John Gosling's work as
Mekon has always mixed genres while displaying a love of collaborators who are genre busters or game changers themselves. His fourth effort,
Piece of Work, is more of the delicious same with old friend and golden age rapper
Schoolly D returning for two cuts: a brilliant redo of
Schoolly's old-school hit "Saturday Night," which now sounds prime for Death's disco, plus the gutsy, grindy "Hardcore," which features the rapper boasting over a twangy guitar line from
Adam and the Ants' Marco Pironi. For late-'80s babies, that's the dream of hearing
Schoolly, Pironi, and a guy from
Psychic TV (Gosling) all on one nostalgic and vital track, and speaking of
PTV, member Peter Christopherson is honored by the serene and suitably creepy "Sleazy Says," a miniature number that could have easily fallen off some limited-edition 12" from the late, great avant-garde musician's other great band,
Coil.
Pig man
Raymond Watts contributes in numerous ways, from guitar to programming to sampling, and while none of this speaks to the big-beat-meets-dubstep-meets-rap-meets-industrial sound of the album, many old-school electronica fans already understand this, as the guest list is so well picked this just must be a dark delight, even if it's just half the sum of its parts.
Piece of Work is actually much more than that, and while fringe rap fans, aging industrial fans, and electronica addicts will all benefit, so will any listeners who prefer their music delivered in a deep, dark, witty, and infectious style. ~ David Jeffries