The High Llamas

The High Llamas are a London-based musical group, formed by the Irish guitarist and songwriter Sean O'Hagan after the demise of his group Microdisney. O'Hagan writes and arranges the music and the rest of the group consists of drummer Rob Allum, keyboardist/cellist Marcus Holdaway, and ex-Microdisney bassist Jon Fell. Guitarist John Bennett played with the band for several years, leaving in 2000. The core group is augmented by guitarist Pete Aves and vibist/percussionist Dominic Murcott, both for live performances and on record.

Musical style

The High Llamas' output (including the eponymous debut album, technically credited to "Sean O'Hagan") showed influences including pre-1950s American pop and folk, Brazilian jazz and bossa nova, film composers of the 1960s, and 1990s European electronic music. O'Hagan's work most frequently included references to Brian Wilson's psychedelic period and/or kitsch lounge revival. Although O'Hagan sometimes expresses discomfort at reviewers' claims of derivative works, he generally wears his influences on his sleeve, even naming several more recent songs after the composers and pop musicians who most inspired that particular track (examples: "Bach Ze", "Pat Mingus", "Shuggie Todd"). The Beach Boys' influence on O'Hagan is most obvious on the expansive, cinematic 1996 album Hawaii, a musical spaghetti western on themes of tourism and colonialism. It blended elements of Pet Sounds, Smile, and Wild Honey such that O'Hagan was recommended by Bruce Johnston to produce an aborted Beach Boys comeback LP. O'Hagan had played on some The Beach Boys dates. The High Llamas had previously provided a backing band for Arthur Lee's Love in the mid 1990s.