Boyd Rice and Friends – Music, Martinis and Misanthropy

Originally released in 1990, but long out of print. On this cult album the notorious Boyd Rice works together with many of his friends, like Douglas P., Tony Wakeford, Rose McDowall and Micheal Moynihan. We are far removed here from the noisier works of NON, “Music, Martinis and Misantrophy” offers us mostly spoken word and acoustic tunes. The vinyl version comes as a picture disc but comes without a booklet, while the cd version has a nice embossed digipack and a 12-page booklet with new photos. Both reissue editions have a bonus track, which is a little shorter on the vinyl version.

Their are a few estranging soundscapes present, but most songs consists of the recognizable voice of Boyd Rice, reciting his misantrophic texts against an acoustic guitar background. Though his view of the world is very bleak and grim, there is also quite a dose of sarcasm and dark humour present. This comic effect is enhanced by the sweet bubblegum sound of a few tracks, like ‘Down in the willow garden’ or ‘I’d rather be your enemy’.

“Music, Martinis and Misantrophy” contains great classics like ‘People’ or ‘Disneyland Can Wait’, and it was about time that they are widely available again.

“someday i’ll take you to disneyland
i’ll buy you a pair of mouse ears
tons of cotton candy
and a big helium balloon with mickey inside
but all that can wait
today i’ll buy you a 357 magnum
and lots and lots of bullets…”

artist: Boyd Rice
label: NER
details: picture lp, limited to 2000 copies. BAD VC1969