Author: darren

Great British Holiday EPs

Posted on by darren

Released 4th August 2008

Between 2005 and 2007 Darren released four EPs detailing his holidays in Britain, taking ukuleles, minidisks and Casio keyboards to caravan parks, Butlins and B&Bs. The songs are sweet and tender, lo-fi vignettes of lost youth, faded photographs and half-understood Britishness.

Also included is a DVD featuring 5 videos and an interview with Darren about the project shot on the coast in Kent.This is quite a package: as well as featuring all of the EP songs and all the original artwork in a 16 page booklet, Darren has recorded 3 holiday cover versions; Holiday Road (originally by Lyndsey Buckingham from the film National Lampoons Vacation), Margate (originally by Chas and Dave) and V.A.C.A.T.I.O.N. (originally by Connie Francis)

Buy the Great British Holiday EPs on CD and DVD.


Buy this on download from Bandcamp for 6.99

Hayman, Watkins, Trout and Lee

Posted on by darren

Released 6th May 2008

Hayman, Watkins, Trout and Lee are a country, bluegrass band from East London. They don’t sing in American accents and their songs feature tube trains, Bethnal Green, sick days, flat lemonade and unmade beds. HWTL perform weary singalongs; fragile and flawed ballads that wipe a tear and force you to smile.

Darren Hayman (ex Hefner) formed the band with Dave Watkins, in 2005, as an antidote to their ‘career’ bands. The idea was that this would be a band with as little ego as possible, with everybody taking vocals, submitting material, leaving and arriving as they wished. The group is as much about playing around Darren’s kitchen table as it is playing on any stage.

In the spirit of Big Pink, the Basement Tapes and the first McCartney album, it was decided to record the album in two days at Darren’s house, with a bunch of battered microphones, a fresh pot of tea, and some fruit cake. The resulting recordings feature seven band originals (four written by Darren and two by David Tattersall) alongside covers of songs by Townes Van Zandt and The Mountain Goats and smattering of traditional tunes.In fact the original idea was even to avoid the notion of doing records. However when Dave Tattersall (The Wave Pictures) joined in 2007 with a whole repertoire of blues and country songs, as well as his own fantastic ballads, it became obvious that they had something worth preserving.

Hayman, Watkins, Trout and Lee let you peer though the cracks of their kitchen, and hit nearly all the right notes in the process. Let them give you a warm handshake.

Buy Hayman, Watkins, Trout and Lee on CD


Or buy the download from Bandcamp for £5

Table For One – The Dessert Menu – mini-album

Posted on by darren
Table For One - The Dessert Menu

Originally released 12th March 2007 on Track & Field.

A mini-album of 6 tracks from the Table for One sessions, five of them unreleased; but they’re not outtakes. They’re better than outtakes.

Buy Table For One: The Dessert Menu CD


Buy Table for One: The Dessert Menu downloads from bandcamp for £2.49

Darren Hayman and the Secondary Modern

Posted on by darren
Darren Hayman and the Secondary Modern

Originally released 2007 on Track and Field.
Darren Hayman presents his second solo album and a new backing band. ‘Darren Hayman and the Secondary Modern’ was recorded between Summer and Winter 2006 and features his touring band from that period; Amos Memon (Fanfarlo, Tompaulin) on drums, Dave Watkins on banjo and Simon Trought (Tompaulin) on bass, percussion, mandolin, backing vocals and acting as recording engineer.
The record also features a whole host of special guests including Dave Sheppard (Ellis Island Sound), Galia Durant (Psapp), John Howard (reclusive 70’s songwriting genius), Wesley Gonzalez (Lets Wrestle), David Tattersall (The Wave Pictures), Mark Brend (Farina) Terry Edwards (Scapegoats, Tindersticks, Higsons), Pete Astor (Loft, Weather Prophets).
The idea for this album was to make some lively rock and roll. All of Darren’s recent releases have been intensive, home-recorded affairs; for this record, Darren decided to go to a recording studio and piece together an album quickly with little preparation. Some of the songs (Let’s Go Stealing, The Wrong Thing) were improvised quickly by Darren, with Amos playing along on drums and the rest of the song being written afterwards. On Apologise and Pupil Most Likely, Darren assembled a group of musicians who had not previously met or heard the songs and recorded them in 8 short hours.

None of this is to suggest that this album is slapdash. The lyrics as usual are precise, emotive, direct, heartbreaking and amusing all at the same time. The theme of suburban ennui and aspiration from his last two albums continue this time with a particular focus on schools and education inspired by Darren’s recent short career as an Art Teacher. Other songs focus on the perils of cheap engagement rings, the need for clearer language in love letters, and the Higgins versus Reardon snooker final of 1982. Also recorded during these sessions was the single, Bad Policewoman.

Darren Hayman and the Secondary Modern – Related Singles

Bad Policewoman

Bad Policewoman
Bad Policewoman/Your Heart 7″ Vinyl

 

Recorded during sessions for the album Darren Hayman and the Secondary Modern. The two songs on this 7-inch do not appear on the album. The b-side features Terry Edwards on saxophone. Limited to 500 numbered copies.

 

Buy Bad Policewoman on 7-inch


Maida Vale

Posted on by darren

On the 23rd of August 2000, Hefner played a very special show from BBC’s Maida Vale studios to an invited audience for the John Peel show. This was the highlight of the relationship between the band and the greatly revered DJ, which had seen five Peel sessions and four live concerts broadcast on his Radio 1 show.

The concert on this CD features an 8 piece version of the band, including a brass section, pedal steels, ukuleles and violin alongside their own guitars bass and drums. It also features several contributions from Amelia Fletcher, (Talulah Gosh, Heavenly, Wedding Present, Marine Research). The songs have been newly remixed from the original master tapes, and the CD features photos from the night as well as sleeve notes from Darren Hayman.

The CD captures an exceptional performance of many songs rarely played live during Hefner’s short career.

Buy Maida Vale on CD


or buy download from Bandcamp for £4.99

 

Catfight

Posted on by darren

Released August 2006

For such a short career, Hefner were incredibly prolific, but this release proves we only knew half the story. 43 unreleased songs are collected here on two CDs. The songs are sequenced in reverse order, starting with the final Hefner recording session and going right back to 1994 with Darren’s earliest songs, 3 years before Breaking God’s Heart. The CDs also come with extensive new sleeve notes from Darren himself and previously unseen photographs.

Buy Catfight on double CD


Or buy the download from Bandcamp for £7.99.

Eastbourne Lights EP

Posted on by darren
Eastbourne Lights

Recorded on a Fostex 4-track tape machine at the Seabeach House Hotel, Eastbourne over two days during May 2006, Eastbourne Lights, consisting of the tracks ‘Eastbourne Lights’, ‘The Musgrave Collection’, ‘No Military Man’ and ‘Retirement Days’, is the third in the British Holiday EP series. Andy Field added drums to ‘No Military Man’ in Brighton, a bus-ride away from Eastbourne.

Ukulele Songs from the North Devon Coast EP

Posted on by darren
Ukulele Songs From The North Devon Coast

Originally released 10th April 2006 on Static Caravan.

The second in the series of British Holiday EPs, Ukulele Songs from the North Devon Coast saw Darren pack up his ukulele and head off to Devon, where he wrote and recorded the four tracks on this EP: ‘Rain All Summertime’, ‘The Only Kind of Light I Know’, ‘Hardcore No More’ and ‘8-Bit World’.