Robin Allender’s debut release with a full band, In the Grip of Light, will be released by Dreamboat Records on 26th May.

The Allender Band is made up of Alex Wilkins on guitar, Sam Tarbuck on bass and Dave Collingwood on drums.

The E.P. moves away from the acoustic-based folk of Allender’s solo album The Bird and the Word towards a more expansive sound. While still featuring Allender’s hushed vocal delivery and unusual, poetic lyrics, In the Grip of Light also contains elements of rock, gothic country and experimental indie. The EP’s lush, spacious melodicism recalls Red House Painters, while its subtle, dynamic arrangements show the influence of post-rock figureheads Talk Talk and The For Carnation.

The EP costs £4 and is available to buy from the Dreamboat Records website, and will shortly be available to download from iTunes and Bleep.

The band will be performing, and selling copies of the EP, at Bristol’s Folk House on Saturday 24th May.

Lots of gigs coming up, including a mini-tour from the Gala Band, before they head into the studio to begin work on their debut E.P.

Robin Allender

• Friday, 22 February — The John Sebastian (a boat), Bristol
• Sunday, 2 March — Under The Influence at The Thekla, Bristol
• Friday, 4 April — The Cooler, Bristol (with The Hinkley Veltones)

The Gala Band

• Wednesday, 12 March — Louisiana, Bristol
• Thursday, 13 March — Buffalo Bar, Cardiff
• Friday, 14 March — George the 2nd, Luton
• Saturday, 15 March — The Orange Tree, Nottingham
• Sunday, 16 March — The Yardbird, Birmingham (entrance free!)
• Monday, 17 March — Electro Acoustic Club, London

We have t-shirts and you should buy one!

Also, coming in March is the Gala Band UK tour. So far we have confirmed Thursday 13th (Buffalo Bar, Cardiff), Friday 14th (George the 2nd, Luton), Saturday 15th (The Social, Nottingham), Monday 17th (Electro Acoustic Club, London). Details and further dates to follow.

Happy new year!

After we had so much fun doing Dreamboat Christmas 2006 last year, we are pleased to announce the release of Dreamboat Christmas 2007, a free, download-only E.P. of Christmas songs from Dreamboat Records artists and friends.

1. Christmas Eve Part I — The Rollercoaster Project
2. A Christmas Song With No Cheer — Robin Allender
3. Farewell My Friend — Tom Wilson
4. Christmas Eve Part II — The Rollercoaster Project

• All tracks in one zip file.

But that’s not all from Dreamboat Records in 2007. We’ll be finishing up the year with a Christmas live show and party with Dreamboat acts and DJs and The Croft in Bristol. You should totally come!

Dreamboat Records will be hosting our very first Christmas Party (Jews welcome) at Bristol’s The Croft on Thursday December 20.

The back room is the noise/psych/kraut/math room. There will be a headlining set from Geisha, with support from Yellow6 and the triumphant return of Azalea City Penis Club for one night only — their first gig since 2004!

The front room and bar is the party room, with DJ sets from The Rollercoaster Project and Dreamboat DJs Maximum Fun and Maximum Energy playing tunes from Fleetwood Mac, Slayer, Jackson Browne, Jesu, Ike and Tina Turner, Creedence, En Vogue, and lots of Italo.

There will be a merch desk with copies of the entire Dreamboat catalogue (except Hatefield) and the first ever Dreamboat t-shirt, which will be available in a limited edition of 50.

Entry is £5. We’re still organizing tickets, but we figured you’d want to know the date so you can mark it in your filofax. This event will get raw like sushi, so haters to the left.

Dreamboat Records 2008 is the second annual sampler from Dreamboat Records, featuring new material from Dreamboat artists, collaborators and friends. This full-length album is available to buy on CD for £6 from our shop, or as DRM-free MP3s from Bleep.

From our own acts, we have the increasingly wonderful Rollercoaster Project, Robin Allender’s new full band sound, the lovely new Gala Band, and a solo track from Simon Grant (ex-Azalea City Penis Club). We’ve also included Dreamboat collaborations (Yellow6, Kiska) and new stuff we just think is rad (Tom Wilson).

The first three tracks are available as free MP3 downloads here, and you can stream the entire album at Bleep.

Watch out for news of the launch/Christmas party for this record, which will take place on Thursday 20th December and will blow your mind. Details to follow.

Lots of Gala Band news since the release of their debut E.P.

• We’ve made a video for one of the tracks, Bird on a Wire, which you can watch and download on our website
• They played a live preview of In the Wake, a track off the next album, during a live session for BBC Radio Devon, which you can download here. The whole session and interview is here (RealPlayer required).
• They’ve got a couple of gigs coming up in Bath and London. Check their MySpace for details.

We’re very pleased to announce the release of Little Revelations, the debut E.P. by The Gala Band. It’s five tracks long and £5 money (incl. worldwide p+p). The album came out on Monday, September 24 and is available from the Dreamboat Records shop. If you prefer iTunes, you can buy the album there by following this link.

Sam Wilkins has directed a great video for “Bird on a Wire”. You can also download an MP3 of this track and read the first review.

There will be an album launch party on Saturday 29 September at the Folk House, Park Street, Bristol. Tickets are available in advance from Bristol Ticket Shop and there’s a Facebook event if that’s your thing.

And finally, there is a gig at the Slaughtered Lamb in London on 27 September. Good times.

Several websites have been kind enough to write about Robin Allender’s debut album The Bird and the Word:

• Stylus have pubished a thoughtful review of The Bird and the Word and Azalea City Penis Club’s The Coffin Years
• Said the Gramophone wrote beautifully about the album
• Shake Your Fist gave it a very favourable mention
• Amelia’s Magazine published a lovely review
• Update: And so did Subba Cultcha

If you know of any more mentions of Robin in the press then please do let us know.

The upshot of all this embarrassingly effusive praise is: the album is great and you should buy it in our shop (or from HMV, Picadilly, Norman Records, Bleep or iTunes).

Don’t forget you can see Robin and his new band play live in London (10 August), Oxford (14 August) or Bristol (18 August and album launch on 7 September).

The Bird and the Word will be released on Monday 9 July. Order before then from the shop for the reduced price of £6 (usually £8). Amelia’s Magazine has the first review.

Robin has lots of gigs coming up: Ashton Court in Bristol on Saturday 14 July, and then London (Friday 10 August), Oxford (Tuesday 14 August) and Bristol (Saturday 18 August). See the live page for details.

Finally, the album launch, which has been delayed by Robin’s Gravenhurst commitments (Glastonbury last month and Paris with Animal Collective this month) will be at the Folk House in Bristol on Friday 7 September.