Manchester native Damon "Badly Drawn Boy" Gough became an overnight sensation
as a British version of Beck with
the amateurish, lo-fi, poignant bedroom sound expounded in a series of EPs.
EP1 (Twisted Nerve, 1997) contains
Riding With Gabriel Greenburg,
Shake The Rollercoaster,
No Point In Living,
Sugarstealer.
EP2 (Twisted Nerve, 1998) contains
I Love You All,
The Treeclimber,
Thinking Of You.
EP3 (1998) contains
My Friend Cubilas,
I Need A Sign,
Interlude,
Meet On The Horizon,
Road Movie,
Kerplunk By Candlelight.
It Came From The Ground (1999) contains
It Came from The Ground,
Walkman Demo 1,
Outside Is A Light 1,
Outside Is A Light 2,
Walkman Demo 2.
Nursery Rhyme, on U.N.K.L.E.'s Psyence Fiction (1998), the
single Whirlpool (1999) and the
double single Once Around The Block (1999), a jazzy and breezy singalong
backed with
Soul Attitude and the soulful but sterile ballad Another Pearl,
completed his early discography, one of the most intense of any debuting
artist at the turn of the decade.
The best of the EPs and the singles make up the compilation
How Did I Get Here (Toy, 1999).
Contrary to expectations, his sprawling 18-song debut album,
The Hour of The Bewilderbeast (XL/Twisted Nerve, 2000),
was instead a
lush (accordion, theremin, xylophone, piano, harp, violins, oboe, trumpet),
heavily-produced pop album,
that owed more to Radiohead than to his generation's singer-songwriters.
Gough's main asset is to be capable of being
elegant, eloquent and emotional at the same time.
Virtually a concept album about a romantic relationship, Gough can ape
the sweet and sour balladry of mainstream pop (the languid The Shining
with strings and trombone, the piano-based Magic In The Air),
occasionally regressing to a bucolic-psychedelic
Donovan
(Fall In A River,
This Song).
Gough is rarely aggressive (the hypnotic Everybody's Stalking,
the crescendo of Pissing In The Wind),
as his feelings
are mostly romantic and intimate. Rage is not part of his psychic landscape.
The album rarely deals with social issues or even remotely with reality's
ugly face.
A touch of
jazz (Once Around The Block),
funk (Disillusion)
and rhythm'n'blues (Say It Again)
increases the sonic appeal.
Banned from the album, the eccentric that rules his live shows surfaces only
in Cause A Rockslide (a dreamy falsetto litany with insistent guitars)
and Stone On The Water (for strings, acoustic guitar and irregular drum beat), possibly the two best songs.
Two of the catchiest songs are recycled from previous EPs:
Another Pearl and Once Around The Block.
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(Translation by/ Tradotto da Dario Ferraro)
Damon "Badly Drawn Boy" Gough e` nato a Manchester e si e` improvvisamente imposto come la versione
inglese di Beck, con lo straziante lo-fi rock amatoriale esposto in una serie di Ep: EP1 (Twisted
Nerve, 1997) contiene Riding With Gabriel Greenburg, Shake The Rollercoaster, No Point In Living,
Sugarstealer. EP2 (Twisted Nerve, 1998) contiene I Love You All, The Treeclimber,
Thinking Of You. EP3 (1998) contiene My Friend Cubilas, I Need A Sign, Interlude, Meet
On The Horizon, Road Movie, Kerplunk By Candlelight. It Came From The Ground (1999)
contiene It Came from The Ground, Walkman Demo 1, Outside Is A Light 1, Outside Is A Light 2, Walkman
Demo 2.
Nursery Rhyme, su Psyence Fiction degli U.N.K.L.E. (1998), il singolo
Whirlpool (1999) e il doppio singolo Once Around The Block (1999), con Soul Attitude e
Another Pearl completano la sua veloce discografia, una delle piu` intense di qualsiasi debuttante dell'intera
decade. Il Meglio degli Ep e dei singoli e` pubblicato nella compilation How Did I Get Here (Toy,
1999). Al contrario delle aspettative, il suo album di debutto The Hour of The Bewilderbeast
(XL/Twisted Nerve), , composto disordinatamente da 18 canzoni e` piuttosto un fertile (Xilophoni, piano, arpa,
violini, oboe, trombe) e ben prodotto album pop, che e` maggiormente debitore ai Radiohead piuttosto che alla
sua generazione di cantautori. Il principale pregio di Gough e` la capacita` di essere elegante, eloquente e
emotivo allo stesso tempo. In pratica, il suo e` un concept-album su una relazione romantica, dove Gough puo'
imitare le ballads piu` dolci e melense di Paul mc Cartney (The Shining, Fall In A River, Magic In The
Air), recedendo occasionalmente al George Harrison bucolico (Camping Next To Water, Pissing In The
Wind). Gough e` raramente aggressivo (Everybody's Stalking), e i suoi sentimenti sono piu` romantici
e intimi: la rabbia non e` una parte del suo repertorio. L'album raramente tocca i problemi sociali o anche
remotamente la faccia triste della realta`. Un tocco di jazz (Stone On The Water, Bewilder), funk
(Body Rap), soul (Disillusion) e rhythm and blues (Say It Again) aumenta il fascino del suo
suono. Bandita dall'album, l'eccentricita` che regna nei suoi show dal vivo ritorna solo in Cause A
Rockslide. L'unico problema e` che le migliori canzoni sono quelle riciclate dai precedenti Ep: Another
Pearl e Once Around The Block.
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