{"title":"High Llamas","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"beet-maize-corn","title":"Beet, Maize \u0026 Corn","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe High Llamas are not a band that has ever put a lot of stock in change. They have charted a course that has remained steadfastly true to their intentions of rechanneling late-'60s Beach Boys records through a filter of Steely Dan-styled soft rock and electronic cleverness. Each record since the brilliant Gideon Gaye has been a near carbon copy of the last, an enjoyable copy but still nothing that different. That being said, their seventh album does represent a rather dramatic shift in the High Llamas' sound. Practically gone are electric guitars and synthesizers; in their place are gently strummed acoustic guitars and lush orchestral string and horn arrangements. Songs like \"High on the Chalk\" and \"The Holly Hills\" go so far as to dispense with guitars and drums altogether. In fact, only a couple of songs have drums, and they are firmly pushed to the background. The organic sounds give the record a newfound sense of poignancy and grace. They are still unflinchingly clever, but cleverness is no longer the best thing they have going for them. Sean O'Hagan's vocals have never sounded better or more resonant, and he surrounds them with clouds of breathtaking background harmonies (one of the singers is Mary Hansen, who was tragically killed late in 2002). The entire record is overflowing with pastoral beauty that reaches a climax at the end of the record with the one-two heart punch of the truly wonderful instrumental \"Monnie\" and the sad and majestic ballad \"The Walworth River.\" Beet, Maize \u0026amp; Corn is a dramatic reinvention of the High Llamas; anyone who had written them off as a one-trick pony had better get working on a new edition because that book is dead wrong. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Drag City","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50416994124107,"sku":"1010457","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}]},{"product_id":"hey-panda","title":"Hey Panda","description":"\u003cp\u003eOpened up by the delirious alchemy of contemporary pop music, Sean O’Hagan leaps back into life with High Llamas, with a set of killer tunes reflecting on dimensional levels how definitions change over time. Arranged by Sean and produced with mix collaborator Fryars to engage the eardrums in non-stop new possibilities, \u003ci\u003eHey Panda \u003c\/i\u003eradiates optimism inspired by the joys and sorrows felt in former lifetimes and the diverse conundrums of today alike.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA modern pop music \/ deep listening experience that could only issue forth from their personal quadrant of the galaxy.\u003ci\u003e Hey Panda\u003c\/i\u003e projects soulfully through an enervating abstract of today’s popular music; the sound of the Llamas’ stately melodies and expressive ditties laid open – blissfully shattered – with drums and vocals hitting different, burning sounds and contemporary production twists pulling the ear at every turn.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEight years since their last release, the pop musical \u003ci\u003eHere Come The Rattling Trees\u003c\/i\u003e, High Llamas have reinvented themselves again, mixing their peerless harmonic voice with what Sean regards as the “extraordinarily good” production sounds of today on \u003ci\u003eHey Panda\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Drag City","offers":[{"title":"Black LP","offer_id":50417405460811,"sku":"2168960","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50417405100363,"sku":"2168959","price":11.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/DC901hires_cd324ce7_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726728916"},{"product_id":"here-come-the-rattling-trees","title":"Here Come the Rattling Trees","description":"\u003cp\u003eMelodiously receptive ears rejoice! The High Llamas, the best in the game at warmly wonderous pop song, arrangement and harmony, return with a new album! With witty, artful musical strokes, Sean and the High Llamas have crafted deft musical sketches with the signature 'Llamas' sound that has evolved over ten album releases since 1992. A colourful array of electric, acoustic, and synthetic instruments, alongside Sean O'Hagan's gentled vocals, are deployed to transport the listener to the low-key highs and lows of the British working week - an incisive, sympathetic view to the wonders slipped in between the pages and too often passed over in everyday life.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Drag City","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50493682057547,"sku":"396864","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/26517a4d-d216-469c-bae3-8d629d7d6523_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727699776"},{"product_id":"buzzle-bee","title":"Buzzle Bee","description":"\u003cp\u003eSixth full length and the first for Duophonic. Eight new tracks showcasing Sean's love of the sixties soundtrack, this album has revealed its subtle and magnificent grandiosity- make no mistake about it; this is a highly ambitious and creative undertaking. This album is a frontier blazer; the first track 'Passing Bell' is the single most beautiful and mesmerizing in the entire 'Llamas canon; the rest of the album follows suit. Every song is a sprawling work of art . Though it's their shortest album, it's the High Llamas album of electronic epics. Yet another masterpiece from a band that is almost unable to create anything but masterpieces. Sean o'hagan is one of the most talented and ambitious pop musicians in the last twenty years.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Drag City","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50822333071691,"sku":"1010456","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/Buzzle_Bee_bae84890_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1731458284"}],"url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/de\/collections\/high-llamas.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}