• TV Eye: Horace and Pete

    The tenth and final episode of Louis CK’s experimental online-self-distributed series, Horace and Pete, arrived in subscribers’ inboxes on Saturday to no fanfare or announcement of the series’ conclusion – simply an email from CK saying he had nothing clever to say about it. It was written, filmed and directed by Louie in the week prior to each release, evidenced by the highly topical barroom discussion, with even Hulk Hogan’s Gawker sex tape discussed. In its finest moments, Horace & Pete feels like zeitgeist-capturing cult television event, and for anyone into it, the personal email from Louis was the highlight…

  • Monday Mixtape: Cian Ó Cíobháin (An Taobh Tuathail/Ceol ar an Imeall)

    Easily the country’s very best radio programme, Cian Ó Cíobháin’s An Taobh Tuathail has proved impossibly formative for so many musicians, music writers and music lovers throughout the length and breadth of the country. A nightly, midweek traipse through the very best underground sounds, the show (which translates “the Other Side” in English) is a veritable trove of electronica, experimental, ambient and more. You can tune in here. Co-presented with Eithne Shortall, Ó Ciobhain returns with the seventh season of TG4’s alternative music programme Ceol ar an Imeall on Thursday, April 7 at 10.30pm. This first episode features Mark Ronson and performances Ham Sandwich…

  • Rave New World (01/04)

    After a Good Friday spent away from the web, Aidan Hanratty and Antoin Lindsay are back with the best gigs, tracks and mixes of the week. Gigs Dip with Lumigraph and Sias B2B at Bar Tengu, Dublin Friday 1 April Two Dublin heroes, Lumigraph and Sias, aka Frank B, go back to back tonight at this long-running party, while the regular residents take care of things in the main room. AH Moderat at Vicar Street, Dublin Wednesday 6 April Another stellar team-up here, as Modeselektor and Apparat join forces once more in support of their third album, III. Colossal beats meet yearning melodies, and the…

  • Road To Nowhere: Modest Mouse’s This Is a Long Drive For Someone With Nothing To Think About, Twenty Years Later

    What do you think of when you hear the phrase ‘driving music’? As musical notions go, it’s one that usually comes with a specific set of aesthetic criteria. Upbeat tempos, big choruses, maybe the occasional indulgent guitar solo. This Is A Long Drive For Someone With Nothing To Think About, the debut of Issaquah indie rockers Modest Mouse, turned twenty last Saturday. While directly referencing both a long journey and a clear mind, if anything this album is the protracted, pensive inverse of canonical ‘driving music’ – ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ with a dicey hangover. Modest Mouse emerged in the…

  • Label Mixtape: Fortuna POP!

    Created in London in 1995 by Sean Price, or El Presidente as he prefers to be addressed, Fortuna POP! has for over twenty years been a steadfast bastion of everything lo-fi and fuzzy. The last few years have seen the label enter a veritable golden era. They’ve been responsible for Joanna Gruesome’s fuzz-pop debut LP Weird Sister, which won the Welsh Music Prize, the regional pop punk of Martha’s debut album Courting Strong, which was included in NPR Music’s 50 Favorite Albums of 2014, and records by a cornucopia of others ranging from Evans the Death to Pete Astor to…

  • Rave New World (18/03)

    St Patrick’s Day has come and gone, and we’re a man down today. Aidan Hanratty is back to bring you the best gigs, tracks and releases of the week. Gigs Mmoths – ‘Luneworks’ Album Launch Party at District 8, Dublin Saturday 19 March Everyone’s seemingly nursing a hangover or taking it easy this weekend, so this launch party for the latest album from Mmoths should be do nicely. As well as the main man himself, there are performances from Somerville and Toby Kaar, and The Cyclist aka Buz Ludzha and DJ Deece will keep the energy up for those inclined to…

  • Bookmark: Jan Carson

    In this installment of Bookmark, we spend some time with author Jan Carson in her home in Belfast as she selects the books which have influenced her own work, from Truman Capote to Flannery O’Connor. Photos by Sara Marsden. Asking a confirmed book addict to narrow their collection down to ten favourite books will never elicit a simple response. I spent hours making little piles of paperbacks across my living room floor, swapping one novel for another and feeling as if I was actually turning my back on old friends when I had to relegate Kurt Vonnegut, Marilynne Robinson and Jeffrey…

  • Cinema 16 For ’16: Goodnight Mommy

    An alternative guide to this year’s cinematic offerings, we trawl through the dilapidated rows of seats in the back alley ‘art’ cinemas and crumbling picture palaces so you don’t have to. Rescuing gummy Venus de Milos from sticky crevices and fishing midget gems out of cold cups of tea. Diaries at the ready cinephiles. One of the most hyped European horror films for some time, Goodnight Mommy, finally arrives on these shores amid some glowing, ‘caution, not for the faint-hearted’ reviews. Austria’s entry in the 88th Academy Awards’ Best Foreign Language Film category, which is some going for a horror…

  • Track Record: Sorcha Brennan (Sleep Thieves)

    As featured in one of our print issues of The Thin Air magazine, we spent some time with Sorcha Brennan from Sleep Thieves in her lovely home in Dublin to discuss her favourite records, from Why? to Jape. Photos by Aaron Corr. Jape – Ocean of Frequency What can I say about Richie Egan’s musical output? I’ve loved every album. I think Richie is a master of the perfect turn of phrase paired with the most singable melody. I’ll never get bored of Scorpio. Austra – Feel It Break I found Austra because Niall Byrne posted a video of their…

  • Monday Mixtape: MMOTHS

    In the latest installment of Monday Mixtape, Dublin producer Jack Colleran AKA MMOTHS gives us a cursory tour of his current favourite YouTube bookmarks, including Solar Bears, Steve Reich & William Basinski. Colleran launches his debut LP, Luneworks, at District 8 on Saturday night. Benoît Pioulard – Upon The Break Arch Sting Freestyle The Dead Texan – The Struggle Smt. Kesarbai Kerkar: Raag-Malkauns Solar Bears – Man Plus Steve Reich – Piano Phase (solo) William Basinski – Melancholia #9 आप stundents पसंद है