A Quieter Movie: The Perfect Way by Darren Hayman with A Little Orchestra

Darren Hayman's Vine-enabled video for ‘The Perfect Way’, his collaboration with A Little Orchestra, from our album Clocks.

Some more recent reviews of Clocks:

“A Little Orchestra (armed with four violins, and viola, cello, flute, clarinet, bassoon, and piano players) feel more like a friendly club than a standoffish organization.” – Textura

“a gentle, summer afternoon in the country kind of record … a fuzzy, homeopathic blanket of warmth” – Helen Clarke at Music OMH

And most appropriately, “une sorte de B.O imaginaire d'un vieux film des 50's” – Dans le Mur du Son

Clocks, which alongside ‘The Perfect Way’ also features collaborations with Haiku Salut, Model Village, Gordon McIntyre as well as three new instrumental compositions by yours truly, is still available to buy.

A Little Orchestra in The Quietus

"A Little Orchestra is a classical ensemble formed by Pipettes creator 'Monster' Bobby Barry. The repertoire of the 10-piece group includes compositions by Terry Riley, Michael Nyman and Angelo Badalamenti, although they're most active live and as an orchestra for hire within the UK indie-pop scene. 

The group's concerts have seen them joined by singers including MJ Hibbett, Shirley Lee of Spearmint and Elizabeth Morris of Allo Darlin', or swelling the ranks of bands such as Pocketbooks and Haiku Salut. Guests on A Little Orchestra's debut album Clocks, set for release on June 10th, include Darren Hayman, Gordon McIntyre (Ballboy), Simon Love (The Loves) and Lisa Bouvier (The Proctors)."

Read the full article by Stuart Huggett here.

It's The Taking Part That Counts - Paralympic Discount

While protestors picket the DWP in defiance of a Paralympics sponsored by a company whose specific remit is to cut access to benefits for as many disabled people as possible, we are nonetheless happy to announce a games-long 30% discount on all silver edition copies of It's The Taking Part That Counts. 

WIAIWYA's sporting compilation features tracks from Saint Etienne, Darren Hayman, White Town, DJ Downfall and many, many others - including yours truly, Monster Bobby. To access your special Paralympics discount simply follow this link and enter the code "paralympic".

ATOS is a French multinational IT services and consulting corporation, contracted by the Tory government to assess the 'fitness for work' of those on disability allowance. Its testing procedures have been condemned by everyone from a Commons Select Committee to the Citizens Advice Bureau and the British Medical Association. 

Only today, BBC news reported on a 51 year-old woman from County Tyrone who died form cancer, just a few months after being declared fit for work by ATOS. In fact, the same could be said of over a thousand people. For more information about ATOS and how to protest against their involvement in the Games and the UK benefits system please follow UK Uncut and Disabled People Against Cuts.

For more information on how the current UK government is discriminating against the disabled, read this article.

In the meantime, here's Saint Etienne, with the Steeplechase...

Back of the Net

All the tracks are now in and up to listen to at Soundcloud for the WIAIWYA compilation, It's The Taking Part That Counts. Contributions to this global pop sportsday come from St. Etienne, Darren Hayman, The Sunny Street, DJ Downfall, White Town, and many more - including, I might add, myself.

More details about the release, each individual artist and the tracks themselves will be posted up regularly at the dedicated blog, so do be sure to check in there regularly and see what's going on.

Merry Christmas from Darren Hayman, Fika Recordings, and Me.

All this month, Fika Recordings have been giving away a track, or a few tracks, a day, in the form of a festive virtual advent calender in celebration of Darren Hayman's new Christmas in Hayworth ep. Today's  picture behind the window includes an mp3 of my cover of 'Silent Night' plus tracks from Les Étoiles adn Petter Seander. So why not pop over to Darren and Fika's site for a listen. Best enjoyed with mince pie and sherry at the ready.

Forthcoming Live Shows by A Little Orchestra

Sunday 13 February – London

The Loves Retirement Party @ The Lexington, 96-98 Pentonville Road, London N1 9JB

The Loves + Comet Gain + The School + The Lovely Eggs + The Vinyl Stitches + Pocketbooks + + Micktravis + The Werewandas + DJs Paul Wright (Track & Field) + Dan Maier (13th Floor)

Tickets are £8.50 from We Got Tickets and more details are also available on Facebook

After eleven years as everyone's favourite rock'n'roll rah rah band, The Loves are withdrawing from active service - and celebrating the receipt of their metaphorical gold watch with a fine show off. For this, their last ever performance, they will be joined on stage by Claire, Jill, Matt, Nat and Rosie, the string section from A Little Orchestra.

Saturday 19 March – London

Save Our Libraries @ Nettlefold Hall, West Norwood Library, 1-5 Norwood High Street, SE27 9JX

Darren Hayman, Horowitz, Leaf Library, The Give it Ups, A Little Orchestra, Pete Green, A Fine Day for Sailing.

DJs: Scared to Dance and Big Pink Cake.

In protest against proposed cuts to over 1000 local libraries across the UK (including Lambeth's finest), A Little Orchestra will be performing a typically eclectic mix in the time honoured tradition of The Portsmouth Sinfonia and the Boston Pops, joined on guest vocals by a variety of illustrious friends.

Ticket details will be announced soon.

If you would like more information on A Little Orchestra, or might be interested in joining us, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

A January Song: Darren Hayman with Monster Bobby

Throughout January, singer-songwriter Darren Hayman, formerly of Hefner, latterly of The Secondary Modern, has been writing a song a day and charting his progress on a specially constructed Tumblr blog, replete with embedded SoundCloud widgets and video diaries.

Along the way, he has been soliciting collaborations from friends and acquaintances; amongst them people I'm friends with, such as Elizabeth from Allo Darlin' (here, singing Darren's song for January 10th, 'I Know I Fucked Up'), and some people I hold in very high esteem, such as Higsons founder member and occasional Tom Waits/Robyn Hitchcock/Lydia Lunch collaborator, Terry Edwards (here, performing on January 8th's 'Old Man Hands').

What with this being exactly the kind of project that has always appealed to me, I decided to volunteer my humble assistance - albeit at a distance. And so, you wont find me hiding amongst the trains in the video below for yesterday's January song - a wistful paean to the Epping Ongar Railway entitled 'I Want to be a Volunteer' - but you will hear my trembling electronic soundscapes swelling up amidst the choruses and ebbing with the coda.

Follow Mr. Hayman's progress on Tumblr, download the songs from SoundCloud, and then - why not? - subsequently buy them all anyway on BandCamp.

I Want To Be A Volunteer from Darren Hayman on Vimeo.