Buzzle Bee [Import]

Editorial Reviews
Album Description
Japanese edition of their forthcoming album featuring an excusive bonus track '2 Part Byke' along with a lyric sheet. 2000 release. Standard jewel case.

Tracks:

The Passing Bell
Pat Mingus
Get Into The Galley Shop
Switch Pavilion
Tambourine Day
Sleeping Spray
New Broadway
Bobby's Court

Amazon.com

For many, Sean O'Hagen--the bright-eyed retro-pop connoisseur who's recorded since the early '90s under the tag of the High Llamas--has never topped the elaborate 1994 psychedelic masterpiece Gideon Gaye. Like close contemporaries the Boo Radleys, there's a lingering suspicion that O'Hagen is a desperately undervalued pop voice, but it's difficult to herald Buzzle Bee. With guest backing vocals from Mary Hansen of occasional collaborators Stereolab and all the retro psychedelic influences fixed in place, O'Hagen's muse shows signs of being irritatingly inflexible. While this doesn't quite bring the Bacharach-gone-Krautrock space fairytale of "New Broadway" crashing to earth, it does leave this album's more prosaic moments--such as the exercise in easy-listening tedium that is "Sleeping Spray"--trampling through the same old leafy glades without any clear direction. More ideas, please. --Louis Pattison

Customer Reviews:

After many listens, finally several straight through,.......2003-11-02

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 song 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, its 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 the most talented and ambitious pop musician in the world right now. And has been for quite some time.

Buzzle Bee.......2001-10-04

I don't get it. Everyone here is looking for that same old catch. Not as good as the old stuff? Each album is like a new band, with new tastes and ideas. Didn't anyone see the hidden meaning behind "The Passing Bell" where Sean O'Hagan clearly refers to laying down at the foot of the rye, and also the cover of the album is much alike to an old printing of the novel, the catcher in the rye. this is possibly thier best album. the fact that some of you cant stand a little change doesnt mean this album is bad. its just lightyears ahead of your mind.

Wonderful.......2000-12-15

I think this album is just great. I see a lot of people putting it down, and then comparing it to their past albums. I don't think you can compare this album with past ones, I think each one stands on its own and if you don't like this one than just listen to Gideon Gaye or whatever one you like. Personally, I think they just get better and better, and while I might not like this one as much as Snowbug, I think songs like New Broadway and Get Into the Galley Shop make this one as grand as any other. I also missed the string section a little but since this album had to be done cheaper than others it probably could not be afforded. However, the album is just as beautiful and wonderful anyways. If this is the direction the Llamas are headed in, then I cannot wait until their next full length. Those who think that they are getting too predictable or whatever, just shut up and keep listening to Hawaii or Gideon Gaye.

What happened to the strings.......2000-12-13

When it comes to the High Llamas, you probably could not find a bigger fan. I have everything they have recorded and play them all constantly. Which brings me to the new CD, Buzzle Bee. It seems that the Llamas have a new label, a sparser sound and a very disapointing CD on thier hands. After Snowbug, I thought that they had really found themselves. The songs on Snowbug were diverse, full of life and unforgettable. The songs on Buzzle Bee are plodding, sound the same and forgettable. What happened to the string section that has been on every recording since Gideon Gaye? Sean O' Hagen is truly one of pops great songwriters. What was he doing the last two years since Snowbug came out? I know that a band like the High Llamas have a hard time selling units in this jaded market and they must be a risk to any record label, but look at Stereolabs last few discs. They have been near brillant. The Llamas need to get back and write some good songs and put out a CD that will redeem them as the pop genuises they are. Buzzle Bee is a big disappointment.

A lazy delight........2000-11-17

So,okay, the High Llamas' songs all sound a bit samey. Their lyrics are nonsensical (but, you know, still kinda fun), and their chord progressions (which are admittedly more sophisticated than those found on the average Oasis album) are becoming more than slightly predictable. Yet Sean O'Hagen's ear for harmony, texture, serviceable melodies, and, yes, lush instumentation continues to fascinate, even though we've heard all this before. The High Llamas definitely have carved out their own niche, and fill it nicely. Aping Brian Wilson--arguably the greatest pop classicist of all time--and adding a dash of Stereolab-esque leftfield electro-acoustica is entirely admirable. O'Hagen's melodies could be stronger, and his songs could be more structured (they seem to meander aimlessly at times), but by now, all this is beside the point--which is to envelop the listener in a blanket of exotic pet sounds that will instantly transport him or her to a palm tree-lined avenue in midwinter Pasadena as the thrum of a convertible completes the feeling of dreamy ambience.

Average customer rating:

Buzzle Bee
The High Llamas
Manufacturer: V2 Japan
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Indie Rock | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Chamber Pop | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

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Alternative Rock | Imports | Stores | Music

Rock | Imports | Stores | Music
ASIN: B000050AM8
Release Date: 2000-10-18

Tracks:

Passing Bell
Pat Mingus
Get into the Galley Shop
Switch Pavilion
Tambourine Day
Sleeping Spray
New Broadway
Bobby's Court
2 Part Byke [*]

Album Description

Japanese edition of their forthcoming album featuring an excusive bonus track '2 Part Byke' along with a lyric sheet. 2000 release. Standard jewel case.

Album Details

Japanese version featuring a bonus track: 2 Part Byke

Average customer rating:

Buzzle Bee
The High Llamas
Manufacturer: Festival
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

Indie Rock | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Chamber Pop | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000052618
Release Date: 2000-10-13

Tracks:

Passing Bell
Pat Mingus
Get into the Galley Shop
Switch Pavilion
Tambourine Day
Sleeping Spray
New Broadway
Bobby's Court

Album Description

It's probably critical overkill to point out that the High Llamas are the prime inheritors of the lush soundscapes that Brian Wilson and Burt Bacharach perfected (each in his own way) during the '60s and early '70s. On the other hand, it's also abundantly

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