Badly Drawn Boy

Under the name Badly Drawn Boy, Damon Gough's first album, The Hour of Bewilderbeast, was one of those works of shining brilliance that tend to haunt their creator, as critics often dash an artist's every ensuing effort against that definitive debut. The ghost of Bewilderbeastrattles some chains on BDB's newest CD, One Plus One Is One, but the album stands on its own, a breathtaking downer orchestrated by unusual instruments: celesta, Wurlitzer-Fun Maker, Mellotron. There's even a glockenspiel solo on the CD. As if living up to his own magnum opus isn't enough, Gough's been compared to another British blue boy, Nick Drake, for his heavy finger-plucked acoustic guitar. Gough seems determined to have a pagan folk/pre-Paisley Underground vibe all his own, however, blending folk, jazz, rock and electronica, packaged in layers of slick production. He's a wizard in the studio, but expect his live shows to be a little more pared down instrumentally.