Outer Dark, the new album from The Allender Band is released on 16 March, 2009. Pre-order it now from the Dreamboat Records website .
In the Grip of Light, an EP from The Allender Band was released on Dreamboat Records on May 26, 2008! Buy it now from the Dreamboat Records website or from iTunes . Tracks from the EP have been played by Gideon Coe, Steve Lamacq and Radcliffe and Maconie on BBC 6 Music and BBC Radio 2. The Allender Band were recently interviewed as 'Featured Artist' on Steve Lamacq's BBC Radio 2 show.
The Bird and the Word OUT NOW!
My debut album, The Bird and the Word was released on Dreamboat Records on July 9, 2007. The album costs £8 and you can buy it now from Dreamboat Records . It is also available as a download from iTunes.
You can download two album tracks from this page, and you can read the lyrics here .
Finally, here is a video for the song 'Green Wound', directed by Sam Wilkins:
Don't forget, you can still buy The Coffin Years, the debut album by my former band Azalea City Penis Club . The album is available only as a download from Bleep.com and iTunes. It was released on May 21st, 2007. You can download MP3s of two of the tracks from the Dreamboat website , stream two more on ACPC’s MySpace , and read the lyrics .
'Drone 1' by the The Rollercoaster Project is also still available! Order your copy from Dreamboat now!
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Mark Radcliffe, BBC Radio 2
A really interesting sound […] Allender is an extraordinary guitar player.
Cosmo Lee, Stylus
[The Bird and the Word] evokes both English folk traditionalists Fairport Convention and electric revisionists Steeleye Span. [...] Though Allender's wordplay is sharp, his picking is sharper; it has the immaculate detail of Nick Drake's.
Julian Owen, Venue (Bristol)
With his forthcoming long player he’s already reached a level that the majority of singer-songwriters could spend a lifetime approaching but never truly nearing.
Amy Granzin, Shake Your Fist
One of the best young guitar stylists working in Britain today.
Nightshift (Oxford)
Bristol lad Robin Allender may have a tender voice but it really is only accompaniment to the real show stealer here — his ability with an electric guitar. Mellow, soothing and technically dazzling, Robin wows a packed audience whose deathly silence gives due credit to the set's wonderful ambiance.
Welcome to my MySpace space. My name is Robin Allender. I am a Bristol-based singer, guitarist and songwriter.
I played in the band Azalea City Penis Club with Simon Grant and Dave Collingwood (former drummer with Gravenhurst of Warp Records ). This band is still theoretically in existence, although Simon is currently in Manchester training to be a doctor. In December 2004, Simon lent me his four-track and I started writing and recording some quieter more acoustic-based songs. I enjoyed playing the songs so I started doing a few open mic evenings around Bristol. My first solo performance was at a pub called The Full Moon and they didn't have a PA. It was a baptism of fire alright. Around this time my friend Michael Williams and I decided to set up a record label to promote my music, as well as that of the Penis Club, and Leeds-based remixer and producer The Rollercoaster Project . Dreamboat Records was born.
I did my first 'proper' gig in Cafe Delight with the brilliant SJ Esau in October 2005 and have been playing around Bristol, in venues such as The Fleece, The Cube, The Louisiana, The Tobacco Factory, The Folk House, the scout hut near The Ostrich pub, and The Croft, ever since. I have also performed in Oxford, London and, curiously, Romania. I have supported both local and touring acts including Rose Kemp , Jar , North Sea Navigator , David Thomas Broughton , Tom Brosseau , Broadcast , Jim Moray , Sebastian Tellier , Vijay Kishore , Patrick Duff , Benjamin Wetherill , Josh T. Pearson and, recent signings to Dreamboat, The Gala Band .
In the summer of 2006 I began recording my debut album with Simon. This was released via Dreamboat on July 9, 2007.
In late 2006 I assembled a band to accompany me live and in the studio. This band features Alex Wilkins on guitar and Sam Tarbuck on bass. Dave played drums for us, but left the band earlier this year, to be replaced by Sean Talbot . We played our first gig together in January 2007 and have since been playing regularly in Bristol and London. The Allender Band has recorded an EP, In the Grip of Light (released on May 26, 2008), and an album, Outer Dark (due to be released on March 16, 2009).
From early 2007 to mid-2008 I played bass and keyboards for Gravenhurst.