The High Llamas: C or D?

of course living in new zealand means you don't need drippy soundtracks to evoke the beach, the surf, the sun, warmth etc.. so perhaps this is music for northern hemisphere conditions

(oh, that didn't stop me liking Fennessz Endless Summer, but that record is a quantum leap from Hawaiia, the latter a record with too many theatrics and not much content, ie songs, ideas, & w/out the wit of stereolab or the almost visceral Fennessz)

gideon gaye is perfect winter's time music, i found. perfect for when yer snowed in, can't get outdoors, and all you can do is watch the snow pile up against yer window and drink warm tea. which might be the point. and it was made for some ridiculously low amount of money (like $10K?) if i remember correctly, which makes it even more of an achievement.

the couple of times i've seen them live were among the best shows i've ever seen by anyone.

Microdisney's 1st album (what's it called 'Everybody is Fantastic' or something?)is utterly classic - once or twice a year I'm convinced that 'Sun' might just be the *best thing ever*. Possibly the best lyrics too.

I loved the songs on 'Clock Came Down...' but prefer the Peel versions of 'Loftholdingswood' etc etc. All great stuff. I didn't really like the last couple of MD albums and The Fatima Mansions were almost as bad as the High Llamas.

Fatima Mansions - have a few more moments, one or two per record and pretty much the whole of Bertie's Brochures is good.

Microdisney - have even more moments, their last album I always think of as a lost classic but I only have it on a tape that doesn't work anymore so this may be nostalgia talking. "Rack" is my favourite song by them FWIW.

I always wanted to get hold of the tapes of the material Sean O'Hagen was arranging for Brian Wilson and Andy Paley, has anyone ever heard these tracks (or knows where I can get them from?)

Chew: if you don't have the Paley/Wilson demos, email off board & I'll see what I can do. Patchy, but moments of greatness.

i like stereolab for the synths, bass, drums, horns, strings, disco, more synths, vocals, guitar, probably in that order, but at least all at once
i can see now that 'lab had the tunes and rhyhtms, while o'hagan provided plenty of atmosphere. since there's only so much from the 'lab and i dunno, maybe that's it anyway, which would be very sad as i think they were going in a great new direction, having somewhat jettisoned the guitar rock or at least made it sound like something other than guitar rock, the tragic forced exit of some of the bubble-vocals would make for an interesting album made more of semi-instrumentals i reckon.

anyway i can hear all those noises on this later llamas record, and if the songs themselves make me think of paul mccartney, with all the best intentions and hand-picked band etc. etc., this makes me think that the greatest music from these guys does still boil down to the mandatory good harmonic tune, so i think the llamas-lab axis should continue, with all those noises included. maybe a new band, tripartite songwriting.

Just bought Beet, Maize & Corn. Just finished listening and it seems like I just put it on. Beautifully done background music. Emphasis on background. To give it some credit, I think it would make for great baby-making music. It evokes springtime to a T.

If O'Hagan brings a small orchestra with him, I'll gladly hop along and see the Llamas when/if they come to town. I saw them many years tour for "Hawaii", and it was absolutely amazing. Later, I saw them tour for "Cold and Bouncy" and it was... well, not amazing.

*Highly recommended*.

definitely a favorite disc of mine.

utterly classic
search: almost everything, *especially* Buzzle Bee, think S O'Hagen was the 2nd best thing that ever happened to Stereolab,(John McEntire being the 1st- wrong wrong wrong)
destroy: Gideon Gaye

and the student has become the teacher - Brian who?
-said for effect

this i agree with, Sean's arrangement work is by far is greatest strength, and he's feckin good at it. Buzzle Bee is no more or less dull than most of the HLs stuff.

Their lyrics are like Steely Dan with the obliqueness maxed out.

It’s a very good album. The tracks are lil impressionistic paintings, with the lyrics. That’s the High Llamas way. I think Sean writes pretty evocative lyrics and clearly knew his strengths weren’t the same as Cathal’s.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ktv4ATNdGyU

Enjoying this lesser known Sean O' album today. It's so nice. He makes very good sounds.

wow what the hell is "hey panda" (in a good way). the only reference point i have for this is like, lambchop's this (is what i wanted to tell you) (which i adore). it's not as good as that but i'm very intrigued

He did a song with his daughter a couple years ago that foreshadowed this new direction. I really dig it - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KF1X_N4wraY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNWxJWAlrtM

\m/

new Cabane record is up on Bandcamp and flying out (vinyl only). self-released again, so may be one pressing of 500 like the first (thought they did do CDrs).

https://cabanemusic.bandcamp.com/album/br-l-e

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YekklReDLPI

I love it.

It’s so good. A repeat listen since the first upload. Just lovely in every way.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YekklReDLPI

The High Llamas in conversation and playing a few tunes from Hey Panda + signing LPs and CDs at Rough Trade East on 3rd April. Ticket price includes the album in the physical format of your choice. Tickets on sale now via DICE.

Hint from Sean on Instagram of some proper live dates later on.

9/10 in Uncut.

Haven't seen the Llamas get such a high score from the press in a long while.

Though they're all 9/10s to me.

Looks like Drag City is about to re-issue the Llamas back-catalog, beginning with Hawaii.

Actually, I think beginning with Gideon Gaye. I keep forgetting about Gideon Gaye, which is also an excellent album.

Looks like Drag City is about to re-issue the Llamas back-catalog, beginning with Hawaii.

― afriendlypioneer

This is great news. I've been hoping they would do this for years.

I am so hyped for the new album. All the reviews I'm reading make it sound very interesting.

With a title track that references Sean O'Hagan's obsession with a carrot eating panda he watched on TikTok during lockdown, it's clear The High Llamas are leaning into mass culture on this one. 2016's 'Here Come the Rattling Trees' was still indebted to the '60s pop and exotica that had shaped the band's entire output up to that point, but here they sound driven by a different beat. O'Hagan's voice is often distorted by AutoTune - on 'The Water Moves' he sounds like a sunnier Rainy Miller, and on 'La Masse' he croons over an interpolation of the Super Mario theme - and his accompaniments are bright, breezy and unashamedly electronic. There's still a trace of exotica, of course ('The Grade' is a great blend of cruise-liner pop and contemporary R&B), but The High Llamas have evolved.

'How the Best Was Won', a duet with Bonnie "Prince" Billy, is probably the most striking deviation. Anchored by a skittering trap beat (really), the track comes off like Jeremih singing country in the style of blue-eyed soul, with a chorus that might be the theme from a children's song. It's not even the only Will Oldham collaboration either; the fabled folk revivalist crops up again on 'Hungriest Man', a cybernetic Dylan-alike that's best compared with Bon Iver's quirkiest cottage rap. It's all good fun, and when it works, 'Hey Panda' is effortlessly charming: 'Sisters Friends', a collaboration with Blackpool-born singer-songwriter 'Sisters Friends' sounds like Steely Dan jamming with T-Pain, if you can imagine it.

https://boomkat.com/products/hey-panda

Isn't "when it works" Boomkat code for "buy something else"?

There’s other positive blurbs out there, just liked the way they described it.

Listened this morning.

Probably the most experimental Llamas album. Surprising lack of strings though production is busy and I may have missed some elements

Will Oldham is great. They should collaborate more. Old posts in here complained about Sean’s thin voice and his presence adds a new element.

It’s also fun and weird. Great late era album from one of my all time favorite artists.

It's going to take me a while to wrap my head around this album, was not expecting this direction, had more or less given up on new music from them altogether. It's strange hearing all these electronic elements after they pretty much abandoned that aspect of their music for the last 20 years.

this owns

i like this but am still not entirely sure what to make of it, it's wild

it is equally irritating and compelling?

It's oddly the most personal album Sean's made. Some of the lyrics are actually about feelings & thoughts. Granted, I read a couple interviews for added context, particularly this one - https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/music/2024/03/30/sean-ohagan-that-lovely-beautiful-humanity-i-had-with-cathal-coughlan-in-those-later-years-was-amazing/

I really like it.

Best HL album since Gideon Gaye. I'm surprised by how much I'm liking this and I generally hate autotune but the Bonnie Prince Billy tracks are really effective. "Sisters Friends" has really grown on me too. He seems to have finally shaken off his Beach Boys obsession (although traces are still there of course). Sounds contemporary but still with enough avant pop leanings and nifty chord changes to make it distinctively O'Hagan.

I just caught up with this radio show on Mixcloud from 8th April. Features Sean & Livvy O’Hagan live in session, an unreleased Livvy solo track and an extended interview with both. Really interesting discussions, and the session includes a cover of Tyler, The Creator’s “See You Again”. Starts about 35-40 minutes in, and lasts for nearly an hour:
https://www.mixcloud.com/sohoradio/barkino-125-sean-ohagan-livvy-ohagan-in-session-08042024/

mentioned above, but the Drag City represses are now available for pre order: https://www.dragcity.com/products/the-highest-llama-bundle

first time for Santa Barbara on LP

I feel like I've been, the hungriest man in the woooooooorld, for sooooo long

Every call from you Lord 🎵
Every man in song 🎵

I got my new records this week. Gosh, Sean O'Hagan is still just the dreamiest man in music as far as I'm concerned.

Santa Barbara is my favorite record in the world right now.

It's good.