘Beview’ taking up the batton – *goosebumps. Rondell Adams’s ‘Shakedown’ puts the 303 to good use and we find ourselves in the realms of minimalist, experimental techno reminiscent of its earliest days. Confidential Recipe’s ‘See You’ is a gentler reprise, but we’re not getting away from the madness so easily, with a devilish chorus of voices and the repeated, ‘I can see you’, there’s nowhere to hide. When the Mona Lisa was subjected to various forms of scientific analysis, it was discovered that Da Vinci had started with the skeleton, then painted muscle and sinew, and layer by layer produced what we see today. With Sen-sei & Jesse Brook’s ‘Sunshine’, a new layer of music manifests - deep house. The mixing intensity hasn’t stopped though and before you know it you’re smiling (if not lol’ing) at the voiceover sample in Lauhaus’ ‘Mel Gibson’. Maybe Mel Gibson likes big butts too, but the poem is by Charles Bukowski and called, ‘Girl on the Escalator’. We’re in funkier realms now and Loht Vostok’s ‘Sunshine Diamond’ gives us an effervescent dose of groove, spilling over into Cinthie’s ‘803 The Meme Queen’ and Cygnus’ ‘Cycario’. Coming to the end, true to form, another layer of music is revealed and we have some tech-house with Loht Vostok sampling dance music’s favourite guru, Alan Watts, in ‘Watts’. Finishing off, DEFCON leave us searching for more with the final track by Nebulae, ‘The Seeker’. With 17 tracks in an hour, this is a mixing masterclass that few can achieve. Sheer brilliance. (McMo)