Gideon Gaye

Gideon Gaye is the second studio album by the Anglo-Irish avant-pop band the High Llamas, released in 1994 on the Brighton-based Target label.^[1] Notable for anticipating the mid 1990s easy-listening revivalism,^[4] the album's music was influenced by Brian Wilson, Steely Dan, Brazilian bossa nova and European film soundtracks,^[5] and was recorded with a £4000 budget.^[6] It was met with high praise by the British press.^[7] Q dubbed the LP "the best Beach Boys album since 1968's Friends".^[8][9] In the US, the album was indifferently promoted.^[7]

Gideon Gaye
Studio album by the High Llamas
Released	1994 (1994)
Recorded	Late 1993 – early 1994[1]
Genre	Experimental pop[2] art pop[3]
Length	54:48
Label	Target
Producer	Charles Francis Sean O'Hagan
The High Llamas chronology
Santa Barbara (1992) Gideon Gaye (1994) Hawaii (1996)
Singles from Gideon Gaye
"Checking in, Checking Out" Released: 5 October 1995

Background

Upon release, bandleader Sean O'Hagan responded to Beach Boys comparisons: "There are aspects that are blatantly Brian-esque, because I've always been a huge Brian [Wilson] fan. He has been the biggest influence in my career to date. I was always shy [about] how much I liked him, but this time I decided to be blatant about it. But then I'm also a huge John Cale fan."^[10] The album's sleeve art is a homage to Van Dyke Parks' 1967 album Song Cycle, which uses the same Torino Italic Flair typeface.^[11]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[12]
The Guardian	[13]
Select	4/5[14]

Scott Schinder of Trouser Press reviewed: "The result is a homespun, heartfelt art-pop masterpiece, with airy arrangements and gorgeous melodies in richly detailed tunes — 'The Dutchman,' 'Checking In, Checking Out,' 'The Goat Looks On' and the fourteen-minute 'Track Goes By' — that liberally quote Brian Wilson's lost classic [Smile] without sacrificing O'Hagan's purposefully playful point of view."^[3] Writer Tim Page called the album "suffused throughout with a gentle wistfulness that is never made quite explicit ... [the album] is also intriguing on a purely formal level. The album's centerpiece is 'The Goat Looks On,' yet the entire disc might be described as a study of the creation of a song called 'The Goat Looks On.'"^[1]

Critic Richie Unterberger opined: "It's an impressive outing that sounds like little else in the alternative rock world of the mid-'90s. But it only establishes O'Hagan and his various pals as charming emulators, rather than true innovators.^[12] CMJ New Music Monthly's Steve McGuirl wrote of the album: "A tad academic, perhaps; but to dismiss Gideon Gaye as merely retro cheapens a beautiful record and the music that inspired it."^[15]

Track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Giddy Strings"	0:27
2.	"The Dutchman"	4:41
3.	"Giddy and Gay"	4:55
4.	"Easy Rod"	2:04
5.	"Checking in, Checking Out"	5:45
6.	"The Goat Strings"	2:06
7.	"Up in the Hills"	4:57
8.	"The Goat Looks On"	6:13
9.	"Taog Skool No"	1:36
10.	"Little Collie"	0:44
11.	"Track Goes By"	14:13
12.	"Let's Have Another Look"	0:50
13.	"The Goat (Instrumental)" (CD only)	6:17
Total length:		54:48

All tracks are written by Sean O'Hagan.

Personnel

Per AllMusic.^[16]

The High Llamas

• Rob Allum – drums, percussion
• John Fell – bass
• Marcus Holdaway – cello, harpsichord, organ, piano, upright piano, string arrangements, vibe master, vibraphone, vocals, background vocals, Vox organ
• Sean O'Hagan – composer, glockenspiel, guitar, Moog bass, Moog synthesizer, organ, piano, upright piano, producer, string arrangements, vocals, background vocals, Vox organ

Additional staff

• Andre – layout design
• Charles Francis – engineer, producer
• Anthony Lyons – layout design
• Jocelyn Pook – viola
• Anne Wood – violin

Charts

Chart (1995)	Peak position
UK Albums (OCC)[17]	94