Badly Drawn Boy

By Unknown Author

At this point in the new Millennium, with not much of cosmic import having happened, maybe the time is right for an album of quasi-mystical jazz-folk-pop written, recorded and produced by an obnoxious Mancunian called Damon. Badly Drawn Boy (easily the best moniker in showbiz, anywhere, ever) has resisted the slide into Beta Band-style perversion and has actually given us an album to love. Seriously: this is good shit.

The Boy has been wearing a shabby coat and hanging around the bike sheds of the national music scene for a few years now, but apart from his glorious and totally out of character contribution to James Lavelle's ill-adivsed UNKLE project, has failed to make much of an impression beyond the NME-reading clique. He put on a couple of legendarily shambolic 'gigs' when he was supposed to be impressing A&R men, released a couple of legendarily high-quality EPs, was generally a bit unpleasant, and kept everyone waiting.

So when the album opens with the sound of a tuba, you fear the worst. The words 'novelty record' float into your brain for a couple of moments. Your pulse quickens. But before the sweat glistening on your brow has time to condense, The Shining kicks in properly and we are in Badly Drawn Boy land: it's acoustic, it's not very loud, and it's gorgeous.

From here on in it's like a dream: each track improves on the one before, the idiosyncratic vocals and jazzy arrangements making more and more sense as the album goes on. Some kind of peak is reached with the pulsating Another Pearl, separated from the classic Once Around The Block (still the funkiest guitar track for many a year) only by some unfortunate comedy electro on Body Rap

It soon picks up again, and after the distinctly Simon &Garfunkel This Song passes gently by it's down to the weepies like Magic In The Air and Pissing In The Wind to wrap up a memorable experience.

The man might be less than friendly, but the music just wants to give you a big hug, and then maybe have a dance with you. You could probably break up to this album, but then, you could probably get together to it too. It would wake you up as effectively as it would send you to sleep. It's a multi-purpose, multi-faceted masterpiece.

8th Jun 2000