The Hour of Bewilderbeast

Damon Gough wrote and produced the album and played several of the instruments himself, with members of Alfie and Doves joining in. Andy Votel, who co-founded Twisted Nerve with Gough, also produced material on it and designed the sleeve, a collage loosely based on Leonardo da Vinci's Vitruvian Man. Gough signed to XL in 1999 without being sure he wanted to make an album, and the record grew out of sessions in bedrooms and studios around Manchester with horns, clavinets, vibraphones and theremins among the instruments. One Guardian writer said it was apparently whittled down from 100 songs to the final eighteen.

The title has a story. Touring Japan with Alfie, Gough told the band at a soundcheck that he felt bewildered, a member of Alfie said he felt like a bewilderbeast, and Votel later told Gough that this was his hour. For the American release the sleeve was altered to remove a photograph of Woody Allen that the copyright owners had not authorised, and Magic in the Air was re-recorded to replace a section using lyrics from Taja Sevelle's song Love Is Contagious after her publisher objected.

Singles and charts

Four singles were released: Once Around the Block (August 1999, reissued later), Another Pearl (5 June 2000), Disillusion (4 September 2000) and Pissing in the Wind (7 May 2001). Their UK peaks were 27 for the reissue of Once Around the Block, 41, 26 and 22. The album reached number 13 in the UK, and the UK year-end album chart placed it at 64 for 2000. It was certified platinum.

Reception

Metacritic gives it 78 out of 100. Pitchfork's Brent DiCrescenzo reviewed it in September 2000, comparing its feel to the early solo work of Paul McCartney, with eighty percent developed gems, and wrote that piano, strings, harps and Wurlitzer attached insect wings to the songs. Rolling Stone compared Gough to Elliott Smith and Nick Drake, while Spin was more mixed. Pitchfork put it eighteenth on its list of the albums of 2000, and NME put it fourth on its own.

It won the 2000 Mercury Prize. On receiving the cheque from Jools Holland he tossed the prize money on the ground and said he had always assumed he would not win, because good things do not normally happen to good people. In 2018 the Guardian ranked it tenth of all Mercury winners and said its eighteen songs remain widely loved. It appears in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.