Best Robin Allender Podcasts (2024)

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S8E2 - 80s Synth Pop: Eurythmics (Overrated) & Deux (Underrated) - with George Pringle 1:22:00

21h ago1:22:00

1:22:00

We're travelling to one of our favourite eras, joined by special guest George Pringle - a music producer, artist & gallery owner. George made both playlists for this week's episode, and we start with a discussion about Eurythmics. Their influence in synth pop is undeniable - as was Annie Lennox's look, attitude and progressive politics - but is the…

1
S8E1 - UK 00's Indie Explosion Part II: Arctic Monkeys (Overrated) & The Cooper Temple Clause (Underrated) 1:30:29

1M ago1:30:29

1:30:29

Welcome back to Season 8! Delighted our lockdown project continues, thanks so much for listening. We're back in the noughties, and our overrated pick is a hugely popular rock band that neither of us are particularly keen on, especially since their first album...nevertheless, Babs made a wide-ranging playlist of Arctic Monkeys songs so her and Fran …

1
S7E10 - Special Episode: Fran and Babs' Best of 2023 1:36:15

6M ago1:36:15

1:36:15

The final episode of the season is our annual special where we each pick our favourite songs of the year! Like in 2022, we have picked songs according to pre-determined categories: favourite song by a solo act, best song by a group, favourite track in a genre we don't normally like, favourite song not in English, best collaboration, best sync song,…

1
S7E9 - Avant-pop: Björk (Overrated) & Bat for Lashes (Underrated) 1:26:31

6M ago1:26:31

1:26:31

Fran & Babs listened to (almost) the entirety of Björk's discography - having only previously dipped in and out of her music - and collaborated on a ten-track playlist spanning the decades to properly deliberate on her music and legacy... Natasha Khan a.k.a Bat for Lashes is this week's underrated artist - Fran thinks she has many good songs beyond…

1
S7E8 - Australia Part III 🇦🇺 INXS (Overrated) & The Go-Betweens (Underrated) - with Bill Cummings 1:31:21

7M ago1:31:21

1:31:21

Joined by writer & broadcaster Bill Cummings, we're returning down under to discuss two bands who experienced wildly varying levels of success... INXS have sold a whopping 95 million albums worldwide - they're one of Australia's most successful musical acts ever. With their crisp new wave sound and iconic frontman, will Fran & Babs feel the hype is…

1
S7E7 - Special Episode: Overrated & Underrated Cover Versions 1:30:34

7M ago1:30:34

1:30:34

We often discuss covers, so it was about time for a special episode dedicated to the ones we admire, as well as those we don't love so much... We've picked ten overrated cover versions - those that are better known than the originals or ones we don't enjoy - as well as ten underrated covers, songs we feel add to, or even improve on, the original. T…

1
S7E6 - Britpop Part III: Stereophonics (Overrated) & Ash (Underrated) - with Robin Allender 1:39:39

7M ago1:39:39

1:39:39

Joined by musician, comedian and podcaster Robin Allender, we are back feeling nostalgic about the late 90's... Stereophonics are clearly one of the more successful acts to emerge from Wales - to date, their most famous song Dakota has had over 200 million streams on Spotify - but are Fran, Babs or Robin fans of the band? Robin picked Ash as an und…

1
S7E5 - Pop Singer-Songwriters: Billie Eilish (Overrated) & Charli XCX (Underrated) 1:50:45

7M ago1:50:45

1:50:45

Billie Eilish is undoubtedly one of the world's most famous pop stars and Babs enjoys quite a few of her songs. She pitches some of her faves - and a couple of not-so-faves - to Fran, as we both ponder whether the hype is justified... Babs also FINALLY gets to chat Fran's ear off about how much she loves Charli XCX. Charli is undeniably also a famo…

1
S7E4 - Goth: The Cure (Overrated) & Xmal Deutschland (Underrated) - with Ryan Schaff 1:34:21

8M ago1:34:21

1:34:21

Joined by our first ever returning guest - Ryan Schaff, host of ⁠The Broken Record Player podcast⁠ - we're breaking out the eyeliner, black nail varnish and discussing what makes a band truly goth... Ryan is a huge fan of The Cure - they're in his top five favourite bands of all time - while Fran & Babs don't exactly muster the same level of enthus…

1
S7E3 - Special Episode: Underrated music from The Netherlands 🇳🇱 with Lieselotte Smets 1:28:28

8M ago1:28:28

1:28:28

Joined by friend of the podcast Lieselotte Smets, we're learning more about the musical landscape of the Netherlands 🇳🇱 Lieselotte is Belgian, but has lived in the Netherlands for many years. Despite being Flemish - and therefore a native Dutch speaker - she realised there was a massive gap in her Netherlands music knowledge, so she has been keenly…

1
S7E2 - Post-punk: U2 (Overrated) & The Psychedelic Furs (Underrated) 1:35:44

8M ago1:35:44

1:35:44

U2 are obviously one of the biggest bands in the world, with 15 studio albums to date - Fran believes there's a lot of gold in their extensive back catalogue and that some of their albums are more underrated than others...will Babs agree? We also discuss The Psychedelic Furs' back catalogue in some depth - Babs had previously dipped into the band's…

1
S7E1 - Special Episode: Interviewing Bob Stanley, music journalist and founder of Saint Etienne 1:13:18

8M ago1:13:18

1:13:18

We're kicking off our new season with a very special episode! We're interviewing Bob Stanley, a very talented writer, musician, DJ, and film producer. Since founding the band Saint Etienne, Bob has enjoyed a parallel career as a music journalist. He came on the podcast to talk about two of his books, which - together - span the entire history of po…

1
Episode 10: Alasdair on Songwriting 56:56

9M ago56:56

56:56

In the final episode of The Clientele Podcast, host Robin Allender talks to singer and guitarist Alasdair MacLean again, this time focussing on songwriting. It's a chance for Alasdair to look back at the early days of the band and talk about learning to play the guitar and write music. It's a very Beatles-heavy episode, but Robin and Alasdair also …

1
Episode 9 Part 2: Mel Draisey 44:28

9M ago44:28

44:28

In Part 2 of Episode 9 of The Clientele Podcast, Robin Allender talks to multi-instrumentalist Mel Draisey. Following a hopeful MySpace message back in 2006, Mel was asked to join The Clientele and immediately embarked on a US tour which culminated in the recording of the God Save The Clientele album in Nashville. She also appears on, and wrote arr…

1
Episode 9 Part 1: Dan Evans and Innes Phillips 1:34:08

9M ago1:34:08

1:34:08

This week it's a bumper edition of The Clientele Podcast, as Robin Allender speaks to three former members of The Clientele: original drummer Dan Evans, guitarist and songwriter Innes Phillips, and multi-instrumentalist Mel Draisey. As such, this episode has been divided into two parts. In this part you can hear Robin's chats with Dan and Innes, an…

1
Episode 8: Kate Connolly 54:56

10M ago54:56

54:56

This week on The Clientele Podcast, Robin Allender talks to his good friend Kate Connolly, who introduced him to the band! Kate is hugely passionate about music and has followed the band from the start, so it's an illuminating conversation about what the music of The Clientele means to their fans. Robin and Kate also talk about Gravenhurst and the …

1
Episode 7: Anwen Crawford 1:07:58

10M ago1:07:58

1:07:58

This week on The Clientele Podcast, Robin Allender is joined by the Australian author and critic Anwen Crawford. Alongside the music of The Clientele, they discuss Sinéad O'Connor, Broadcast, Burial, the 00s blogosphere – and cricket. Anwen has recently published No Document, an extraordinary book, fragmentary, part memoir and part elegy; and Robin…

1
Episode 6: Audrey Golden 54:18

10M ago54:18

54:18

This week on The Clientele Podcast, host Robin Allender talks to the American writer Audrey Golden. Audrey is a longtime fan of The Clientele and talks about hearing Suburban Light for the first time, seeing them live in a small venue, and interviewing Alasdair recently about the new album. Audrey has recently published her first book I Thought I H…

1
Episode 5: The Clientele Discography 1:18:22

10M ago1:18:22

1:18:22

This week on The Clientele Podcast, Robin Allender talks to the band's bass player James Hornsey. James talks about the history of the band and gives a guided tour to The Clientele discography. As well as discussing the band's seven studio albums, Robin and James mention It's Art, Dad (demo recordings from the band's early years), the 2010 mini-alb…

1
Episode 4: Alasdair's Lyrics 1:12:50

10M ago1:12:50

1:12:50

This week on The Clientele Podcast, Robin Allender talks to singer and guitarist Alasdair MacLean about his lyrics and literary influences. They discuss Alasdair's brilliant collection of lyrics, Exhaust Fumes, Magnolias and Light, and the spoken word Clientele songs ‘Losing Haringey’, ‘The Green Man’ and ‘The Museum of Fog’. In the episode, Alasda…

1
Episode 3: Mark Keen 53:58

11M ago53:58

53:58

This week on The Clientele Podcast, Robin Allender talks to the band's drummer Mark Keen. Mark talks about joining The Clientele, playing live, and how his drumming complements the band's delicate sound. He also talks about his beautiful piano compositions, including the Lyra pieces on Music for the Age of Miracles and the Radial pieces on I Am Not…

1
Episode 2: I Am Not There Anymore 1:13:08

11M ago1:13:08

1:13:08

In Episode 2, host Robin Allender continues his chat with Alasdair MacLean and James Hornsey as they give him a track-by-track guide to The Clientele's new album I Am Not There Anymore. The discussion touches on production, equipment, recurring lyrics, and the album as an 'emotional autobiography'. Along the way, Alasdair talks about the influence …

1
Episode 1: An Introduction to The Clientele 1:10:16

11M ago1:10:16

1:10:16

In the first episode of The Clientele Podcast, host Robin Allender talks to Alasdair MacLean and James Hornsey from The Clientele about the band's background and about the making of the fantastic new album I Am Not There Anymore. There are insights into songwriting, production and some of the surprising influences on the album. There is also a disc…

1
The Clientele Podcast Trailer 1:22

11M ago1:22

1:22

Calling all fans of The Clientele! Please follow/subscribe/what thou wilt as we take a weekly wander through the bewitching world of The Clientele. The Clientele are about to release their fantastic new album I Am Not There Anymore and you can catch them live at the album launch on 28 July 2023 at Rough Trade East, London. Episode 1 of The Clientel…

1
S6E10 - Prog Rock: Emerson, Lake & Palmer (Overrated) & Marillion (Underrated) - with Joz Norris 1:32:35

1y ago1:32:35

1:32:35

Joined by comedian, writer & performer Joz Norris, we're finally delving into prog rock for our last episode of the season - and we hope, like us, that you don't take it TOO seriously... Joz picked Emerson, Lake & Palmer as overrated because he feels that they represent the wildest excesses of prog and contribute to its pretentious reputation. With…

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S6E9 - Glam Rock: Queen (Overrated) & The Ark (Underrated) - with Christian Patrick 1:46:22

1y ago1:46:22

1:46:22

Joined by content creator, musician, amateur historian, YouTuber, journalist & author Christian Patrick, we're discussing two glam bands on, arguably, the opposite of the fame spectrum this week... First up, another sacred cow under the microscope - we're talking about behemoths Queen, specifically their output from the 70's...like most people, Chr…

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S6E8b - Record Label Special, Part II: Jade Tree Records (Underrated) - with Mark Fraser & Chris Cusack 1:11:50

1y ago1:11:50

1:11:50

Joined by Chris & Mark from the Unsung Podcast, it's Part II of our Record Label special, where we're talking about Wilmington, Delaware's Jade Tree Records (check out Part I where we discussed Washington DC's Dischord Records). Fran & Babs hadn't previously heard of Jade Tree Records - and didn't know many of the bands on their roster. Founded in …

1
S6E8a - Record Label Special, Part I: Dischord Records (Overrated) - with Mark Fraser & Chris Cusack 1:13:18

1y ago1:13:18

1:13:18

Joined by Chris & Mark from the Unsung Podcast, it's a different approach for today's episode - our guests have picked two different record labels and five bands who released records from them to make up each playlist, and we're all discussing whether a label can be classified as overrated or underrated. In Part I we're talking about Washington DC'…

1
S6E7b - Special Episode, Reviewing Worst Kept Secret: The Subwoolfer Eurovision Documentary - with extra European guests 🇪🇺 30:41

1y ago30:41

30:41

Following on from our Eurovision 2023 episode, we popped online for a quick chat to talk about an entertaining short film - Worst Kept Secret: The Subwoolfer Documentary which is available on the Eurovision Song Contest YouTube channel. Fans of Eurovision 2022 will definitely remember Subwoolfer, the yellow Norwegian space wolves who managed to kee…

1
S6E7 - Special Episode: Eurovision 2023 - with extra European guests 🇪🇺 1:26:45

1y ago1:26:45

1:26:45

It's our yearly Eurovision special - we've listened to all 37 songs from this year's competition and picked our five favourite and least favourite tunes. This time, we're also joined by contributors across Europe giving their opinions on the competition and some of the entries we talk about! If you enjoy this episode, you should check out our 2022 …

1
S6E6 - Southern Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Calvin Harris (Overrated) & Frightened Rabbit (Underrated) - with Shane McMenemy 1:37:17

1y ago1:37:17

1:37:17

Joined by Shane McMenemy from the Mixtaping Identity podcast, we're talking about one of his all-time favourite bands - as well as a DJ he's not super-keen on. It's not that Shane massively dislikes Calvin Harris (Dumfries), but he feels his music is "cynically-produced and commercially-driven" - Shane feels Calvin is good at capitalising on trends…

1
S6E5b - British Singer-Songwriters, Part II: Nick Drake (Underrated) - with Tom Haigh 1:01:13

1y ago1:01:13

1:01:13

Friend of the podcast Tom Haigh joins us again - he previously talked about David Bowie in Part I of this British Singer-Songwriters theme - and this time he's talking about musician Nick Drake. An influence on many big artists like R.E.M., Kate Bush and The Cure, Nick Drake's profile was low during his short lifetime - and, argues Tom, still not h…

1
S6E5a - British Singer-Songwriters, Part I: David Bowie (Overrated) - with Tom Haigh 1:12:35

1y ago1:12:35

1:12:35

Joined by friend of the podcast Tom Haigh, we had such fun chatting to him that it's gonna be another two-parter... Fran & Babs have wanted to talk about David Bowie for ages and Tom is a mega-fan, primed and ready to defend him - he has picked some deeper cuts to introduce lesser-known Bowie tunes to two people who feel that he is, at the very lea…

1
S6E4 - Electro: Kraftwerk (Overrated) & Henric de la Cour (Underrated) 1:29:11

1y ago1:29:11

1:29:11

While Fran acknowledges Kraftwerk have been a huge influence on many bands he likes, he's never been interested enough to dip into into their back catalogue too heavily...Babs is a fan and hopes to convince Fran that Kraftwerk's source material is worth listening to in more depth... Fran introduces Babs to Henric de la Cour, a solo act who also use…

1
S6E3 - Australia Part II 🇦🇺 Jet (Overrated) & King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard (Underrated) - with Brad LeBaron 1:33:27

1y ago1:33:27

1:33:27

Joined by Wisconsinite podcaster and YouTuber Brad LeBaron, we're heading back down under... Melbournites Jet are obviously best known for their smash hit 'Are You Gonna Be My Girl' - but they produced three albums and supported huge acts like the Rolling Stones, Oasis, Green Day and Bruce Springsteen...however, do Fran & Babs agree that a lot of t…

1
S6E2 - 90's Rock: Foo Fighters (Overrated) & Feeder (Underrated) - with Jen Dixon 1:06:51

1y ago1:06:51

1:06:51

We're joined by Teesside-based singer songwriter Jen Dixon this week, who brings two nostalgic rock bands for discussion.. .Jen is a huge Foo Fighters fan - drumming from a young age, she was especially in awe of Taylor Hawkins...Fran is a Foo Fighters fan and says they're excellent live - but Babs has always felt they're overplayed (and that Dave …

1
S6E1 - Leeds Part II: Kaiser Chiefs (Overrated) & The Music (Underrated) 1:36:51

1y ago1:36:51

1:36:51

'Ow do! We're back in Yorkshire to discuss two more Leodensian rock bands, having talked about Alt-J and Duels back in our first season... Kaiser Chiefs might be best known for their songs and albums of the noughties, but the band has continued to release music as recently as 2022...Fran has put together a playlist spanning most of their albums so …

1
S6 Trailer 0:59

1+ y ago0:59

0:59

We will be back next week with the first episode of Season Six! Bands we'll be discussing in this series include David Bowie, Queen, Nick Drake, The Ark, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, Jet, The Music, Kaiser Chiefs, Kraftwerk, Calvin Harris, Henric de la Cour and Frightened Rabbit. In the meantime, find out what some of our BIGGEST FANS have t…

1
S5E13 - Special Episode: Interviewing Chris Olley, Six by Seven 1:53:51

1+ y ago1:53:51

1:53:51

Rounding off this season is a special bumper episode with Chris Olley, musician and lead singer/guitarist from Six by Seven. If these names sound familiar, it's because Fran picked Six by Seven as an underrated band in our previous Nottingham episode - so this conversation is an Over/underrated first! Chris listened to our episode, got in touch and…

1
S5E12 - Christmas Special 🎄 with Richard Delahay 1:20:19

1+ y ago1:20:19

1:20:19

Santa Fran & Babs welcome you to our first ever Christmas special! We're joined by festive music appreciator and friend of the podcast Richard Delahay, who has picked his top five overrated & underrated Christmas songs... How much has working in retail and catering traumatised Fran & Richard's reactions to Christmas songs? How much of our conversat…

1
S5E11b - Special Episode: Fran & Babs' Best of 2022, Part II 1:08:07

1+ y ago1:08:07

1:08:07

We've wrapped up the year once again, each picking our ten favourite tracks from 2022 and discussing our musical highlights and lowlights. However, this year we've mixed it up a little 🍸 and assigned each of our picks to ten categories... In Part II, we have five more categories to discuss: best sync song, favourite song you'd like to hear live, be…

1
S5E11a - Special Episode: Fran & Babs' Best of 2022, Part I 57:33

1+ y ago57:33

57:33

We've wrapped up the year once again, each picking our ten favourite tracks from 2022 and discussing our musical highlights and lowlights. However, this year we've mixed it up a little 🍸 and assigned each of our picks to ten categories... In Part I, we'll be talking about each other's favourite song by a solo act, best song by a group, favourite tr…

1
S5E10 - Sweden Part II 🇸🇪 The Cardigans (Overrated) & The Tiny (Underrated) - with Daniel Bellqvist 1:27:51

1+ y ago1:27:51

1:27:51

Välkomna alla till säsongens sista avsnitt! This week we are joined by Daniel Bellqvist, lead singer of Swedish indie band Eskobar. Daniel shares some great rock'n'roll anecdotes in this episode, including those relating to this week's overrated act, The Cardigans. While we all agree that Lovefool was extremely popular and played non-stop, is it fa…

1
S5E9 - Theatrical Americans: Prince (Overrated) & Jill Tracy (Underrated) - with Dr Becky Alexis-Martin and Annie Greatorex 1:21:59

1+ y ago1:21:59

1:21:59

Hello DARLINGS and welcome to a most flamboyant episode! We're joined by Dr Becky Alexis-Martin and Annie Greatorex to discuss one of the most famous theatrical American musicians of all time and one rather more unknown... Dr Becky is keen to discuss mega-famous, revered Prince - she thinks he's written great songs for women (Sinead O'Connor, The B…

1
S5E8 - British Blue-Eyed Soul: Rod Stewart (Overrated) & Robert Palmer (Underrated) - with Paula Wiseman 1:17:47

1+ y ago1:17:47

1:17:47

Joined by Paula Wiseman, journalist and host of the Divine Comedians podcast, we're back in the UK this week talking about two singer-songwriters some might not realise are even British... Rod Stewart's music career began in 1962 when he started busking with a harmonica - and he's not stopped making music since. But are his songs interesting enough…

1
S5E7b - New Wave, Part II: Indochine (Underrated) 1:05:25

1+ y ago1:05:25

1:05:25

Following on from Part I of our new wave episode, focused on The Cars, we're crossing the Atlantic and travelling to Paris to discuss our underrated pick, Indochine. The best-selling French band of all time, Indochine released their first album in 1982 and have continued to make music ever since - but remain fairly unknown in English-speaking count…

1
S5E7a - New Wave, Part I: The Cars (Overrated) 48:31

1+ y ago48:31

48:31

This week, Fran & Babs talked about new wave and 80s music for so long that we've had to make this a two-parter... We've taken a bit of a different approach with this week's overrated pick...Babs was a fan of The Cars without knowing much of their back catalogue while Fran was less sure how he felt. Therefore, Babs took it upon herself to listen to…

1
S5E6 - Brighton Part II: Royal Blood (Overrated) & The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster (Underrated) - with Mike Lash 1:21:29

1+ y ago1:21:29

1:21:29

Joined by Mike Lash from the Playlist Yeah! podcast, we're heading back to the sea - but is it boring? Mike certainly thinks that the hype surrounding two-piece behemoths Royal Blood is undeserved - while some of their songs are certainly overplayed, will Fran & Babs agree they're overrated? Babs & Mike also get excited about The Eighties Matchbox …

1
S5E5 - Nottingham: London Grammar (Overrated) & Six by Seven (Underrated) 1:16:17

1+ y ago1:16:17

1:16:17

We're back in the UK this week, swooping into the East Midlands for our latest episode... Fran is a London Grammar fan, but every time Babs has tried to get into them nothing stuck out for her...will Fran's ten-track playlist turn her into a fan of Hannah, Dot & Dan? Babs is also introduced to Six by Seven, a band Fran remembers having posters of o…

1
S5E4 - New York Indie Rock: Vampire Weekend (Overrated) & Nation of Language (Underrated) - with George Thurley 1:14:12

1+ y ago1:14:12

1:14:12

Joined by friend of the podcast & afro-pop sympathiser George Thurley, we're back in Noo Yoik City for more discussions of rock.... Babs has never been particularly keen on Vampire Weekend and wonders if this is as much due to their aesthetic as their music. Will George's five-track playlist convince her that Ezra Koenig is more of a genius than sh…

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