• Watch: Damola – WorkFlow

    February 2, 2016 - By 

    The first release as part of the Word Up Collective – a new-fangled Dublin collective with a particular penchant for Irish hip-hop, pop, soul and R&B – ‘WorkFlow’ by Dublin’s Damola reveals an artist that has come on leaps and bounds since he started rapping back in 2008 before formed Backshed Inc. a quartet that includes Sam Ojo, Ange MC and video director Steven Beatsmith. Written in his bedroom and Dublin’s 25A bus, the track is a preview from Damola’s forthcoming ChildLIKE Mentality EP, a song that professes to give “an insight into his struggle in finding balance between dream chasing and making a living while…

  • Premiere: Warriors of the Dystotheque – Return To Coney (feat. Ella Joy – Candi Bianca Remix)

    January 31, 2016 - By 

    An aptly-coined “dystopian journey deep into the heart of modern trip hop and gloomtronica” the forthcoming Return To Coney EP from Warriors of the Dystotheque is a sublime statement of intent set for release via Tigre Fair on March 4. Having formed via Facebook, the four members – including Derry’s Jonny Mac – have coalesced to create a release inspired by cult 70s film The Warriors and in particular, one of the final moments of the film, where The Warriors return to their home turf, Coney Island. A slick maze of lo-fi trip-hop and darkly soundscapes, the upcoming five-track EP evokes the like of Massive Attack,…

  • Premiere: Horse – Dragging

    January 27, 2016 - By 

    Ahead of their appearance at Cork’s Quarter Block Party next Saturday, sludge/hardcore four-piece Horse, led by ex-members of local hardcore outfits Terriers and Ghost of Medina, have unveiled their taut, tense video for new single ‘Dragging’, premiering here on The Thin Air. A thundering, downcast beast of a tune, its weight and heaviness is accentuated by crisp, polished production from Cork desk stalwart Eamonn Coleman, and accompanied by a blink-and-you’ll miss it procession of performance and found imagery courtesy of director Rob O’Halloran. Sharing the tiny, window-facing stage of North Main Street’s BDSM bar with an eclectic line-out, including Dublin grungers Bitch Falcon, Paddy…

  • First Acts for AVA Festival 2016 Announced

    January 27, 2016 - By 

    Having had a triumphant first outing last year (check out our review here) grassroots electronic and conference AVA will return to Belfast’s T13 on Saturday, June 4. With more yet to be revealed, Rødhåd, Mano Le Tough, Bicep, Optimo and Phil Kieran and more are amongst the first wave of acts confirmed to make an appearance. With its implicit manifesto of “collectively celebrating, amplifying and devloping the strong current of electronic music and visual arts talent that has and is emerging from Northern Ireland”, tickets for the festival – which will also include live lectures, Ableton workshops, Q+A with artists, label showcase and more – are…

  • Choice Music Prize Irish Song of the Year Shortlist Revealed

    January 27, 2016 - By 

    Launching tonight at Dublin’s Workman’s Club ahead of the official ceremony just down the road at Vicar Street on March 3, the shortlist for this year’s Choice Music Prize Irish Song of the Year has been revealed. Having been previously won by the likes of Gavin James and the Original Rudeboys, the following ten songs will go to a public vote: The Academic – Different All Tvvins – Thank You The Coronas – How This Goes Daithi – Mary Keanes Introduction Fight Like Apes – Pretty Keen on Centrefolds Hozier – Something New Gavin James – Bitter Pill Kodaline – Ready Otherkin – Ay Ay Pleasure…

  • Watch: Bouts – Allies

    January 26, 2016 - By 

    It’s no secret that we’re big fans of Dublin’s wanderlust-ridden Bouts. Five months on from the release of its lead single ‘Missteps’, the indie rock quartet have reappeared with their forthcoming debut EP’s emphatic follow-up, ‘Allies’. Featuring a brilliantly bizarre video courtesy of Eoin Heaney of Highly Stimulating Productions, the track is classic Bouts through-and-through, marrying urgent, starry-eyed melodies with noise-laced zeal. Bouts’ Unlearn EP will be released on February 29. Check out the artwork for the EP and watch the video for ‘Allies’ below.

  • Video premiere: Tobi The Dog – In Bits

    January 25, 2016 - By 

    Set to play our the first installment of Psykick Dancehall – our new Dublin with the most upstanding Medium Presents – we’re pleased to premiere the positively beatific video for ‘In Bits’ by Dublin’s “self-proclaimed lo-fi” three-piece Tobi The Dog. Set for release via their forthcoming, Little L Records-released debut album, Never Ever Ever, the video for the track captures the band and their friends (the veritable lads, no less) roaming the streets of the Dublin, running joyous rampage on the light rail system and beyond. According to Little L, “Visually, ‘In Bits’ feels like a grime posse cut reimagined through the…

  • MMOTHS unveils new LP track ‘Eva’

    January 22, 2016 - By 

    Jack Colleran AKA MMOTHS‘ long awaited debut LP Luneworks is set to drop on March 11th. Following from the stunning ‘Deu’ which was given to us in November of last year, ‘Eva’ is the second track from the album that we have heard. Like ‘Deu’, ‘Eva’ is giving us plenty of reason to suspect that this album is going to be a very special one indeed. Over the past couple of years MMOTHS has shied from from the bubbling pulses that defined his very early output, opting instead for a far more ambient, Boards of Canada-esque brand of electronica that has gradually…

  • Stream: No Monster Club – Sion

    January 24, 2016 - By 

    Set to feature on his eleventh album, I Feel Magic, next month, Dublin lo-fi wizard Bobby Aherne AKA No Monster Club is streaming ‘Sion’, a track recalling an unexpectedly fun Swiss traipse. “I came up with all of the composite parts during the Carnaval parade in Sion, Switzerland last Valentine’s Day,” Aherne said. “The next day, I stitched them all together into a rough, drunken Jack Torrance demo in the ancient and creepy Hotel Europa (where Verdi used to live and Napoleon once stayed) in Ferrara, Italy. The lyrics came later.” Effortlessly earworming and almost boyishly candid in its poise and delivery, it’s exactly the…

  • First acts announced for Longitude 2016

    January 22, 2016 - By 

    Kendrick Lamar, The National and Jamie XX are amongst the first acts announced to play this year’s Longitude festival at Dublin’s Marlay Park from July 15-17. With Lamar (pictured) headlining the opening night on Friday, July 15, Major Lazer leads the line up on the Saturday and The National close the festival on the Sunday. With tickets going on sale at 9am on Friday, January 29, Major Lazer, Father John Misty, Chvrches, Róisín Murphy, Action Bronson, Courtney Barnett, A$AP Ferg, MØ, All Tvvins, Rejjie Snow, Otherkin, Pleasure Beach and Saint Sister make up first announcement. Weekend tickets are €159.50 and…