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The High
Llamas: Retrospectives, Rarities, and Instrumentals
The High Llamas are a group, but they have a definite leader in Sean OHagan. OHagan was a member of Microdisney and has worked with Stereolab over the years, but really became a household name (if you happened to live in a house with critics and/or hipsters, that is) in the mid-90s with the masterfully arranged retro-futuristic pop records Gideon Gaye and Hawaii. Releases that were obviously hugely influenced by the peak-period Beach Boys (Pet Sounds, 1966 through Sunflower, 1970, including the legendary and unfinished Smile), but also showed major signs of 70s pop-perfectionists Steely Dan. The isolated bleeps and blips, brought to you by Simeon of electronic pioneers Silver Apples, were updated (and are reminiscent of Stereolab), giving the outfit a Now Sound. The backbone of a typical High Llamas track has the laid-back gallop of the Beach Boys, the rhythmic keyboard-playing style of Brian Wilson, the vocals of Donald Fagen, and the squiggles of Simeon. Lyrically, OHagan (also the vocalist) avoids Brians openhearted wordplay, instead staying cryptic and free of all lovey-dovey sentiment. Like Wilson, OHagan saturates the tape with music, incorporatingamong other thingsvibraphone, harpsichord, moog synthesizer, organ, flute, horns, strings and banjo, an instrument used prominently in the Llamas work. Anyone with an ear for POP will notice the Beach Boys-style harmonies and those ever-present melodies. The first in the two-disc set, Retrospective, includes pieces from all of The High Llamas major label studio albums (sans the most recent, Buzzle Bee, which came out on Drag City in the States). Checking In, Checking Out is a fitting opener, as its one of their catchiest songs, and a hit in another time, another place. Glide Time flows like the sleepy beauty of a wordless Friends track running smack into the primal synths of Love You (Beach Boys from 1968 & 1977). Nomads has that old-timey Smile pacing and changes, complete with sparse, Hal Blaine-esque percussion (is it any wonder Brian loves Hawaii?). Literature is Fluff has moments of 70s AM pop and once again drenches the recording with sound while somehow maintaining a sparseness. The soothing cacophony at songs end reveals another OHagan staple, that of the surprise turn at the finish. The unexpected is the expected in the High Llamas universe. The Rarities & Instrumentals set is the type of disc that delights fans and collectors (of any group) frustrated by the Euro-only b-sides, and the elusive Japanese pressing bonus track. But this is also the place where the compilation begins to drag, with a few too many undistinguished instrumentals and a bossa nova number that goes nowhere (Shuggie Todd). The one previously unreleased track (Vampo Brazil) appears to be unfinished (the vocal sounds like a guide, and the track could use a remix). Youd be forgiven if you said, all the songs sound the same on this two-disc anthology, but youd truly be missing out. OHagan is actually challenging himself and the listener, throwing in curves, like the ska-d out synths laid over a marching beat, which then turns to groovy dub in Over the River. Then theres Sparkle Up, with its outer space effects petering out to solo banjo plucking, giving way to strings, all in the first ten seconds! Or how about the flat-out surprise melding of Kraftwerk and Stevie Wonder in Triads?! Simply put, Retrospective, Rarities & Instrumentals, like the ideal two-CD grouping, is the perfect start for the beginner and a necessity for the fanatic. And the High Llamas are a pop anomaly, you know, whose songs have been executed with the care of a classic, 60s-like arranger whos unafraid to show his roots. Your ears need to find them.
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