In 2000, the techno-folk troubadour Damon Gough, a.k.a. Badly Drawn Boy, won the U.K.-based Mercury Music Prize, Brit-pop's blue ribbon award. His first full-length, The Hour of Bewilderbeast, is a song cycle relaying the life span of a romantic relationship with dry lyrical humor, soft-touch acoustic strumming, mellow horns, and gossamer strings. Repeated listenings are required, but like a down pillow, as your head sinks into this album, its warm comforts and rewards reveal themselves deep within a melodic cushion.