John Gosling (AKA Mekon) has spent his musical career oscillating between rock and dance music. Starting out in earnest as member of early Eighties outfit Psychic TV he left them in 1985 having been converted to nascent dance music by 23 Skidoo.
Setting up as a DJ/ producer he went on to re-mix Madonna and form Bassomatic with William Orbit.
He first grabbed attention under his Mekon moniker with 'Phatty's Lunch Box'. A post house break-beat EP, it landed in 1994 - just in time to slot into the growing trip hop movement.
Returning to rock he joined the ill-fated indie-dance cross over act, Agent Provocateur, but returned to his Mekon incarnation after Mathew Ashman, the band's guitarist, tragically died in 1996.
His pedigree makes Mekon an identi-kit Wall of Sound artist.
The album floats in like a lost take of 'Strawberry Fields' or 'Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds' twinkling harpsichord keyboards mangled through psychedelic sound effects. And then the beats start to churn while the scratches and melody compete for foreground.
The first single, 'What's Going On Mekon', featuring Roxanne Shante, tweaks in with 'Shaft' inspired wah guitar and slices Eighties sounds with Nineties production tricks - the whole effect being topped perfectly by Shante's mid Eighties vocal.
'Out of My Soul' is a rhythmically assaulted pop song featuring Marc Almond. 'Let's Rock moves back onto safer big beat territory, before 'Calm Gunshot' launches into the real thing, thumping out a mosh-tastic guitar groove that will have the boys slaying their air guitars on the speaker stacks. 'Irregular' throws ragga into the big beat mixer and 'Let Me Hit Them' un-apologetically bounces along on off-beat big beat rhythms and a crescendo of 303 messiness.
This sets the pattern until Everywhere drops the mood, calming us for Mark Almond return on 'Please Stay' a Hollywood meets Mersey Beat hotel foyer/ wedding reception affair that twinkles with tongue in cheek production.
Finally Mekon puts Almond through a meat grinder and transforms him into John Lydon's cyber brother.
Relax with Mekon. The voice of reason.
