The Smiley Smile Message Board

Despite many a post mentioning the High Llamas, I could not find a topic dedicated to the band other than"I am not connected to the High Llamas..." (http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,9927.0.html) at General On Topic Discussions so.............
I would not call their songs forgettable - I think their albums just do not hold up too well as entities - like early BB-albums, some filler here and there. That said, some very good songs, beautiful arrangements. Considering they do not gig every week to say the least, I think I have been lucky as I have seen them twice! Once as a trio (acoustic guitar, electric piano + bass) upstairs of a South London pub (Dog House) May 2007 and with a bigger line-up (again upstairs!) at Whitechapel Gallery in London  (4th of July 2008). Both gigs worked for me, and prove they have good songs that work even when the arrangements are stripped down to bare essentials.
The Retrospective portion of Retrospective, Rarities & Instrumentals has the essential stuff - found it from Archway Library sale for £1 in a completely playable condition - and loved it since! And I just love the opening track of Can Cladders...
(I'm no Brit but my Beach Boys enthusing really began during my four-year stay in London, oddly enough + The High Llamas also bring some nice(r) memories from those days.)

I've got four or five High Llamas albums, but they're really not much more than pleasant, extremely derivative background music for me. That's better than being terrible by a long shot, but it keeps their status (in my mind's hierarchy of bands) well in check.

I guess it's fair to call their music "background music", but its about the most invigorating and enticing background music I know of.  "Gideon Gaye" and "Hawaii" -- Awrite!

One of those bands I liked in the 1990s that I've since gone off a bit. I still like the song "Giddy and Gay".

I love the trio of Gideon Gaye, Hawaii, and Cold & Bouncy. Not too keen on their more recent output though, although Beet, Maize & Corn does have its moments.

It's like they took "Let's Go Away for A While" and the album "Friends" and just ran and ran with it.  Not such a bad thing.

This thread caused me to re-immerse myself in some High Llamas, Hawaii specifically. Thanks for that!

I saw them in the mid-1990's in a dingy little club in Glasgow more commonly associated with metal bands.

They were touring in support of the just-released Cold And Bouncy and the setlist also included great chunks of Gideon Gaye and Hawaii (which is, imo, their classic).

This was a time when Brian performing concerts again seemed unlikely, finishing SMiLE was a fantasy and all the original recordings being released was definitely from another universe.   As such, this was about as near as you could get to hearing SMiLE-esque music in a live environment as you were likely to get (or so we thought)

The very accurate manner in which they executed their songs was simply jaw-dropping.   I think I'd expected some trimming back from the studio recordings but not much was evident.

True to say they've trodden over much the same ground since then but I'm still a loyal purchaser of their albums as they come out.

Just got the new album 'Here Come the Rattling Trees'. It's a pretty slight release, clocking in at only about 28 minutes long, and feeling even more stripped back arrangement-wise than their last pretty low-key album 'Talahomi Way. I get the feeling that lead Llama Sean O'Hagan is sandbagging his best ideas for a future release, as this effort seems like a hodgepodge retread of melodic ideas past. Unfortunately, even at only 28 minutes, the album is padded with needless and annoyingly long repetition at times (the Llamas worst trait). But, if you're a big fan of the group there's nothing really bad about this album that I haven't already mentioned. It's entirely pleasant sounding music for quiet times. Just don't come to the table expecting a four-course dinner; it's more of a tasty appetizer.

Here Come The Rattling Trees   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-7h9cfoDlw

Mckain James    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEJO5yiT0xk

Lifted from elsewhere on the board:



Absolute standout track for me is "It Might As Well Be Dumbo":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MglG2KfpKc