Review: Mac Gollehon & The Hispanic Mechanics ‘Pistoleros’
At the risk of sounding overly gushing, I’m a superfan when it comes to Mac Gollehon‘s output. From his 2021 collab with Gridfailure on Dismemberment Cabaret, to 2022’s The End Is The Beginning (hitting number one on my end-of-year top ten) and finally 2023’s Bite Of The Street (which made my top ten that year too), I’ve been there, eagerly poised to throw in my two pence.
As stated in prior reviews, Mac is a highly successful session musician who has guested on albums by some of the world’s biggest artists, ala Duran Duran, Grace Jones, Chaka Khan, Billy Ocean and David Bowie, to name but a few. Recent years have seen him go down a far more experimental route, and here he is joined by an extensive cast of musicians too numerous to name. After two agonising years waiting for a new release, I am, to borrow an American phrase, ‘stoked’ to be covering another Mac release.
Pistoleros introduces drum ‘n’ bass and Latin grooves, the latter of which Gollehon has had a lifelong affinity for. Suffice to say, if the majority of dance music demonstrated this level of imagination as opposed to the Ministry of Sound mindlessness we are usually subjected to, I’d have more inclination towards it. An exceptionally thought-out opener.
Stud Poker has a definite Fela Kuti afrobeat sensibility with tribal rhythms and is THE track that earns its world music tag as mentioned in the record’s PR notes. Sign It is imbued with the spirit of Herbie Hancock’s Rockit as well as Afrika Bambaataa’s Renegades of Funk. If, like me, you have an affinity for early ‘80s electro-funk and post-disco outfits such as Liquid Liquid and ESG, then you’ll be all over this.
MAC Attack was released as a preview single with a video that featured Vincent Pastore aka Salvatore ‘Big Pussy’ Bonpensiero from The Sopranos. The track would have made for a far better intro during the latter’s title sequence instead of Alabama 3’s Woke Up This Morning. It has a menacing quality with a New York swagger and will have you gripped throughout.
Mac Gollehon, accompanied by The Hispanic Mechanics, has delivered yet another breathtaking body of work which cocks a snook at musical conventions and boundaries…
Vinny ‘Bay Parkway Snake’ has a fantastic eeriness to it, not too unlike Italian soundtrack masters Goblin, bringing a sense of foreboding to proceedings, while Killer Joe ‘Zillionario’ features scat singing, my previous experience of which was limited to Scatman John in the 1990s. Thankfully, instead of the mindless euro disco/techno pap, the music here takes you down the darker progressive hip-hop route of artists such as Dälek and General Patton vs. The X-Ecutioners, oozing effortless cool.
Atiba ‘Side Eye’ Powers sees dreamy electronica injected into the sexy Kind Of Blue era Miles Davis vibes Mac has going on here. Henry Rollins once commented that Kind Of Blue was an album guaranteed to get you laid, and the same could be applied to this one as well. However, it has a fresh, contemporary feel and showcases Gollehon as a forward-thinking, innovative creative force.
Stacked Deck concludes Pistoleros with pure big beat/rave wonder taking you back to The Prodigy’s classic 1992 debut full-length The Prodigy Experience and its brazen genre cross-pollination. There’s even a little Mahavishnu Orchestra Fusion slipped in for good measure.
As to be expected, Mac Gollehon,accompanied by The Hispanic Mechanics,has delivered yet another breathtaking body of work which cocks a snook at musical conventions and boundaries. If Miles’ fusion era had displeased jazz purist dullards such as Stanley Crouch, then Pistoleros would have him spitting feathers, which only serves to make the album that much more appealing.
Label: World Funk Orchestra
Band Links: Facebook | Spotify | Instagram
Scribed by: Reza Mills
