Label: V2

Steely Dan – anything. Beach Boys – Pet Sounds. To deny The High Llamas favorable comparisons to their heroes would be almost like missing the point. I mean it is what it is. Stereolab string arranger Sean O’Hagen is truly a gifted musician. With an understanding of the limitlessness of the studio, O’Hagen is able to add enough dots and loops to his shimmering vocal and instrumental compositions that it becomes hard to argue with what it is the Llamas are able to create.

The Llamas are lava lamp music, lounge music at its most skilled. On “Tilting Windmills,” although we become aware that Brian Wilson may have outgrown his younger brilliance, we feel refreshed that The High Llamas were the careful students that were of his early work so that our generation is provided the opportunity to experience this music once again as it’s being made.

“Cold & Bouncy” may not be the Llamas best record, I prefer “Gideon Gaye” or “Hawaii,” it nevertheless offers more of something very good. Gently blowing strings and Xylophones cover your walls with a lightness MTV will never provide. Inevitably a classical composer if born in another era, O’Hagen has a patience and orchestral sensitivity that most rock stars are incapable of today. Derivative- maybe, but excellent- definitely and always.

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 2nd, 1998 at 12:33 pm and is filed under music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.