Customer Reviews

Hawaii

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a difficult but extraordinarily significant recording. The Llamas seem to have ingested the whole history of American music -- from Stephen Foster to Paul Whiteman to Brian Wilson (especially Brian Wilson) and beyond -- and they have created a marvelous tapestry of sound. Do not be fooled by those who call this group derivative. They are the most intelligent and musical post-modern synthesists at work in classical or pop. For the first time in many years, the vanguard is in pop music.

I'm not ashamed of the hyperbole: Hawaii is a masterpiece of pastoral bliss-out, and whatever debt they owe to Brian Wilson/Burt Bacharach(a charge far more tiresome and unoriginal than critics purport the HL to be) is paid back in spades with woozy, pretty compositions laced with the sarcastic lyricism that the High Llamas have largely dispensed with in the years since. I'm in the minority as I think they've gotten exponentially better through the years(Snowbug and Buzzle Bee are among the most spiritual pieces of music I own) but Hawaii has a peculiar, airy charm all its own, and makes for a wonderful starting point. 5 out of 5 with no reservations

Let's forget all the comparisons to other bands and forms.This is the real thing,if I were to put together a list of my favourite 100 discs of all time this would be on it.This is music of a different present time,perfectly concieved and executed.This would be my favourite High Llamas disc and where I would recommend newcomers begin with this great band.

I love the way this develops on disc,building and dissolving sounds to create a musical whole that is unique.Ignore the dodgy cover art...start here.

Well, any wonderfully uninspired music critic must surely believe that artists employ stock 'beach boys' harmonies in order to enhance the emotional resonance of their creation, much in the same way, I suppose, that bands lump an orchestra at the back and instruct them to pump poignancy into a dog of a ballad. Consequently, every record with harmonies is, fairly or unfairly, belittled into being 'Beach Boys-like', and really, every record sounds like the beach boys if you listen hard enough, or if you don't listen at all. The much less common 'Brian Wilson'-like description refers to the soundscapes Wilson used on the Beach Boys records and so because popular groups have still yet to adopt the 'banjo-vibes-harpsichord-rustic rattles' set-up the tag has almost exclusively been stapled to the legs of Sean O'Hagan's High Llamas.

Furthermore 'Hawaii' is said to not only emulate the rich, exotic instrumentation of the Beach Boys circa 1965/66 but more specifically the incomplete 'SMiLE' album. Is there a reason for this ultimately dismissive and condescending, comparison? Maybe it's because 'Hawaii' doesn't sound like anyone else in contemporary popular music, and, well, you've got to compare innovative artists to somebody, surely? But it was SMiLE that marked the peak of Wilson's module song structures, it would have relied heavily on complex group harmonies and it was so experimental that its lofty ambitions were never realised. The High Llamas, on the other hand, employ a more leisurely, flowing, instrumental soundtrack style, with vocals far less prominent and O'Hagan himself coming on with the endearing euphoric fragility of the Flaming Lips' Wayne Coyne. Of course there are similarities to the Beach Boys work, O'Hagan's lyrics do adopt Van Dyke Park's mischievous abstract wordplay for example, but ignore SMiLE, direct you attention to Pet Sounds' 'Let's Go Away For Awhile'. It conjures a similar escape fantasy, a soundtrack to a canyon drive, hot midday sun flickering through the trees above.

Ultimately, and unlike Brian (unfortunately), Sean O'Hagan was able to realise his high ambitions, creating something unique, timeless, remarkably consistent, where those 'O'Hagan'-like sad, yearning but sparkle-eyed melodies perpetuate. Maybe it's too polished, maybe it could have been rawer with some of the Wilson's sessions strange electrical charge, and, you know, at 29 tracks and 77 minutes maybe it's too long, but I say that, and, you know, I'd be happy for the gorgeously haunting codas to 'Nomads' and 'Dressing Up The Old Dakota' to continue their cyclical journeys outwards, onwards and upwards.

pet sounds, revolver, village green preservation society -- just a few of the best albums ever. add high llamas' hawaii to the top ten list. totally original and meticulously crafted. if you like intelligent, addicting, orchestrated pop, this is it!

I recommend this album if you're into taking aural journeys, and if you like records that demand a bit more from the listener. O'Hagan and his Llamas have created a new language here. Much has been made of the Brian-Wilson/SMILE connection to O'Hagan's craftsmanship, but one should disregard that and accept the fact that this man is merely using the same tools to build bigger cathedrals. If you convert to the Llamas, then you'll no doubt want to purchase their other 3 albums (from Amazon.com naturally :-))-- they're *that* contagious! They're not the Beatles or the Beach Boys of the 90s. They're the High Llamas - a band that a post-60s generation deserves. Finally!

I don't know much about this band as my friends above me do, but I can say that I did enjoy the journey this album sent me on. For me, it was like I was on a hot air balloon going to different scenes as the songs changed. The ballon was red and white. I bought this album because when I was perusing through Stereolab discs at HMV, the little title display said : " try High Llamas if you like this band." So I did, and I was not displeased. My favorite song is "Literature is Fluff." It makes me feel like I'm in the middle of one of Tim Burton's movies. It's got that whimsical, la di da, fakeness to it. I love it.

The High Llamas are, almost inarguably, one of the most original and unusual bands making records today. Llama mastermind Sean O'Hagan is often superficially compared to Brian Wilson, or indicted as nothing more than a Pet Sounds plagiarist. Such observation are almost completely inaccurate. O'Hagan is, of course, an on-the-record Wilson aficianado. But then, who with a heartbeat isn't? His music, like Pet Sounds (and the Smile outtakes), contains orchestral instruments aplenty: hopping bells, swaying strings, somber brass blasts, and high harmonies. But he's still very much doing his own thing. O'Hagan's orchestral pop is much colder and more abstract and intellectual than Wilson's direct lyrics and emotions. O'Hagan almost seems more a Van Dykes Park fan than a Brian Wilson one, then. Hawaii is a masterpiece. The songs are gentle, beautiful, and at times, silly (try not laughing while listening to O'Hagan croon "this is what the nomads did, this is what the nomads did" during, of course, Nomads). The long, long album has no breakers or walls between songs; they melt into each other. One song pulls the next into it like the tide pulling shells back into the ocean. Yeah that's it. Hawaii somehow manages to be both perfect headphone listening and/or total background music, depending on your mood. It incorporates electronic gurgles into its big-band-on-morphine sound in a way that taps past musical styles while looking to the future (the band does this better on Cold and Bouncy, which was released after Hawaii, but hey, that's how we learn, right?). This music is serious, silly, beautiful, and completely ridiculous all at once. It is so choice. If you have the means, I highly recommend purchasing a copy.

though there're total 29 tracks,but all the tracks seem to be combined into a single piece of melody,&the music is v.sweet & laid-back,allow u to take a good break &have a cup of coffee, if u like stereolab,u can't miss the high llmas at well.

This music is great ear candy. The lyrics are often funny too. I put this CD on and read arcane literature for hours, totally disconnected from the U.S. of A.