• AAA: Blink @ The Button Factory, Dublin

    In this installment of AAA (Access All Areas) we went behind the scenes with Irish indie veterans Blink ahead of their gig in the Button Factory in Dublin. It’s been nine years since they last played at this venue, when it was previously called the Temple Bar Music Centre but tonight they’re here to launch their greatest hits collection aptly titled Catch That Moment.  Check out the gallery below for some great moments captured by Shaun Neary.

  • Tease-O-Rama @ Black Box

    Tease-O-Rama… what can I say?! One of my favourite nights of the year, it makes me feel like a kid in a candy store (or just myself in a candy store, I still get quite excited about candy) all the glitter, extravagant costumes and dance routines. A night of sensual and hilarious acts from a group of incredibly talented and charismatic characters. The performers reward your appreciation with the removal of a piece of clothing. That is, after all, a major part of Burlesque – the suspense, the tease. The performers have you on the edge of your seat and…

  • Track Record: Michael Smyth (THVS/Tusks)

    Let’s face it – who doesn’t like to brag about their record collection? In this, the latest installment of Track Record, the toweringly tasteful Michael Smyth, ex-Comply or Die commander-in-riff and current THVS frontman/Tusks sticksman, takes Liam Kielt – and you, our ever-informed readership – on an illustrious ramble through his sweet record collection. Nirvana – Smells Like Teen Spirit 7” First one, a classic! I know it’s a single but this is the first record I ever bought. I got this in Hector’s House – I really miss that place. When I first got into music, properly, my friend gave me a copy…

  • Premiere: North Side Drive – Snow//Sea//Sky

    Snow//Sea//Sky, the new release from North Side Drive, the “quiet” solo project of math-pop lads Former Monarchs‘ singing sticksman Jonathan Pearson, is, by his own admission, “weird”. In itself, though, that’s no deviation from the norm in an ever-evolving soundscape, moving from post-rock-inflected piano/cello pieces, to a stint at solo piano in honour of his grandfather in his last EP. His third EP under the name, the release invokes weather and the elements, and the moods Pearson conveys in his songs reflect this perfectly. ‘Snow’, for instance, is a beautiful piece, stark in its beginnings, before building up in a…

  • Cork Heads: Shane Nolan (Bartender)

    In this installment of the aptly named Cork Heads -looking at some of the brightest sparks in Cork’s currently thriving scene- Brid O’Donovan meets with Shane Nolan, an experienced bartender with a background in art which informs his creative cocktails. So what cocktail did you just make for me? I was given the typical question of “Give me something limey/lemony” or a really bad description of how to make a drink for someone. This is what a lot of bartenders get but you learn from it. What I just made for you is what I would deem as the perfect drink. In it’s…

  • Premiere: Polyglove – Cruzer

    The Thin Air exclusively presents the premiere of Polyglove‘s brand new single Cruzer from their forthcoming Dialler EP, which we recently featured in the first print issue of our magazine. Now for a bit of back story: Wicklow/Dublin natives Niall Conroy and Stephen Maguire met whilst studying film and decided through a mutual love of sound and vision to create their own distinctive brand of ‘Baroque House’ steeped in analogue. They create their dark brooding music through entry level synths arranged in the form of a classic band. Cruzer gurgles along with a nostalgic feel like one of the Ocean loaders for the Commodore…

  • “That’s a great song… but who is it about?”

    “That’s a great song… but who is it about?” I’m sure at some stage you’ve scratched your head pondering over just who your favourite Irish bands named certain songs after. Well, you’re in for a treat! The Thin Air have gone straight to the sources and asked ‘who the hell is that?’ so you don’t have to. You may or may not recognize some of the people above, but we can assure you that’s these faces were inspiring enough to have a song penned especially about them. We’ve also compiled a Spotify playlist of our ten favourite songs about these…

  • Album premiere: Meb Jon Sol – Southpaw Niños

    Belfast-based folk singer-songwriter Michael McCullagh AKA Meb Jon Sol has been on something of a far-reaching musical expedition since his Colenso Parade days. A far cry musically from the starry-eyed indie pop of the latter – now defunct – Omagh five-piece, McCullagh’s debut solo album bears the lyrical and thematic imprint of wisdom and experience throughout, each track underpinned by the inner workings of wanderlust or quixotic wondering. Preceded by “yeo!”-generating singles ‘Leave All Your Troubles With Me‘ and ‘Captain of this Ship‘, Southpaw Niños strikes a keen balance between self-reflection and knowingly cavalier abandon, McCullagh’s quasi-mystical, eager tales of the open road and distant…

  • A Brief History of Post-Punk

    Unlike many genres of music susceptible to the prefix ‘post-’, post-punk stems from largely traceable foundations. Just as the first wave of punk rock formed via so-called ‘protopunk’ pioneers in Velvet Underground, The Stooges and MC5, post-punk represented the inevitable manifestation of punk rock’s reaction against itself. In other words, despite what it apparently implies, post-punk did not arrive ‘after’ punk: it formed and co-existed alongside it, mirroring its DIY values whilst looking towards a more rigorous aesthetic of artistic complexity beyond punk’s stripped-back musical revolution. Whilst not exactly an outright ‘Year Zero’ or some pre-determined period of rebirth at…

  • AAA: Le Galaxie ‘Carmen’ video launch @ The Academy, Dublin

    Last night Le Galaxie launched their interactive partnership with Pulse by Absolut at Dublin’s Academy with the release of their video for ‘Carmen’, the Dublin band’s new single featuring May Kay from Fight Like Apes. Le Galaxie granted Shaun Neary exclusive backstage and soundcheck access leading up to the main event. Over the course of the evening, Lorcansface worked his make-up magic on the lads, covering Mick’s glorious beard in shades of blue that would give Tim Harrington a serious run for his money. Le Galaxie were also joined on stage by Elaine Mai for their sleek Summer anthem ‘Lovesystem’. The entire night was a…