It might seem unusual, at first: British folk/pop auteur Sean O’Hagan padding Here Come The Rattling Trees—his latest outing as bandleader of the High Llamas—with several breezy musical snippets that work as either introductions or codas to delicate, fully realized songs. But in fact, the project first coalesced as a narrative the singer scripted about his South London neighborhood of Peckham, where a local working-class recreation center was being threatened by snooty gentrification. But it quickly morphed into a full-scale production that he staged at a Covent Garden theater—hence the inclusion of rising and descending motifs. O’Hagan will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our new High Llamas feature.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sh5ASfH66kw
O’Hagan: Let’s face it, most people’s reaction to the idea of a musical isn’t too positive. We must concede that there has been rash of questionable musical stage shows which paying homage to a clutch success stories which already had plenty of exposure over the last 40 years: Abba, Queen, the Kinks, the Beatles. Before this, we had the runaway successes of Rice/Webber-like stuff, Phantom, Chess, Butterfly, Evita … ya ya ya. But way before all of this, there was, in New York, a few great decades where some considerable chances were taken and great music was made. Stephen Sondheim was a name chucked around on high-brow arts radio and TV docos. I knew Send In The Clowns and bits of Sweeney Todd. But like most of my cool mates, I knew better and paid little attention to Sondheim’s work.
How I corrected this, I can not remember, but about 15 years ago, I started to casually work my way through Sondheim’s considerable repertoire, and now I count his work as essential listening. In fact, it’s an example of how to push your craft (horrible word) into unknown territory, both words and music, and toy with accepted traditions, driving them into areas of discomfort.
If you want to dip into Sondheim’s work, why not start with Company? It’s a 1969 show about Bobby, a New York socialite, and a special birthday. The title track is spectacular. Try to catch the 2011 stage production with New York Philharmonic. You could encounter an embarrassed silence when you think…… this is not for me. But, go on. Give it a go.
