A full-length album by the strange American troubadour David E. Williams, released in 1996 on the legendary but now defunct German Chtulhu label. It contains no less than 19, often quite short songs. Williams treats us to a nice collection of original lyrics, full of grotesque images and absurd humour.
What to think of songs with titles like ‘Vaginal interior decorator’, ‘That skirt’s too short for a funeral, honey’ or ‘I’m in love with the ambulance driver’. Williams sings them in his characteristic, peculiar voice, to which you have to grow accustomed to. The music is quite rich and varied, often very orchestral. It ranges from gothic romantic to heavy dramatic, and is performed by a wide range of instruments, including guitars, strings and horns, piano and accordeon. One of the songs is ‘Pumpernickel Crust’, lead by some oriental sounding strings, a song I already knew from the “Taste This 5” sampler, but here present in a ‘ensemble version’.
The amusing dark twisted ‘lovestories’ that Williams tells, combined with the entertaining music, ensure that you are not bored very quick with this album. I could give dozens of funny quotes from his lyrics, but I’ll close this review with a random one, from the song ‘Fear of food’:
“Only thing I ever got from you:
the spice rack I stole in June.
I had never heard of fennel nor
coriander before.”
